Hi Jean-Paul, sorry I did not realize you were going to STL it instead of render it.

So yes, render-only stuff would not work for you, but a sub-d or brush based modeling program would work for that since they can generate polygon output.

Once you get into this realm of small bumpy details, you are just probably going to be better off with one of those tools that is oriented towards making organic shapes with small sculpted features in it. That kind of a target is just not generally a great fit with NURBS modeling only.

For adding details in a brush-based system you can use MoI as part of the workflow to generate a base initial shape, like the smooth wing before applying bumps to it. That can be a good combination.


re: achieving seamless continuity for small details in STL - yeah since your final STL model is made up of small flat facets anyway, it probably does not do you much good to worry about perfect continuity in very small features of the shape like in each individual rib...

If you did want to focus on that, a sub-d modeler is much more oriented towards that goal.

- Michael