Use familiar Rhino commands to edit your T-Spline model.
All this, at a pricecheaper than a seat of Photoshop!
Design while you model
Traditionally, designing in Rhino has meant laying out curves that represent the critical shape of your model, creating surfaces from the curves, blending the surfaces together, then inevitably realizing you'd like to tweak something. So, you go back to the curves, make some changes, build up the surfaces again, make sure your blends still work with the new surfaces, and then realize that you're a lot closer. Just a few more changes are needed. So you go back to the curves...
With T-Splines, you can still start by laying out curves and making a surface. However, rather than returning to the beginning of the process to make tweaks, you can actually explore design iterations by pushing and pulling the surface! This is a revolutionary way to model, and it's very effective, especially for organic forms.
Using T-Splines helped The Outside Digital Art increase revenue by 75%
Kyle Houchens has created over a thousand vehicles for the toy and entertainment industries, and routinely uses multiple software products to produce his models. He began using T-Splines in late 2009 for his organic models and has seen a substantial impact on his business.
With T-Splines I'm completing models in a single morning that used to take me days, which has helped my revenues increase by 75% this year.
- Kyle Houchens, The Outside Digital Art & Design
Watch this video to see how to easy it is to design while you model with T-Splines. The bike pedal designed in this video is made by starting with a cylinder; to see an example of designing with T-Splines when starting with curves, watch the video showing how to make smooth transitions with T-Splines (it may take a couple seconds for the video to load).
Make revisions in minutes, not hours
T-Spline models are easy to tweak and revise because large portions of the model (or even the entire model) can be constrained so that the surface is always smooth, no matter where you move tweak it. This helps you meet customer requirements with ease. It's easy to create multiple variations on the design, and then make revisions based on client comments in minutes (perhaps even in front of the client!), instead of hours or days.
T-Splines sped up tools4design's freeform modeling by 9 times
Dan Falvey, CEO and Founder of Tools4Design, is an experienced engineer who specializes in solving unique design and engineering problems for a wide range of clients. With the right tools, including T-Splines, Dan has developed an approach that lets him use 3D as an integral part of his engineering process and enables him to rapidly iterate designs and keep clients happy and coming back for more.
A recent design project that would have typically been a 3 to 4 hour modeling job for me took only 20 minutes with T-Splines. That means I could pump out 10 to 15 design iterations in a day, and more quickly converge on the final design with my client.
- Dan Falvey, tools4design
Days of modeling saved by T-Splines
Jason Burns has designed instruments for many world famous artists including Neil Diamond, Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, Korn, Stray Cats, Cypress Hill, Pretenders and Snoop Dogg. The company manufactures about 400 upright basses per year and has started building guitars in 2008 ago. Jason began using T-Splines in 2009 to save time while designing his basses.
T-Splines has allowed me to create and design my musical instruments much easier and faster. I can now create several variations on my design in an hour. This same process used to take days before I started using T-Splines.
- Jason Burns, President, King Doublebass
Easily make smooth transitions and blends
Transitions, a chief source of headache with most design software, are automatically smooth in T-Splines. When creating a blend or transition with T-Splines, you can actually merge the edges of two surfaces together to create one single, c2 continuous surface. By merging surfaces together, you mathematically eliminate seams and gaps from your model. You can then continue to tweak the model without needing to worry about creating gaps or kinks. Of course, if you don't want this level of smoothness, you can still blend T-spline surfaces together using the Rhino blend commands.
"For organic shapes...T-Splines is essential"
Pavel Zákravský works under tight schedules for car tuning clients, so he needs the best tools to allow for faster design and more concept iterations. Pavel uses T-Splines as a standard part of his design tool set, including for this bumper design, presented at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show.
For organic shapes, such as this car bumper design, the ability to work with a single surface in T-Splines is essential. I can explore different shapes and move creases and edges on the surface with ease while maintaining a single continuous surface the entire time.”
- Pavel Zákravský, Industrial Designer, PD Studio
Watch this video to see how to create smooth transitions and blends using T-Splines. The video also shows how to use Rhino's Blend command to blend a T-spline surface to a NURBS surface (it may take a couple seconds for the video to load).
Save time with powerful T-Spline features
The T-Splines features are all focused on creating a powerful toolset for organic modeling. See these features in action on our tutorials page. Additionally, you can use many Rhino commands when working with T-spline surfaces.
Primitives
Box
Cone
Cylinder
Plane
Sphere
Torus
Geometry modification
Extrude
Crease
Remove crease
Thicken
Insert point
Insert edge
Subdivide
Duplicate faces
Delete
Fill hole
Append face
Bridge
Merge edges
Unweld edges
Weld points
Axial and radial symmetry
Match surfaces
Use familiar Rhino commands to edit your T-Spline model
T-Splines is very tightly integrated into Rhino. Rhino commands can be used directly on a T-spline surface or on the control points of the surface.
The general rule is that Rhino commands that work on polysurfaces also work on T-spline surfaces. Some of them convert the T-spline surface to a NURBS surface, and others keep the surface as a T-spline. Below is an extensive list of Rhino commands, with an explanation of how they work with T-spline surfaces.
Abbreviation code key:
TS= Command works as expected on the T-spline surface. Input: T-Spline surface. Output: T-Spline surface.
CP= Command works on T-splines control points. Input: T-spline surface control points. Output: T-spline surface.
TS-NURBS= Command works on the T-spline surface but automatically converts it to a NURBS surface. Input: T-spline surface. Output: NURBS surface.
Command
Code
Description
_Align
TS
_Area
TS
_AreaCentroid
TS
_AreaMoments
TS
_Array
TS, CP
_ArrayCrv
TS, CP
_ArrayCrvOnSrf
TS, CP
_ArrayPolar
TS, CP
_ArraySrf
TS, CP
_Bend
CP
_Blend
TS
_BlendSrf
TS-NURBS
_Boolean2Objects
TS-NURBS
All Boolean operations convert the T-Splines surfaces to NURBS.
_BooleanDifference
TS-NURBS
_BooleanIntersection
TS-NURBS
_BooleanSplit
TS-NURBS
_BooleanUnion
TS-NURBS
_Boss
TS-NURBS
_BoundingBox
TS
_CageEdit
TS-NURBS
This command works with T-spline surfaces. If you select the surface and edit the cage, it will automatically transform it to a NURBS surface. Cage edit cannot be applied to T-spline control points.
_Cap
TS-NURBS
_ChamferSrf
TS-NURBS
_Check
TS
_Contour
TS
_Copy
TS, CP
_CreateSolid
TS-NURBS
_CreateUVCrv
TS
Works on rectangular regions of the T-spline surface (one at a time).
_CullControlPolygon
TS
This tool is useful to cull the vertex/edge/face selection of a T-spline surface on areas that face away from the camera, and can make editing easier in models that have many control points.
_Curvature
TS
Works on rectangular regions of the T-spline surface (one at a time).
_CurvatureAnalysis
TS
_CurvatureGraph
TS
Displays the T-spline as a polysurface during the command. To turn on individual T-spline edges for curvature graph, use the tsSetCurvatureGraphEdges command
To display CurvatureGraph on specific edges, use the tsSetCurvatureGraphEdges command
_DeleteHole
TS-NURBS
_Dir
TS
_DraftAngleAnalysis
TS
_DragMode
TS
Useful for UVN movement of selection. Accessible through the T-spline edit mode heads-up display.
_Drape
TS
_DupBorder
TS
_DupEdge
TS
Can duplicate edges and isocurves of a T-spline surface.
_DupMeshEdge
TS
_EMap
TS
_Explode
TS-NURBS
Explodes the T-spline surface into NURBS patches.
_ExtractIsoCurve
TS
This tool extracts isocurves of the NURBS patches that comprise the T-spline surface. You may need to extract the isocurves of several patches to get a complete T-spline surface isocurve.
_ExtractPt
TS
Extracts points of the NURBS patches of the T-spline surface. If you run in box mode, it extract the mesh points.
_ExtractSrf
TS-NURBS
This command extracts a rectangular region from the T-spline surface.
_ExtractWireframe
TS
Extract all visible T-spline isoparms.
_ExtrudeSrf
TS-NURBS
_ExtrudeSrfAlongCrv
TS-NURBS
_ExtrudeSrfTapered
TS-NURBS
_ExtrudeSrfToPoint
TS-NURBS
_FilletSrf
TS-NURBS
_Flow
CP
Useful to shape a T-spline surface by moving the control points along a curve.
_FlowAlongSurface
CP
_GCon
TS
_Hydrostatics
TS
_InterpcrvOnSrf
TS
Works on rectangular regions of the T-spline surface.
_Intersect
TS
_Join
TS-NURBS
_List
TS
_Maelstrom
CP
_Make2D
TS
This command works, but the output includes all T-spline surface isocurves.
_MakeHole
TS-NURBS
All the Rhino “hole” commands work on one rectangular region of the T-spline surface at a time.
_Mesh
TS
Most of the Rhino mesh commands work on a T-spline object in box mode, but will convert the T-spline to a Rhino mesh.
_MeshOutline
TS
Works with T-spline surfaces in both smooth mode and box mode.
_Mirror
TS, CP
_Move
TS, CP
_MoveUVN
Does not work on a T-spline surface.
_OffsetCrvOnSrf
TS
Works on rectangular regions of the T-spline surface.
_OffsetNormal
TS
Works on rectangular regions of the T-spline surface.
_OffsetSrf
TS-NURBS
_Orient2Points
TS, CP
_Orient3Points
TS, CP
_OrientOncrv
TS, CP
_OrientOnSrf
TS, CP
_PlaceHole
TS-NURBS
_PointOffSelected
TS
_PointsOn
TS
_PolylineOnMesh
TS
Works on T-splines in box mode.
_Project
TS
_ProjectToCPlane
TS, CP
Useful for placing points on the XZ, XY, and ZY planes for symmetry.
_RemapCPlane
TS, CP
_RevolvedHole
TS-NURBS
_Rib
TS-NURBS
_Rotate
TS, CP
_Rotate3D
TS, CP
_RoundHole
TS-NURBS
_Scale
TS, CP
_Scale1D
TS, CP
_Scale2D
TS, CP
_ScaleNU
TS, CP
_Section
TS
_SetPt
CP
Useful for moving control points to the same plane on a specific position. Can be useful for flattening parts of the surface.
_Shear
CP
_ShortPath
TS
Works on rectangular regions of the T-spline surface.
_Silhouette
TS
_Sketch
TS
_Smash
TS-NURBS
Smashes all the NURBS patches from the T-spline surface separately.
_Smooth
TSmesh
Smooth works on a T-Spline surface, but it will convert to a Rhino mesh. You can convert it to a T-spline again after that; however, any T-points will be triangulated so the T-Spline surface may not be the same.
_SoftMove
CP
_Split
TS-NURBS
A T-spline surface can be used to Trim or Split a NURBS surface but if you Trim or Split a T-spline, it will automatically convert to NURBS.
_Splop
CP
_Squish
TS
Works on rectangular regions of the T-spline surface.
_Stretch
CP
_Taper
CP
_Trim
TS-NURBS
T-Splines control points must be turned off for Trim to work.
_Twist
CP
_VariableBlendSrf
TS-NURBS
_VariableChamferSrf
TS-NURBS
_VariableFilletSrf
TS-NURBS
_VariableOffsetSrf
TS-NURBS
Works on rectangular regions of the T-spline surface.
_Volume
TS
_VolumeCentroid
TS
_VolumeMoments
TS
_WireCut
TS-NURBS
_Zebra
TS
All this, at a price cheaper than a seat of Photoshop
Buy T-Splines today for cheaper than a seat of Photoshop.
Try T-Splines
Still not sure if T-Splines is for you? Try T-Splines before you buy.