What seemed like a simple tube connected to a few clusters actually proved to be far more complex in the end. The tube itself had to be modelled to a length which would allow it to extend from the pump to Ed's mouth with ease, meaning I had to refer to other scene file dimensions. I also had to take into account the movement of the tube and therefore include extra slack.
Once I achived the correct height I increased the subdiv width to approximately 50 and then scaled every other edge loop to achieve the nice ripple effect. After a quick smooth (preview 3), it was simply a case of modelling the mask itself. This wasn't too complicated as it was an entirely seperate object.
When happy with the design, and after centring everything to the orgin and freezing transformations, I set about connecting the two together and creating some controllers. Using the newly discovered wire tool, I was able to deform the tube with a curve made up of 7 vertex points located directly inside it. I then attached clusters to each control point and in turn parented them to snapped locators, making sure transformations were frozen along the way.
The final stages of the process involved hiding the curve, creating a nurbs circle control for the mask movement, parenting the mask to the end locator, and creating a final group control which enabled me to scale and move the unit wherever I wished.
After alot of trial and error, grouping, ungrouping, parenting, unparenting I finally manged to get a working oxygen tube....
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