The NURBS Book (Monographs in Visual Communication)

Until recently B-spline curves and surfaces (NURBS) were principally of interest to the computer aided design community, where they have become the standard for curve and surface description. Today we are seeing expanded use of NURBS in modeling objects for the visual arts, including the film and entertainment industries, art, and sculpture. NURBS are now also being used for modeling scenes for virtual reality applications. These applications are expected to increase. Consequently, it is quite appropriate for The.N'URBS Book to be part of the Monographs in Visual Communication Series. B-spline curves and surfaces have been an enduring element throughout my pro­ fessional life. The first edition of Mathematical Elements for Computer Graphics, published in 1972, was the first computer aided design/interactive computer graph­ ics textbook to contain material on B-splines. That material was obtained through the good graces of Bill Gordon and Louie Knapp while they were at Syracuse University. A paper of mine, presented during the Summer of 1977 at a Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers meeting on computer aided ship surface design, was arguably the first to examine the use of B-spline curves for ship design. For many, B-splines, rational B-splines, and NURBS have been a bit mysterious.

The NURBS book covers all aspects of non-uniform rational B-splines necessary to design geometry in a computer aided environment. Basic B-spline features, curve and surface algorithms, and state-of-the-art geometry tools are all discussed. Detailed code for design algorithms and computational tricks are covered too, in a lucid, easy-to-understand style, with a minimum of mathematics and using numerous worked examples. The book is a must for students, researchers, and implementors whose work involves the use of splines.
"Some years ago a few researchers joked about NURBS, saying that the acronym really stands for Nobody Understands Rational B-Splines write the authors in their foreword; they formulate the aim of changing NURBS to EURBS, that is, Everybody ... . There is no doubt that they have achieved this goal. ...
... I highly recommend the book to anyone who is interested in a detailed description of NURBS. It is extremely helpful for students, teachers and designers of geometric modelling systems. ..."
- H. Pottmann, Computer Aided Design, 1996