Best way(s) to create power cords and cables for renderings?

[brent.130528]

I want to add more realistic detailing to my renderings by showing power cords and cables from computers, electrical equipment, etc. What is the best way to create a cord that would meet the male end at an outlet at 90 degrees, then free form back to the object it serves?

[cdatechguy]

I want to add more realistic detailing to my renderings by showing power cords and cables from computers, electrical equipment, etc. What is the best way to create a cord that would meet the male end at an outlet at 90 degrees, then free form back to the object it serves?

You can use a sweep....or even a few different ones to make them look more "loose" since you can only model on a plane...just switch out the planes some...

There is a handheld shower that has the hose modeled somewhere....I think we grabbed it and brought it into one of our detention families...same principle...

[brent.130528]

I just made a fairly nice one. I setup several reference planes and created model lines set to those reference planes. Then, I created a sweep by picking all of the model lines as the path.

One thing I have discovered when drawing the path for a sweep is that when an arc meets a straight line, it must be tangent, or else the sweep cannot be created.

[mthurnauer]

I think making an adaptive component would be a good way. It would offer you a lot of flexibility in how you route the chords.

[dhurtubise]

I think making an adaptive component would be a good way. It would offer you a lot of flexibility in how you route the chords.

The problem with an adaptive component is that it cannot be placed directly in the project environment.