Datasheet

Lesson 01 | Primitives
PROjECT 01 | LESSON 01 | PRIMITIVES
49
L01_005_rename.tif
Change the plane’s dimensions4
The plane is a procedural model. This means that it is broken down into parts called nodes.
One node contains its positioning information, one contains its shape information, and
another contains input information that denes the plane’s construction history using
attributes such as width, height, and subdivisions. You can edit this Input node’s attributes
in the Channel Box in order to edit the plane’s basic shape.
The Channel Box is found at the right side of the screen and lets you make changes to key
attributes very easily.
From the Channel Box’s • Inputs
section, click on polyPlane1.
This will make several new attributes
available for editing.
Type • 100 in the Width entry eld and
press the Enter key.
Type • 100 in the Height entry eld and
press the Enter key.
Now the plane is very large in the
Perspective view, but this is intended
since you don’t want to see any ground
plane edges as you are working.
Note: If your Channel Box is not along the right side of the screen, you can access it by
selecting Display → UI Elements → Channel Box/Layer Editor.
L01_004_channelbox.tif
Channel Box
Note: Another method for increasing the size of the plane would be to scale it. In Maya,
you can often achieve the same visual results using many different methods. Over
time, you will begin to choose the techniques that best suit a particular situation.
Rename5 the Plane node
You should rename the existing Transform
node to make it easier to nd later.
Click on the • pPlane1 name at the top of
the Channel Box to highlight it.
Type• the name ground, then press the
Enter key.
Renaming the node in the Channel Box
Current
object
Inputs
section