On Mon, Dec 18, 2006 at 01:23:17AM +0100, Esben Stien wrote:
I can't imagine someone wanting to use the non-uniform rational part of NURBS in a vector drawing tool
The reason for wanting NURBS is its local control property. I fit surfaces together and modifications on one side of the surface will deform the other side, so it will not line up exactly to another surface; there will be gaps. Also a good thing is being able to stitch together surfaces.
But, these are also properties of proper Bezier curves. If you don't use the NUR part of the NURBS acronym, you have exactly Bezier curves. The local control property comes in when you have a Bezier curve of order lower than number_of_control_points-1. So, the real question is if Inkscape allows you to create Bezier curves of order less than number_of_control_points-1. Basically, take the continuity you want to maintain, and that is how many control points away you need to be to mantain the integrity of the curve.
The Non-Uniform, Rational part of NURBS (NUR) provides easy modelling of conic curves/surfaces with splines.
Hopefully, I have been at least a little helpfull.
Jeff