9

How to Make Objects with NURBS Modeling 1095
(page 1–189), lofts (page 1–352),andpatch grids
(page 1–993).
• You can a lso change the NURBS surface by
applying modifiers. The modifiers act on the
points or CVs of the surface, and not on the
surface itself. After applying the modifiers,
collapse the modifier stack (page 3–760).This
removes the modifiers from the stack without
changing the position of the modified points or
CVs,makingforasimplerandquickermodel.
•AnotherwaytocreateaNURBSsurfaceobject
is to apply a Lathe (page 1–707) or Extrude
(page 1–680) modifier to a NURBS curve. Set
themodifier’sOutputTypetoNURBS,and
then collapse when you’re done adjusting the
parameters.
(TherearealsoNURBSlatheandextrude
surface sub-object types, which you can apply
to curve sub-objects.)
Shor tcuts, Snaps, and User Inter face Tips
•RemembertoturnonthePlug-In Keyboard
Shortcut Tog g le (page 3–872).Whileitison,
youcanusealltheNURBSkeyboardshortcuts.
•OneofthemostusefulNURBSkeyboard
shortcuts is
H ,whichdisplaysaSelect Objects
dialog (page 1–78).Youcanuse
H during
sub-object creation as well as sub-object
selection. This is handy when sub-objects are
crowdedorhardtosee.
Avariantis
Ct rl +H ,whichalsodisplays
the Select Objects dialog, but lists only those
NURBS sub-objects beneath the mouse curs or
position.
• There are special NURBS Snaps in the Grid and
Snap Settings dialog (page 2–41) (right-click
the 3D Snap toggle to display this). When
you use NURBS snaps, turn off Options/Axis
Constraints; otherwise, snaps work only in the
current axis.
Also, remember that snaps work in a viewport
onlywhenyouhavemadetheviewportactive.
And choosing your snap settings does not turn
on snaps. You must also tur n on the 3D Snap
Toggle button (page 2–35) (on the status bar).
Snaps are especially important w hen you create
the curves for building 1-rail (page 1–1204) and
2-rail (page 1–1209) sweep surfaces.
• Remember t hat without leav ing the viewport,
you can right-click to display a quad menu
(page 3–694) w ith shortcuts for changing the
sub-object level, creating some sub-objects,
and using some other edit commands.
• When you work w ith NURBS, there are a lot
of rollouts in the Modify panel. Minimize
the rollouts you don’t need. For example,
minimizing the Modifiers rollout helps unless
you’re applying Modifiers, and minimizing the
Surface Common rollout is useful when you ’re
creating U loft, UV loft, and 1-rail or 2-rail
sweep surfaces.
• Don’t set viewp orts to display edged faces.
Displayingedgesisalmosttwiceasslowas
displaying a simple shaded viewport.
Cr e at i n g Curv e s
• When drawing a CV curve, click three times
to get a sharp corner.
Be aware, however, that multiple CVs increase
the amount of calculation and therefore reduce
the performance and stabilit y of your model.
However, if you want to use the curve to
construct a U Loft, and so on, this is the best
technique.
• Youcanalsocreatesharpcornersbyfusingthe
ends of two separate NU RBS curve sub-objects.
This is the recommended method if you aren’t
using the curves to construct a surface.
• Whilecreatingcurves,youcanturnonthe
Draw in All Viewports toggle. This lets you