"Electrical Wires"

[hillsville]

I'm trying to create a path for "electrical wires."  

 

I'm using a bezier curve.

 

I'm unable  to manipulate the bezier curve, i.e., get it to go from point A to point B.

 

When I  move the bezier curve to point B it pretty much does what it wants  -- no control?

 

Can anyone help?

[Des]

Hi, can you maybe post a snapshot of what you're trying to do?

Do you have show controls on the curve?

 

D

[vva]

try this:

 

 

 

 

vva

[hillsville]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the insight.

 

I believe by turning off the "snap" options, I solved my own problem.

 

Thanks, again

[etroxel]

Speaking of wires, does anyone have a fast method for laying out paths for wires/tubes/etc to go around things? The way I'm doing it now is just creating 2d paths and then sweeping them but it's really time consuming to do all the radii and various elevation changes/bends. I'm just wondering if anyone has a better way. 

[DennisA]

How large do the wires have to be? You could also just have the path render as wireframe.
What is your final Display?

[Tech]

Hi Evan,

 

The quickest method is generally to lay out the vector lines without any founds / fillets / radii -- and then to Fillet the corners as desired.

 

You could then Sweep the result -- or as Dennis suggests, just have the wire itself show in the desired display (perhaps in conjunction with a heavier line weight or "render as wireframe" thickness).

[hillsville]

TO: Staff

 

Would you explain further "without any founds/fillets/radi"

 

 

[Tech]

Hi Hillsvile,

 

By that we meant that if you want a combination of straight lines and rounding between them, just draw the straight lines and then use the Fillet tool:

 

 

If you need any further help, can you post a simple example of what you are trying to do so we can see what other suggestions we can make?

[etroxel]

Hi Tech, that's what I'm currently doing. The issue with this is reworking things when they have to be moved - it's not a fast process. Dennis, your suggestion is a good one and it's also what I do until I need to see them in a render, which is when I sweep them. I'm wondering if there's another workflow out there, maybe one that can be adopted from another 3d package altogether, that solves the problem of editing placed wires/tubes after the fact in an easier manner.

[Bo Atkinson]

RE: "after the fact"

 

I normally prefer the V-line while drawing  *and*  switch back and forth with PtSpline for rounded curves of any custom size.

 

(I rarely use other curve tools besides Pt Spline, because it is far more intuitive for people who build things physically).

 

When a wire path is done, then i use Frame tool, in case high res close ups are wanted.

 

Or, for faster work flow, with low res of wire rendering, i use 3dWall, (set appropriately for thickness&height). Very Fast!

[Bo Atkinson]

Another good render, (which also keeps file size way down),  for wires, is to select path with Pick tool, then go to Attributes inside Tool Options, scroll down to Line Weights and try out differing thicknesses for best appearance. This provides the fastest rendering possible, for very complex circuits, but close up views may want more surface details.