Firts of all - I wasnt sure where to post it.
(and I thing it can save time to somebody)
So, did you ever needed phone cabel like this?
And did you ever have problems like this?
So, maybe you will an appreciate this .blend file to safe your time
http://mond.own.cz/blender/phonecabel/phone_cabel-EN.blend.zip
INFO .blend: destructive technique in layer 1 (mesh, array, bezier) and layer 2 (only bezier), my try with non destructive option in layer 3 - mesh (armature in layer under)
For those who want’s to know more - here is a tutorial of technique that I tried:
First I used simple technique with mesh,array,bezier curve (or you can use bezier circle, bezier curve, bezier curve). These two are good in diferent ways. BUT in this way curve deform as empty space between cabel rotations as cabel.
So your chance is to use tricky view side for render (to hide deformation) or use bigger radius.
I looked for some more realistic result so I tried to use ARMATURE that is nothing new and looked crazy to do bones for whole rotations of cable, but finally it tooks me 15 min. to do whole cabel like this.
VIDEO tutorial (11min/17MB):
http://mond.own.cz/blender/phonecabel/TUT-phone_cabel.mov
(video is setup to play 3x speed - I didnt want to bore you with my slow manipalation but if you download it you can play slower I thing)
To do cable long once more takes 3min.
Sorry if I use some old or primitive modeling (I did it in a way that a know), but if you know how to get result faster please let me know, THNX
For armature I used Auto IK. that is fast but difficult to get position. For easier manipulation it needs setup IK solvers manual (but I don’t know how for now.
Modeling TIPs:
- use CTRL when ever you can
- use Shift+S (to snap) in distance from object you can see your grid resolution you wont to snap
- when you made your first bones correct your envelop Distance
(because i didn’t find a way how to setup parameter for all of them by copying atributes, if you know let mi know please)
Excuse my english.