I think what he means can be seen in studying wing construction (F5E being
an excellent example). From root to tip it seems to be a more simple curve
then it really is. It would be fairly simple to describe the shape of a foil
(think wing section) with a single taper, versus a foil with a double or
triple taper. Then, given that you could do that, throw in a few flairs and
twists. I know you could define a simple  aircraft as a series of
discontinuous functions (and therefore shapes), but the effort would require
intimate knowledge of advanced math functions (advanced for most, anyway)
for more complex forms. Too, a lot of code tweaking would be involved in
complex constructs (not to mention finding/defining the limits of each
function within a particular section/taper). This is not beyond Pov,
obviously, but it would very easy to get lost in the code. Further, I
suspect most artists could care less about math (apologies to Chris Young,
et al).

I tried it, realized it could be done, and then opted to use meshes instead
(I'm lazy and greedy with my render time). ;)

Grim

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