Direct Manipulations of B-Spline and NURBS Curves

Advances in Engineering Software 31 (2000) 107–118
www.elsevier.com/locate/advengsoft
Direct manipulations of B-spline and NURBS curves

M. Pourazady*, X. Xu
Department of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Toledo, Nitscke Hall 4006, Toledo, OH 43606-3390, USA
Received 28 October 1997; received in revised form 18 May 1999; accepted 18 May 1999
Abstract
This paper presents a method for the direct manipulations of B-spline and non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS) curves using
geometric constraints. A deformable model is developed to define the deformation energy functional of B-spline and NURBS curves.
The finite element method is used to minimize the deformation energy functional and solve for the deformed shape of curves subjected to
constraints. This approach results in a set of linear equations for a B-spline curve and a set of non-linear equations for a NURBS curve. A
perspective mapping is used to linearize the NURBS formulations. NURBS curves are first mapped from the 3D Cartesian coordinate space
to the 4D homogeneous coordinate space, and transformed to 4D B-spline curves. After the manipulation in the 4D homogeneous coordinate
space, the modified NURBS curves are then mapped back to the 3D Cartesian coordinate space. The approach is implemented by a prototype
program, which is written in C, and runs under WINDOWS. Several examples are presented to demonstrate the capabilities of this approach.
q 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Non-uniform rational B-splines; 3D Cartesian coordinate; 4D B-spline curves; Direct manipulations of NURBS
1. Introduction until the shape of the curve and surface satisfies the require-
ments. Until now, all interactive design schemes proposed
Curve and surface design have many applications in can be classified into two categories. One is the control point
manufacturing industries, such as automobile body design, based method, which manipulates curves and surfaces by
ship hull design, etc. Over the past thirty years, different controlling the DOF (degrees of freedom) defining them and
curves and surfaces representation forms have been the other is the so-called direct manipulation method. In this
proposed. Currently, B-splines and NURBS (non-uniform method selected points on a curve or a surface are moved to
rational B-splines) are the most popular mathematical new user defined locations.
forms. NURBS offers a unified mathematical form not The first method [1–3] is still the prevalent method for
only for representation of free-form curves and surfaces, interactive design of curves and surfaces in commercial
but also for the precise representation of close-form shapes systems. For example, B-splines are usually manipulated
such as lines, conics, quadrics, and surfaces of revolution. by moving their control points, and for NURBS, the extra
Further, the extra degrees of freedom NURBS offers—the degree of freedom called weights can be used to manipulate
weights, allow a large variety of shapes to be generated. the shape of curves or surfaces. One of the problems with
Therefore, NURBS has become more and more popular in this technique is that the control points or weights are not
recent years. It has been an IGES standard since 1983, and directly related to the modified shape of curves or surfaces.
many commercial CAD systems are based on the NURBS Therefore, interactive design using this scheme is often
representation. cumbersome. Sometimes a large number of DOF must be
Providing operations for modifying the shape of NURBS manipulated in order to modify even a small piece of a curve
curves and surfaces is an important issue in curve and segment. It is also not clear which DOF should be manipu-
surface design. The desired shape of a curve or a surface lated and how it should be manipulated.
is obtained through a complex and interactive process. It The direct manipulation method on the contrary provides
seldom happens that the initial design meet the required the designer a higher level interface and shape design is
specifications, and the process of modification goes on more intuitive. In this scheme, users are allowed to specify
arbitrary constraints on a curve or a surface. For example,
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 1 1-419-530-8210; fax: 1 1-419-530- the designer can pick points on a curve and move them to
8206. desired positions. The new DOF, which satisfy the specified
0965-9978/00/$ - see front matter q 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S0965-997 8(99)00026-5
108 M. Pourazady, X. Xu / Advances in Engineering Software 31 (2000) 107–118
Fig. 1. B-spline basis functions.
constraints, are automatically computed. The direct manip- intuitive way. This method was first applied in the computer
ulation method allows the designer a much better feel vision area. Terzopoulos et al. [9,10] proposed elastically
between the input (specified constraints) and the output deformable models, and employed the elasticity theory to
(modified curve or surface). Current direct manipulation construct differential equations that model the behavior of
methods can be further classified into two categories: direct non-rigid curves, and surfaces. Celniker and Gossard [11]
linear methods and physically based methods. developed a prototype system for interactive free-form
design by minimization of the energy functional using
1.1. Direct linear methods (B-splines only) finite-element method. Celniker and Welch [12] used B-
splines as representation forms and developed deformable
The goal of direct manipulation methods is to configure
B-splines with linear constraints. Terzopoulos and Qin [13]
the DOF of curves and surfaces so that the deformed loca-
proposed dynamic NURBS, to model deformation of curves
tions of the selected points match the specified target loca-
and surfaces. They developed physics-based models with
tions. As there are many DOF configurations that will yield
properties such as mass distributions, deformation energies,
the same target locations, certain criteria must be estab-
etc. The non-linear equations of motion for a dynamic
lished in order to select a reasonable solution. In direct
NURBS are derived based on Lagrangian dynamics and
linear methods, least squares are adopted as the criteria,
are integrated through time to predict the shape of an object
and the final solution is the one that moves the control
in response to external forces. Faloutsos et al. [14] devel-
points, the least. Forsey and Bartels [4] developed a method
oped dynamic deformable models based on standard free
for the direct manipulation of hierarchical B-spline surfaces
form deformations. They used different deformation
at B-spline joints. Bartels and Beatty [5] extended this
modes such as shear and bending modes to move or animate
method to allow B-spline curves to be manipulated at any
real life objects.
point on the curve. Fowler and Bartels [6] extended this
The objective of this paper is to develop, and linearize a
technique further to allow first and second derivatives at
physically based method for direct manipulation of NURBS
any points to be manipulated. Hsu et al. [7] proposed a
curves and surfaces. NURBS curves and surfaces are first
method which allows multiple points to be moved to new
linearized by mapping them into 4D space before any equa-
locations simultaneously. Recently, Rappoport [8] proposed
tion solving takes place. The resulting equations are then
a probabilistic point constraint where he used Kalman filters
solved for the new DOF in 4D space, and finally mapped
to solve the system of probabilistic equations. The soft
back to 3D space.
constraints he used are easier to satisfy and thus lead to
smoother deformations. The representation forms used in
all these references are B-spline curves or surfaces. Direct 2. Direct manipulations of B-spline curves
linear methods have not been developed for the manipula-
tion of NURBS curves and surfaces. A B-spline curve is defined by the following equation:
1.2. Physically based methods X

n
Ct Ni;p tPi ; 1
i0
In a physically based method, curves and surfaces are
assigned some physical properties, such as stretching stiff- where Ni;p t are B-spline basis functions, Pi are vectors
ness, bending stiffness, etc. They are allowed to stretch and composed of x; y; z coordinates of the control points, p
bent as real objects. By applying forces and constraints, (degree 1 1) is the order of a B-spline curve, and
curves and surfaces are deformed and manipulated in an t0 ; t1 ; t2 ; …; tn1p is the knot vector which specifies the
M. Pourazady, X. Xu / Advances in Engineering Software 31 (2000) 107–118 109
P7
P2
P1 P3
P6
P4 P5
P0
n=8
k=4
Knot vector [0,0,0,0,0.1,0.3,0.5,0.7,0.9,1,1,1,1]
Fig. 2. A B-spline curve.
distribution of the parameter t along the curve. The relation- surfaces are taken as real objects. Curves are taken as slen-
ship between the order of the curve p, the number of control der beams, and surfaces are taken as metal sheets, cloth, etc.
points n 1 1, and the number of knots m 1 1 is given by When forces are applied on curves and surfaces, they will
deform just as the real objects do. Some physical properties
m n 1 p: 2
can be assigned to curves and surfaces. For example, for a
B-spline basis functions Ni;p t are also called B-spline curve, an a term which represents the curve’s ability to
blending functions and are defined by resist stretching, and a b term which represents the curve’s
( ability to resist bending can be associated. If forces are
1 if ti # t , ti11
Ni;1 t ; 3 applied on a curve, the shape of the curve will be changed,
0 otherwise just like a slender beam is stretched or bent. Fig. 4 shows the
deformation of a curve subjected to an external force.
t 2 ti ti1p 2 t Obviously, the extent of a curve’s deformation depends on
Ni;p t N t 1 N t: 4
ti1p11 2 ti i;p21 ti1p 2 ti11 i11;p21 two factors:
Figs. 1 and 2 show B-spline basis functions, and a B- 1. The external forces and constraints.
spline curve, respectively. B-spline curves have nice proper- 2. The physical properties of the curve, e.g. a and b terms.
ties which make them suitable representation forms in
Besides forces, constraint is another important tool in
computer aided geometric design. These properties can be
deformable models. We may want certain points on a
generalized as, affine invariance, Convex hull, and local
curve to be fixed at particular positions. In this case applying
control properties. For example B-spline curves can be
forces to a curve will not help much. Although the specified
locally refined without changing their global shape. As
requirements might be satisfied by applying different forces
shown in Fig. 3 the shape of a B-spline curve changes
on a curve, generally a lot of trial and error is needed.
locally in the neighborhood of control points P6 and its
Fortunately, constraints can be applied to satisfy these
new location P 06 :
requirements. Constraints also have their counterparts in
2.1. Deformable models real objects. Consider a slender beam with both ends
fixed, when forces are applied to it, its ends will remain at
Deformable objects have many applications in the design their original positions though other parts of it will deform.
of curves and surfaces. For example, slender beams deform Fig. 5 shows a curve subjected to four constraints.
in smooth curves when they are bent, and they are used to Similarly to real objects, curves also have deformation
loft the ship hull because of this property. In a physically energy stored inside them as they are deformed. Terzopou-
based curve and surface manipulation approach, curves and los et al. [9] defined the deformation energy functional of a
P7
P2
P1 P3
P6’ P6
P0 P4 P5
Fig. 3. Local control property of a B-spline curve.

2.2. Finite element model of a deformable curve
F The deformed shapes of B-spline curves are discussed

first. The advantage of using B-splines are that their formu-
(a) : Point constraint lation is linear, and they are a special case of the more
general NURBS form. Eq. (1) can be written in a matrix
form as:
8 9
>
> P1 >>
>
> >
>
>
> >
< P2 >=
Ct B1;p t; B2;p t; …; Bn;p t . BP; 6
(b) >
> .. >
>
>
> >
> >
> >
: >
Pn ;n×3
Fig. 4. Deformation of a curve subjected to a force. (a) A curve subjected to
a force. (b) The deformed curve.
where C(t) is a vector which represents the x; y; z compo-
curve as: nents of a point on the B-spline curve, and can be written as:
8 9
" !2 # >
> Cx t >
>
1Z 2Ct 2 22 Ct < =
UC a 1b dt; 5 Ct Cy t ; 7
2 C 2t 2t2 >
> >
>
: ;
Cz t
where UC represents the deformation energy of a curve, C(t) where [B] is the blending matrix, and [P] represents the
represents arbitrary points on a curve as a function of the control points which can be written as:
parameter t, a is the stretching stiffness, and b is the bend- 2 3
ing stiffness. By minimizing the energy functional UC, the P1;x P1;y P1;z
6 7
shape of a deformable model can be obtained. The nice 6 P2;x P2;y P2;z 7
6 7
feature of a deformable model is that it simulates the physi- 6 7
6 . .. .. 7 : 8
cal behavior of real objects. The designer can foresee the 6 . 7
6 . . . 7
modified shape of curves by imagining what the shape of 4 5
real objects will be if they are subjected to forces and Pn;x Pn;y Pn;z
constraints. This is a big advantage over the control-points
Using the energy functional defined by Eq. (5), and substi-
based manipulation approach. In the control point based
tuting Eq. (6) into Eq. (5), we get:
approach, it is very hard for users to know beforehand
" #T " # " 2 #T
what the shape will be after changing the position or weight 1Z T 2B 2B T 2 B
of any control point. However in a physically based UC aP P 1 bP
2 C 2t 2t 2t2
approach, users can modify and fine-tune the shape of
" # ! " " #T " #
curves interactively in an intuitive way. This requires less
22 B 1 Z 2B 2B
user input, and less trial and error is needed to achieve the P dt P T
a
desired effect. 2t2 2 C 2t 2t
" #T " #! #
22 B 22 B
1b dt P: 9
2t2 2t2
Eq. (9) has the same form as the variational principle in

finite element methods and can be written as
: Original location of a point on the curve
Z
(a)
: New location of a point on the curve U 12 aT Ka; 10
V
where [K] is the stiffness matrix, and [a] an unknown vector.

Eqs. (9) and (10) are compared to find
" 2 #T " 2 #!
Z 2B T 2B 2 B 2 B
Kn×n a 1b dt:
C 2t 2t 2t2 2t2
(b) 11
Fig. 5. Deformation of a curve subjected to constraints. (a) A curve The governing equations for a deformable B-spline
subjected to constraints. (b) The deformed curve. model are obtained in a similar manner to those in static
tn-k+1 2 1 and 1 1. The integrand is also changed from t to j .

Curve element Zti 1 1 1 Z1
ti fi;j t dt ti11 2 ti fi;j
ti 2 21
ti+1

1 1
1 2 jti 1 1 1 jti11 dj: 17
2 2
This integral is now in the standard form of the Gauss
quadrature method and can be evaluated numerically. In
Fig. 6. Elements of a B-spline curve. general a polynomial of degree 2n 2 1 is integrated exactly
by n-point Gauss quadrature. B-spline functions are in fact
equilibrium problems. The system equation is given by polynomials, and for the most widely used quadratic and
cubic B-splines, three Gauss points are sufficient to evaluate
Kn×n Pn×3 f n×3 ; 12 the above integrals exactly. This results in the following
integration.
where [f] is a force vector and is related to the specified user
Zti 1 1 X
3
geometric constraints. This equation can be simplified into fi;j t dt Wk fi;j jk : 18
three independent equations given by: ti k1
KPx fx ; KPy fy ; KPz fz : Wk are Gaussian weights, and j k the Gaussian points. By
using Eq. (18), all entries in the [K] matrix can be evaluated
13
one by one.
Solving these equations, the new control point positions can
be obtained such that the resulting B-spline curve satisfies 2.4. Constraints
the specified requirements. Constraints are efficient tools in the direct manipulation
approach. The basic idea of applying constraints is to fix
2.3. Calculation of [K] matrix some of the parameters on a curve. These parameters could
be positions of points on curves, or tangent or normal
Gaussian quadrature is used to evaluate the integral given vectors to points on curves. By applying constraints, every
by Eq. (11). First, a B-spline curve is meshed into small point on a curve can be taken as a “control point”, and thus it
curve segments, and each curve segment is regarded as an greatly increases the flexibility of curve manipulation. In a
element. In this work, adjacent knot vectors are taken as an physically based manipulation approach, constraints are
element, e.g. {ti ; ti11 } is an element (see Fig. 6).The entry i satisfied in the context of minimizing the deformation
and j in the [K] matrix is given by energy of curves. In other words a curve designed by the
! physically based manipulation method will have the fairest
Z 2Bi;p t 2Bj;p t 22 Bi;p t 22 Bj;p t shape (smooth and realistic shape) among all the curves
ki;j a 1b dt: which satisfy the specified constraints. The constraint
C 2t 2t 2t2 2t
problem can be defined Q mathematically as follows.
14 Given a function x1 ; x2 ; …; xn ; and knowing that the
variables x1 ; x2 ; …; xn have the relationshipQ Cx1 ; x2 ; …;
Let
xn 0; solve for x1 ; x2 ; …; xn which make x1 ; x2 ; …; xn
stationary, and at the same time satisfy a set of equations
2Bi;p t 2Bj;p t 22 Bi;p t 22 Bj;p t
fi;j t a 1b ; 15 Ci x1 ; x2 ; …; xn 0: There are similarities between
2t 2t 2t2 2t constraints problem and design of curves.Q We may consider
Eq. (14) can be then written as x1 ; x2 ; …; xn as the control points, x1 ; x2 ; …; xn as the
deformation energy functional, and Cix1 ; x2 ; …; xn 0 as
Z Zt1 Zt2 the specified constraint on a curve. There are two methods to
ki;j fi;j t dt fi;j t dt 1 fi;j t dt 1 … solve this problem. These are Langrange multiplier and
C t0 t1
penalty methods. Using Langrange multipliers, all the speci-
Ztn 1 p fied constraints can be satisfied exactly. However, its draw-
1 fi;j t dt: 16
tn 1 p 2 1 back is that the total number of unknowns will increase and
therefore the total number of equations to be solved will
Eq. (15) can be evaluated using the De Boor algorithm [15] increase. On the contrary, the penalty method does not
and each integral in Eq. (16) can be calculated using Gaus- possess this drawback, but it can only ensure the constraints
sian quadrature. A transformation t 1=21 2 jti 1 to be satisfied approximately. In this work, we use the
1=21 1 jti11 is used to change the integration limits to penalty method to make the program more interactive. In
P2 When Eqs. (21) and (22) are substituted into Eq. (23), we get
U C 1
2 PT KP 2 PT {f } 1 aB0 P 2 C0 2
w=3.0
P1
w=1.0 1
2 PT KP 2 PT {f } 1 PT aB0 T B0 P
2 2aB0 PC0 1 aC02 : 24

As 2B0 PC0 is a number, Eq. (24) can be written as
U C 1
2 PT K 1 2aB0 T B0 P 2 PT {f }
P0 P3 1 2aC0 B0 : 25

Fig. 7. Push/pull effect of weights in a NURBS curve. To simplify this equation define
K 1 2aB0 T B0 ;
K and
fact, as the penalty number increases the approximate solu-
26
tion obtained from the penalty method will converge to the {f } {f } 1 2aC0 B0 :
exact solution.
Consider Q once again the problem of obtaining stationary Eq. (25) is now written as
values of x1 ; x2 ; …; xn , with a set of constraint equations
Uc 1
PT KP 1 PT {f }T : 27
Ci x1 ; x2 ; …; xn 0: The constraint equations can be writ- 2
ten in the vector form as: This equation is in the standard form of the variational
principle. From Eq. (27) we can write a set of linear equa-
C T C1 x1 ; x2 ; …; xn ; C2 x1 ; x2 ; …; xn ; … C1 ; C2 ; …: tions.
19
KP {f}: 28
Note that the product C C T
1 1 … is always posi-
C12 C22 This set of linear equations can be solved by a linear equa-
tive. Clearly, when constraints are satisfied, CT C will also tion solver to find the new positions of the control points[P].
be zero, and the variation dC T C equals zero when C T C The vector {f} is associated with the specified user
reaches its minimum, e.g. zero. Therefore, we can now write constraints. In the next section the same approach discussed
a new functional here will be extended to develop a deformable model for
Y Z NURBS curves.
Y 1a C T uCu dV; 20
3. Direct manipulation of NURBS curves
wherein a is the penalty number. The deformation energy of
B-spline curves have the form: NURBS curves are rational forms of B-spline curves.
They are defined as:
U 1
2 PT KP 2 PT {f }: 21 X
n
Ni;p twi Pi
Introducing a point constraint Ct0 C0 results in the i0
X
n
Ct X
n Ri;p tPi ; 29
following equation:
Ni;p twi i0
8 9
>
> P0 >>
i0
>
> >
>
>
> > where
< P1 >=
B0;p t0 B1;p t0 ; …; Bn;p t0 . 2 C0 0 Ni;p twi
>
> .. >
> Ri;p t X :
>
> >
>
n
>
> > > Nj;p twj
:
Pn ; j0
or Ri;p t are the piecewise rational basis blending functions of

NURBS curves, Ni;p t are the same blending functions
B0 P 2 C0 0: 22 defined earlier for a non-rational B-spline curve, and wi is
the weight of the control point Pi and must be a non-negative
Taking the constraint into consideration, the deformation real number. The weights offer NURBS curves extra
energy functional can now be modified to degrees of freedom, which allow a large variety of shapes
to be generated. Piegl [1] has given a geometric interpreta-
U C UC 1 aC 2 C0 2 : 23 tion for these weights, and described their push/pull effect.
Hyperplane w=w0
P'h
Ph
Hyperplane w=1
P'
P
: Original curve
: New curve after P is constrained to P'.
h 'h
Note: P and P are in the same hyperplane w=w0.
Fig. 8. Perspective projection when weight of the constraint is unchanged.
As weights increase, a curve is pulled closer to its correspond- 3.1. 3D NURBS versus 4D B-splines
ing control points. As weights decrease, a curve is pushed
away from its corresponding control points. Fig. 7 illustrates The blending functions in the NURBS formulation
the push/pull effect of the weights. The weight of control point incorporate the unknown weights wi, and therefore,
P2 is increased from 1.0 to 3.0, while the weights at the other following the procedure used to solve for the deform-
control points are kept unchanged. While NURBS curves able B-spline curve will lead to a set of non-linear
enjoy all the properties of non-rational B-spline curves, they equations. Solving these equations will complicate the
also possess additional properties. For example NURBS whole problem, and increase the computation cost. In
curves can be used to represent precisely the close-form shapes this paper a homogenous coordinate system is intro-
such as conics, quadrics. NURBS curves are the general- duced to map the 3D NURBS curve into 4D space.
ization of the non-rational B-spline curves, and when all the NURBS curves are transformed to 4D rational B-spline
weights are set to be equal, NURBS curves degenerate to curves. Based on the linear deformable model developed for
non-rational B-spline curves. B-spline curves, NURBS curves are manipulated in the 4D
Hyperplane w=w0'
P'h
Ph Hyperplane w=w0
Hyperplane w=1
P'
: Original curve
: New curve after P is constrained to P'.
h
Note: P is in hyperplane w=w0,
h
P' is in a different hyperplane w=w0'.
Fig. 9. Perspective projection when weight of the constraint is unchanged.
homogenous space. Finally the modified curves are mapped homogeneous space. The components of Phi are
back to the 3D Cartesian space. A detailed discussion of 8 9
>
> wi Pix >
>
perspective mapping and 4D homogenous coordinate >
> >
>
>
< wi Piy >
=
system is given in reference [3].
Pi
h
: 31
Any control point associated with a NURBS curve could >
> wi Piz >
>
be represented in a 4D homogeneous coordinate system >
> >
>
>
: >
;
with four coordinates wx; wy; wz; w. This point represents wi
the Cartesian point x; y; z when it is normalized as
We can see from Eq. (30) that the linear relationship
x; y; z; 1. In fact, a NURBS curve in the 4D homogeneous
between a NURBS curve and its control points is restored,
coordinate system becomes a B-spline curve. Based on this
and Eq. (30) has exactly the same form as the B-spline form,
idea a NURBS curve can be written in 4D homogeneous
except Phi now has four components instead of three. One
form as:
natural way to solve this problem is to manipulate the
NURBS curve in 4D space, and then map it back to 3D
X
n
space.
C h t Ni;p tPhi ; 30
i0
3.2. Linear model of a deformable NURBS curve
where C h t represents a NURBS curve in the 4D homoge- A new set of control points defined by Eq. (31) is substi-
neous coordinate space, and Phi are the control points in 4D tuted in Eq. (13) to find the following four equations for a
DMCS user interface
File View Construct Manipulate
Open Save Graphic Exit Redraw Zoom Eye Direction Extrude Revolve Add Constr Del Constr Weight
Fig. 10. The modulus of DMC program.
deformable NURBS curve. upwards increases the weight value, and moving the
mouse downwards decreases the weight value. The differ-
KPx fx
h
KPy fy
h
KPz fz
h
ence between the new weight value and the original weight
value depends on how much the mouse is moved. The new
KPw h fw : 32
NURBS curve will be solved and displayed continuously as
the user moves the mouse. All these curves satisfy the speci-
Similarly constraint equations for a NURBS curve in 4D
fied constraint, however the shape of the curve segment near
homogeneous coordinates can be written in the following
the constraint changes. This process will continue until the
form:
user obtains a desired curve shape and releases the mouse
BPx h Cx w BPy h Cy w BPz h Cz w button. By using this method, a large variety of shapes,
which satisfies the specified constraints can be generated,
BPw h w; 34 and the user can choose the best one. Therefore, compared
with B-spline curves, direct manipulations of NURBS
where Cx ; Cy ; Cz are coordinates of the constraint in 3D curves are more flexible.
space, and w is the weight of the constraint in 4D homo-
geneous space. In view of the relationship between the 3D
Cartesian coordinate and the 4D homogeneous coordinate,
we can see that any value of w will ensure that the
constraints are satisfied when a NURBS curve is mapped
back into 3D space. This situation is illustrated in Fig. 8
where point O is the projection origin, and w 1, w w0
are two different projection planes. The hyperplane w 1
can be viewed as a 3D Cartesian space, and the hyperplane
w w0 corresponds to a 4D homogenous space. If w
remains at its original value, e.g. the constraint will remain : Original locations of the constraints
in the same hyperplane as the original point then only the : Target locations of the constraints
x; y; z coordinates of the new control points will change,
while their weights will not change. If w changes, the (a)
constraint will move to a different hyperplane. This situation
is illustrated in Fig. 9. In this case, both the x; y; z coordi-
nates and the weights of the new control points will change,
but the specified constraint is still satisfied. Therefore, by
changing w, many different curves which satisfy the speci-
fied constraint can be generated.
In solving Eq. (32), w is specified by the user, and the
forth equation is solved first for the weights of the control
points. These weights are then substituted back into the first
three equations, so that this set of equations can be solved.
In the program developed in this work, when the user speci-
fies a constraint, the weight of this constraint remains at its
original value, and the corresponding new curve will be
solved and displayed. The user can change the weight (b)
value by selecting “Weight” command, then picking the
constraint and moving the mouse. Moving the mouse Fig. 11. (a) Original B-spline curve. (b) Modified B-spline curve.
4. User interface 5.1. Example 1: B-spline curve
To demonstrate and verify the curve manipulation The first example is a B-spline curve. Its parameters are:
scheme developed in this paper, a program called DMC Order of the curve p 4.
(Direct Manipulation of Curves) has been developed. The Number of control points n 5.
program was developed using Borland C 1 1 4.5, and runs Knot vector tk 0:0; 0:0; 0:0; 0:0; 0:3; 0:7; 1:0; 1:0; 1:0;
under Windows environment. The program is organized in a 1:0:
layered structure. The core of this structure is the data struc-
ture of B-spline, and NURBS curves, respectively. Upon To modify the shape of this curve, five constraints are
each data structure lie the “File”, “View”, “Construct” and applied. The original curve and the constraints are shown
“Manipulation” modules. The outmost layer is the user in Fig. 11(a). In this figure, squares denote the original
interface, which consists of menus for input and output of locations of the constraints, and circles denote the target
data, graphic display and various manipulation operations. locations of these constraints. The modified B-spline
Fig. 10 illustrates the program structure. curve is shown in Fig. 11(b). As shown here all the
The “File” module provides four options: “Open”, constraints on the modified curve are satisfied.
“Save”, “Graphic file” and “Exit”. By choosing
“Open” option, the user opens an input file, and the 5.2. Example 2: NURBS curve
data defining a curve or surface are read into the
memory. The curve to be modified is then displayed on This example presents the manipulation of a NURBS
the screen, and the user can start the design process. By curve with the following parameters:
choosing “Save” option, the data defining the modified
1. Order of the curve p 4,
curve will be written to an output file. If “Graphic file”
2. Number of control points n 5.
option is picked, the image of the curve will be written to
an DXF format data file, and this file can be imported into
AutoCAD. In this way the image of a curve can be hard
copied to a printer or a plotter.
The “View” module provides users flexibility in viewing
a curve under design. When the user opens an input file,
initially, the curve is always fitted to the screen. The user
can zoom in, zoom out and change views at any time by
selecting the corresponding options. This will help the user
to make the right decision in the design process. (a)
The “Construct” module is used to revolve or extrude
curves into surfaces. By using this options, surfaces of revo-
lution and surfaces of extrusion can be conveniently created
from a cross-section curve, and surface design is simplified
to curve design.
The operations for manipulating curves are provided in
the “Manipulation” module. By choosing “Add constraint”,
the user applies a constraint on a curve under design. In
curve design, the modified shape of a curve is immediately
obtained and the screen is refreshed to show the new curve (b)
as the user moves a point on a curve to a new location. For
NURBS curves, the “Weight” option is available to modify
their shapes. The user first picks a constraint on a curve and
then moves the mouse in the upper right or lower left direc-
tions. This results in an increase or decrease for the weight
of a selected point.
5. Results
(c)
To demonstrate the capability of the developed curve
manipulation method, some examples are presented in this Fig. 12. (a) Original NURBS curve. (b) Modified curve with uniform
section. All the curves in these examples are manipulated by weights for the constraints. (c) Modified curve with different weights for
specifying constraints. the constraints.
(a) (b)
(a)
Fig. 13. (a) Initial underformed straight line. (b) Sihouette of a human face.
3. Knot vector tk 0:0; 0:0; 0:0; 0:0; 0:3; 0:7; 1:0; 1:0; 1:0;
1:0.
Similar to Example 1, five constraints are applied. The original
NURBS curve and the applied constraints are shown in Fig.
12(a). In the first case, all the weights of these constraints
(circles show constraint locations) remain the same, and the
modified NURBS curve is shown in Fig. 12(b). Clearly, the
new curve satisfies the specified constraints. In the second
case, the weight of the third constraint changes from
1.492517 to 3.900495, and the modified NURBS curve is
shown in Fig. 12(c). This shows that the modified NURBS
curve still satisfies the specified constraints, but the shape
of the curve is totally different from the one given in Fig.
12(b). The shape of the curve near the third constraint is
flatter now. Therefore there is more than one solution for
this problem and a large variety of curves can be generated
which satisfy the specified constraints.
5.3. Example 3: silhouette
In this example, a silhouette of a human face is designed

using a straight line. The design starts with an undeformed line (b)
defined by a cubic B-spline curve with eighteen control points.
Fig. 14. (a) Cross section of the pot as a deformed NUBRS curve. (b)
The curve is directly manipulated by dragging different
Surface model of the pot.
points on the curve, to their new locations. This process
continues until the final shape shown in Fig. 13 is generated.
on the curve, the cross section of the pot is generated (Fig.
5.4. Example 4: pot 14(a)). Finally, the cross section curve is revolved to create
the pot shown in Fig. 14(b).
In this example, a pot is designed as a surface of revolu-
tion. The surface design problem is simplified to a curve
design problem by creating a cross section as a curve and 6. Conclusions
then revolving it. The design starts from a straight line, with
a cubic NURBS formulation. By applying five constraints A direct manipulation scheme for B-spline, and NURBS
curves using geometric constraints has been presented. The [2] Piegl L. Modifying the shape of rational B-splines. Part 2: surfaces.
deformation energies of these parametric curves are deter- Computer Aided Design 1989;21(9):538–46.
[3] Au CK, Yuen MMF. Unified approach to NURBS curve shape modi-
mined and minimized based on the finite element method. fication. Computer Aided Design 1995;27(2):85–93.
Two deformable models are developed. One is a linear [4] Forsey DR, Bartels RH. Hierarchical B-spline refinement. Computer
model for B-spline curves and the other is a non-linear Graphics 1988;22(4):205–12.
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linearize the NURBS formulation. Based on a homogenous curves. Proceedings of the Graphics Interface 89. Los Altos, CA:
Morgan Kaufmann. 1989. p. 33–9.
coordinate representation, a 3D NURBS curve is trans- [6] Fowler B, Bartels R. Constraint based curve manipulation. Computer
formed into a 4D B-spline curve. The linear deformable Graphics & Applications 1993:43–9.
model developed for a B-spline curve is then modified [7] Hsu WM, Hughes JF, Kaufmann H. Direct manipulation of free-form
and used for a NURBS curve. By adjusting the weights of deformations. Computer Graphics 1992;26(2):177–84.
the constraints, a large variety of curves can be generated [8] Rappoport A, Hel-Or Y, Werman M. Interactive design of smooth
objects with probabilistic point constraints. ACM Transactions on
which satisfy the specified constraints. The deformable Graphics 1994;13(2):156–76.
models used in the present scheme relates curves to real [9] Terzopoulos D, Platt J, Barr A, Fleischer K. Elastically deformable
objects, and assigns them physical properties. A designer models. Computer Graphics 1987;21(4):205–14.
can easily foresee the shape of the modified curve by [10] Terzopoulos D, Fleischer K. Deformable models. Visual Computer
imagining what the shape of a real object will be if it 1988;4(6):306–31.
[11] Celniker G, Gossard D. Deformable curve surface finite elements for
is subjected to the same constraints. In the direct free form shape design. Computer Graphics 1991;25(4):257–66.
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individual degrees of freedom of curves such as control surfaces. Proceedings of the Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics.
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Direct Manipulations of B-Spline and NURBS Curves

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Advances in Engineering Software 31 (2000) 107–118