unrolling a reel, diameter getting smaller

Support Animation and Rigging
#1

Hi everyone,

I need to animate unrolling thick tape from a reel. I’ve seen it where you apply a spherical curve to your tape, it’s beautiful but not quite what I’m looking for.
I need to the diameter of the tape roll actually to get smaller as I unroll the tape. Does anybody know whether this is possible and how to do it?

#2

Yes it is, using a curved path, a cross section, animated bevel objects and rotations, I have done this before but will need to find the blend file so it may take a few days of searching my machine. I’ll get back to you…

Cheers, Clock.