ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the basics of polygon modeling and nonuniform rational basis spline (NURBS) modeling. An important issue is the extreme differences between these two techniques. Lines in NURBS models are not called lines or curves: they are called isoparms. An isoparm is a curve that lies on a single plane. Polygon modeling usually begins by starting with a “primitive,” which consists of a base mesh; then this mesh is crafted into either an entire model or an object that makes up part of the model. Many of the key NURBS tools are under the Surfaces dropdown. When one right-clicks on a polygon object, the context-sensitive menu that pops up is very different than the one that pops up when one right-clicks on a NURBS surface.
