Maxsurf allows you to create complex designs using any number of a range of surface types. You can use B-Spline, NURB, Developable or Conic surfaces.

Many different surface types have been proposed over the years for use in Computer Aided Design systems. You may be wondering why Maxsurf uses B-spline surfaces and NURB surfaces, rather than any of the alternative methods such as Bezier Surfaces or Bi-cubic spline patches.

The simple answer is that the B-spline definition encompasses many of these other forms as special cases of the B-spline. For example, a Bezier curve is exactly the same as a B-spline where the order has been set to be equal to the number of control points minus one. Similarly, a B-spline curve of order 4 stiffness is a piece-wise cubic spline.

B-splines are a powerful and mathematically elegant formulation that retain a high level of numeric stability, while encompassing many of the curve types that have gone before. Continue reading: Surface Types.