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PIXOLATOR nurbs export??

ZBrush Artworks
#1

i was looking at how “frame mode” lay out the subdivided geometry and noticed that there is almost a patch network very similar to nurbs surfaces where its all 4 sided even patches. i was wondering since many studios still have not come to terms with polys (as amazing as that is i know dreamworks, sony just started and ILM are 98% nurbs) it seems like it would not be so hard to extract those patches so that they could later be stitched together in a 3rd party app.

Pixolator what are the chances of this happening? or is there something similar, even if it exported it all out into seperate poly patches converting that to nurbs surfaces would be a piece of cake inside of maya for example if the patches are already broken up.

#2

First, many of the companies you mentioned are moving FAST to subdivision modeling.
Second, there are programs to convert poly to nurbs, mainly cyslice, and the option in MAYA to convert to NURBS.

I can’t see why to use them though… you always get stitching problems, broken patches, and the need to constantly rebuild the surfaces… model high poly, export low poly and displacement map, and use PRAN to render subd directly :slight_smile:

#3

not so fast there is not 1 polygon model in any dreamworks feature films. trust me im not one for nurbs but it wouldnt hurt. also maya convert to nurbs is not very effiecient s to where the “patchwork” i see in zbrush is alot better

#4

It’d be worth a test though; the last time I tried maya seemed to use an algorithm very similar to zbrush’s polygrouping. You were doing the convert poly to subdiv, then convert subdiv to nurbs right? Try it on the lowest level cage, see what happens.

I have a feeling you’ll run into major problems converting the uv layout of the polycage into standard nurbs uv space… hmm…

#5

elfufu, I nearly always convert to nurbs my zbrush models… for the mai,n reason that I rework them, and reworking in nurbs is so easy, cutting the zbrush models like papers, and re assembling as you want… I’ve found rhino, actuaally, the most efficient program in nurbs modelling… a nurbs ver’sion of a zbrush model is much lighter, of course, and rewor(kable as wished… in rhino, there is a method I’ve explained in the forum, (I suppose if you make a search with nurbs) and there is the plug in of Yurek dombrawski, wich work perfectly… as far I know (and I can be WRONG), maya translation doesn’t work correctly for real model, and cyslis, very expansive, and???

#6

Elfufu
Look at this Thread ! (you can also look the images :slight_smile:
Marcel explain his method of “how re- nurbs” a Zbrush model in Rhino for example :smiley:
It’s not a method for no patient guy :smiley: :smiley:
Pilou