topic Re: Wire/hose help needed in 3ds Max Modeling Forum

Wire/hose help needed

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:09:36 GMT

I'm completely new to 3ds Max, and need some help on the best way to create bendable wires.

I have an electrical control box with switches in the door, and I need to create wires which go from the switches on the door, to the relays inside the box. BUT I need the wires to bend (and not pass through other objects) when I open or close the control box door.

I tried using the hose object to create the wires, which works perfectly as far as bending when the door opens/closes goes, but I can't (or don't know how to?) alter the path of the hose at all. Also, when closing the door the hose pokes through the back of the box.

I can also create the wires using splines, which gives the exact path I want (in the open state), but I have no idea if there's a way to have the wire ends stay attached to objects, and then have the wire bend when the door closes (and not poke out the back).

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Re: Wire/hose help needed

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 18:10:04 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

I can also create the wires using splines, which gives the exact path I want (in the open state), but I have no idea if there's a way to have the wire ends stay attached to objects, and then have the wire bend when the door closes (and not poke out the back).

You can attach the wire ends by adding a Spline Select to the vertex at one end, then add a Linked Xform on top of that selection, which is linked to whatever you want that end attached to. Then do the same for the other end.

Stopping the wires intersecting and colliding may still be a problem, but you will have more control than with hose, via bezier handles.

You may have a middle vertex on the splines. They could all be linked (in the same way) to a helper object which is rigged to stay between the box and door. Maybe a Position and Rotation Constraint, constrained by two more helpers, one attached to the box and the other to the door.

Re: Wire/hose help needed

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 11:03:56 GMT

That worked. Thanks so much!