Degree is a mathematical property of a curve or of a surface that controls how many CVs per span are available for modeling. The degree is always represented mathematically as a positive whole number. Degree can be thought of as the curve or surface’s degree of freedom to bend. A degree 1 curve connects its edit points with straight lines in a polygonal fashion. A degree 2 curve can have one bend between edit points, and so on.
Maya has the ability to create curves with a degree of 1, 2, 3, 5, or 7. The default degree in Maya is 3, which has four CVs for the first curve span. A curve degree of 3 is sufficient for almost any modeling task. You may want to use degree 5 or 7 curves if you are producing 3D surfaces for subsequent export to a CAD application for industrial design purposes.
Surfaces can have different degrees across their width and length. For example, a surface could be degree 3 along its width, and degree 5 along its length.
The degree of your curves can affect data transfer to other software packages. Some other packages cannot accept curves with degree higher than 3.
