Hi Kevin,

You wrote:
> I know this functionality does not exist in MoI and last time
> I used Rhino it doesn't exist either.
> Once a surface is created, say a swept surface and then trimmed.

MoI does not currently have anything to insert new points into an already existing surface directly, but Rhino has had that function (InsertKnotSrf command) since the Rhino v1.0 release. So that is probably something that you just did not know was in Rhino. That is understandable since there are so many functions in Rhino it can be difficult to learn them all.

I do expect to put this into MoI as well, just the surface control point manipulation toolset has not been a major focus for the earlier versions of MoI since I generally expect that someone who is very interested in pulling surface points around would want to use a subd modeler for that type of thing instead since those programs are totally dedicated to that kind of workflow and are handling that type of thing very well already.


> Or could something like 3DS Max's FFD modifiers be
> programmed into the software.

Yeah, I think that this will be able to happen eventually. But it is not an easy task to make this happen on solids that have joined edges at trimmed surface edges, instead of the natural surface edge of the underlying surface. The latest Rhino version 4.0 has added some various functions to do this kind of thing, so if you want to deform NURBS models with cage editing, you could look into using Rhino for doing that.


Please understand that I only have so many hours in the day to work on MoI. It is just not possible for every single conceivable feature across every single conceivable style of modeling to be added into MoI all at the same time. Many things will take some time to add.


> My agenda with this thread is as follows
> <....>
> 3. To show Michael some of the problems users face when
> modelling up difficult subjects which may help him (it may not)
> further develop the software.

Definitely not a bad plan, and I appreciate the effort!

However, just to be clear, I am already completely aware that MoI's current toolset is not as good for making "point squishing" type editing directly on surface/solid models as you would do in a subd modeler.

It has actually been an intentional design decision to focus priorities in MoI on areas that are not exactly the same as other programs. That can help people get a more well rounded toolset so that they can get more of an expanded toolset when using MoI along side of another program, rather than trying to do a kind of half-effort on duplicating things that are already handled well in your other software.

Over time I do expect to fill in more of the kind of toolset that you are asking about with point squishing, but since it is working well for you in your other modeler, that is all pretty much going as intended currently for the early versions of MoI.

It is the general intention that you would use your other software to do the tasks that suit it better, instead of trying to do those in MoI.

- Michael