The creation of believable and endearing characters in computer
graphics presents a number of technical challenges, including the
modeling, animation and rendering of complex shapes such as
heads, hands, and clothing. Traditionally, these shapes have been
modeled with NURBS surfaces despite the severe topological restrictions
that NURBS impose. In order to move beyond these restrictions,
we have recently introduced subdivision surfaces into our
production environment. Subdivision surfaces are not new, but their
use in high-end CG production has been limited.