Turning a curve into a pipe.

Support Modeling
1

Hi folks.

I have a bit of a problem which I could have avoided had I thought about things in the right order, however I didn’t and I’d sooner avoid a hole bunch of hours re-working things so…

I have a load of bezier curves which are masquerading as pipes, however they’re completely smooth and untouched, they work as they are but I’d far sooner they were ribbed.

I know how to create an object and apply a curve modifier, but of course I’ve started backwards.

Is there anyway I can apply a profile to the curve object? I know I could turn it into a mesh and manually apply all the profiling, but there’s a lot of animation attached to the pipe. I could of course rig the mesh and re-create all the animation, … You see the dilemma!

What would you knowledgeable folks suggest?

Thanks.

2

Depending on whether the ribs go along the curve or across

  • Use another curve in the shape of the cross sections as the curve bevel object
  • Use a mesh segment with and array modifier followed by the curve modifier usingt the curve as the guide
3

Thanks for all your help Richard, I sometimes wonder if you’re the only other person here!!