nurbs in vrml
In the days of VRML 1.0, NURBS seemed to be too complex to be adapted to the specification. Current development of hardware compels us to reevaluate this idea: While CPU clocks break the 1-GHz barrier, users still have to cope with 56K modems. NURBS meet exactly these demands. A NURBS description is a compact storage form, but its evaluation requires more computational effort. In addition, NURBS can be utilized for morphing effects and they provide a means for a smooth LOD. Adopting trimmed NURBS allows visualization of complex CAD models in VRML. This paper gives an overview of the proposed nodes and their implementation and applications. We take a closer look at LOD, animations and trimmed NURBS. Finally, we look ahead and briefly touch on an emerging new representation, subdivision surfaces.
nurbs trimmed nurbs subdivision surfaces parametric surfaces