ZSurf is pretty cool, especially since its free.
ZSurf tends to work better with simpler, more graphic shapes. I've tried giving it a more detailed images and the fine details can get melted away. Its also difficult to get consistently flat areas, like a background, or flat tops on raised areas.
Rhino has a command that is similar, using a greyscale image to displace a nurbs surface.
Many poly modeling apps give you the ability to apply a displacement image, or displacement sculpting. Its possible to convert a model with millions of polys to nurbs through Geomagic or similar if you need it to do cnc machining.
T-Splines is a plugin for Rhino that allows the use of a poly model to deform a nurbs surface. While it does produce a nurbs model from a poly model, its usefulness as a converter is limited by the number of polys it can handle. Then there is PowerSubdNurbs (plugin for Modo, SolidWorks, 3dsMax), which is in some ways similar to T-Splines, and also limited by the number of polys it can handle.
|