Modeling a Telephone Cord - Using a Helix and Path Deform

Skill Level: Intermediate
A basic knowledge of using 3d Studio Max is assumed.

This is another problem a fellow co-worker came to me about. How to make a helix follow a path. In this tutorial, you will learn how to use Path Deform to make a telephone cord (a simple helix) follow a path (a simple spline).


The grid can get a little messed up on the thumbnails, so click on the images for a larger version.

1) Create a spline that will be the path of the telephone cord.

2) Create a helix. Make sure that the Radius 1 is the same as the Radius 2 and that the sizes are proportional to the size of the path you made previously. Give the Height and Turns an arbitrary value, they will be changed later.

3) Create a rectangle, proportional in size to the helix. Make it have rounded corners.

4) Select the helix. Select Create->Compound->Loft. Click Get Shape and select the rectangle. Change Path Steps to 10 (or whatever looks good on your model). Make sure Contour is on and Banking is off.

5) With the helix selected, add a PathDeform (WSM) modifier. The WSM stands for World Space Modifier.

6) Click 'Pick Path' and select the first spline that you made, then click 'Move to Path'.

7) Select the helix spline (not the loft itself) and adjust it's parameters so that it travels the full length of the path and the turns amount looks good. You use the Measure tool on the Utilities tab to easily find the length of the path.

8) The telephone cord is complete.

A helix following a helix.

Obviously, you can model more than just telephone cords, if you get creative with a lot of helixes, you can make a cord with a mesh netting on it like they use in some computers.

If you are having trouble with this tutorial or you just want to ask me some questions, contact me at kevinjohn3d@gmail.com or just leave a comment on this post.