Practical Experience - Introducing Maya 2011 - page 261

Figure 6.97
The wheel!

Wheel t e SSe ll ati o n Wheel t e SSe ll ati o n

What are all those numbers you input for the revolve surface? Because you're generating the
wheel surface as a polygon mesh using a NURBS surfacing technique, you have to tell Maya
the proper parameters for the poly surface. If the tessellation values, which are determined
by the Tessellation method and the attribute values below it (as shown in Figure 6.96) aren't
just right, the wheel's mesh will be revolved without all the details you need. These settings
are deemed to be the best tessellation for the wheel through trial and error by creating the
wheel, changing the tessellation values interactively, and seeing the results update through
surface history.
As a test (save your scene first!), select the newly revolved wheel mesh before you delete
history on it. In the Attribute Editor, you'll see a tab for the recently created mesh called
something like nurbsTessellate1. Click that tab to open its attributes, and change some of the
values under the Advanced Tessellation Options ➔ Standard Fit Options heading. Because
history is still attached to this mesh, it changes the mesh interactively as you change the tes-
sellation options. After you've had your fill, revert back to your saved file, and continue with
the exercise at hand.

What are all those numbers you input for the revolve surface? Because you're generating the
wheel surface as a polygon mesh using a NURBS surfacing technique, you have to tell Maya
the proper parameters for the poly surface. If the tessellation values, which are determined
by the Tessellation method and the attribute values below it (as shown in Figure 6.96) aren't
just right, the wheel's mesh will be revolved without all the details you need. These settings
are deemed to be the best tessellation for the wheel through trial and error by creating the
wheel, changing the tessellation values interactively, and seeing the results update through
surface history.
As a test (save your scene first!), select the newly revolved wheel mesh before you delete
history on it. In the Attribute Editor, you'll see a tab for the recently created mesh called
something like nurbsTessellate1. Click that tab to open its attributes, and change some of the
values under the Advanced Tessellation Options ➔ Standard Fit Options heading. Because
history is still attached to this mesh, it changes the mesh interactively as you change the tes-
sellation options. After you've had your fill, revert back to your saved file, and continue with
the exercise at hand.