Surfaces > Bevel Plus

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As you edit the Bevel Plus options, refer to the following figure, showing the parts of the surface created by Bevel Plus:

Attach Surfaces: This option is enabled if you set the Output Geometry option to NURBS. When Attach Surfaces is on, Maya attaches the beveled areas and the extruded area together to form one NURBS surface. When it is off, Maya creates separate NURBS patches for each area.

For example, you might turn off Attach Surfaces so you can easily apply a different material to the patches in the beveled area than the patch in the extruded area.
Create Bevel: At Start, At End: Turns beveling on or off at either end of the resulting surface. At Start controls the portion closest to the curve and At End controls the portion furthest from the curve.
Bevel Width: Specifies the width of the beveled area as viewed from the front of the resulting surface.
Bevel Depth: Specifies the depth of the beveled area as viewed from the top or side of the resulting surface.
Extrude Distance: Specifies the distance of the extruded portion of the geometry, excluding the beveled areas.
Create Cap: At Start, At End: Turns on or off the creation of surfaces that cap the center area on either end of the beveled surface. At Start controls the portion closest to the curve and At End controls the portion furthest from the curve.
Bevel inside curves: Turns on beveling inside the curve rather than outside it. Turning this option on gives you greater control over the overall size of the beveled surface since you are guaranteed the resulting surface will be no larger than the original curve.
Outer Bevel Style, Inner Bevel Style: The bevel style controls the overall look of the beveled surface. For example, Straight Out creates a straight beveled edge extending outward from the original curve.

You can switch between styles and compare the results by accessing the outerStyleCurve or innerStyleCurve attribute from the Attribute Editor or Channel Box.

The following figure illustrates some of the terms used in the bevel style names:
Same as Outer Style: The Outer and Inner style are for letters or art that have an outer curve and an inner curve, such as the letter O. By default, they share the same bevel style, but you can make them different by turning off the Same As Outer Style option.

Use Tolerance

This option is enabled if you set the Output Geometry option to NURBS. Tolerance determines the degree of accuracy that is maintained between the original curve and the beveled surface. Choose from the following options:

Global: Maya uses the Positional value in the Settings section of the Preferences window (Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences > Settings).
Local: Lets you enter a new value to override the value set in the Preferences window.

Tolerance: If you choose Local, set the degree of accuracy between the original curve and the beveled surface. A low value creates a surface that closely follows the curve. A high value creates a surface that loosely follows the curve.

Output Options

Click the Output Options tab to specify the resulting geometry type and topology.

Output Geometry: Specifies whether to use NURBS or polygons for the resulting beveled surface.

Note
If you choose NURBS, Maya creates trimmed surfaces for the cap areas of the beveled surface. Some external applications, such as game exporters, may not handle trimmed surfaces.
Tessellation Method: Controls the smoothness of the resulting beveled surface using two different methods. Set the method to Count to specify the number of polygons; see Count tessellation method. Set the method to Sampling to specify different degrees of tessellation in different areas of the beveled surface; see Sampling Controls.

Count tessellation method

By setting Tessellation Method to Count, you can specify the number of faces created in the resulting beveled surface.

Face Count: Enter a face count and Maya tessellates the surface to match or approximate the count. For optimum performance, set a value that gives enough smoothness while maintaining a low polygon count.

Note
The actual number of faces will be higher than the Face Count value, because number of faces created for the beveled areas and caps are not included.

Sampling Controls

If the Tessellation Method is set to Sampling (the default), the following options are available. Sampling lets you specify different degrees of tessellation in different areas of the beveled surface.

Along Extrusion

Use these settings to control the tessellation along the direction of the extrusion.

Section: Use this option if you want the space between tessellated subdivisions to be different for the beveled areas versus the extruded area. With Section turned on, the tessellation occurs separately for each section of the beveled surface: the front beveled area, the back beveled area, and the non-beveled extruded area. Each section will have the same number of subdivisions, as specified in the Samples setting.
Complete: Use this option if you want the tessellated subdivisions to be more evenly spaced across the surface. With Complete turned on, the tessellation occurs along the entire beveled surface, from one surface cap to the other.

Samples: The number of subdivisions in the resulting tessellation.

Along Curve

Use these settings to control the tessellation along the direction of the source curve.

Span: Use this option if you want the space between tessellation subdivisions to be different for long spans versus short spans. (A span is the part of a curve between two edit points.) With Span turned on, the tessellation occurs between each span of the source curve. Each span will have the same number of subdivisions, as specified in the Samples setting.
Complete: Use this option if you want the tessellation subdivisions to be evenly spaced across the surface. With Complete turned on, the tessellation occurs along the entire beveled surface, from the curve's start point to the end point.

Samples: The number of subdivisions in the resulting tessellation.

Surfaces > Bevel Plus

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