Why NURBS?
Most basic primitive shapes have exact representations using
NURBS. This means conics, quadrics,
surfaces of revolution, etc., may be represented exactly instead of approximated.
Hence NURBS provide a unified geometric representation.
NURBS support a large geometric tool kit which includes:
Easy and stable evaluators
Breaking and joining
Degree elevation
Affine invariance, hence they are easy to rotate, translate, scale, ...
NURBS allow for local modification.
Thus changing a control point only affects the shape of the curve in the
neighborhood of that point. The actual range of the change depends on
the degree used.
NURBS allow for interpolating a large number of points while maintaining a low degree basis function. This helps eliminate twists and spikes that often result from using high degree polynomials.
