Once again, we cannot hope to do more than introduce this profound tool. But, as with the last lesson, this introduction should be enough to grasp the essence of the concept. Metanurbs modeling in Lightwave is best understood against the background of spline modeling generally. A spline is, for all practical purposes, simply a curve. The term subsequently came to mean the types of curves that could be mathematically defined, and therefore could be utilized in computer graphics applications.
Splines follow an important hierarchy.
A natural spline is essentially the abstraction of that physical metal strip we just described. A natural spline is defined by certain control points, and these points are on the curve itself. By moving around these control points, we shape the curve. Control over natural splines is the most limited of all classes of curves, and more subtle curvature can be obtained only by adding more control points to the spline. Lightwave supports only natural splines at present.