Creating cables that can drape over objects

Question

I've been trying to create mic cables for a studio scene that can drape realistically over objects, and have had varying success creating a mesh line, extruding vertices to create the basic path and form for the cable, and then converting to a curve and beveling the curve to create a tube.

Then I've converted the tube back to mesh and used the physics tab to apply cloth to it. I've tinkered with various settings, like more or less subdivisions, greater & lesser tension/compression/bend values in the cloth, and it's coming out OK, but I'm having trouble getting the "cable" to not collapse or deform.

Figured out the pinning routine so I can easily pin the cable to the mic, created collision settings so it can drape nicely over a mic stand and floor, used subdivision surface to smooth out the final product, but can't quite get the cable to stay nice & round. Certain bend points tend to flatten out. How can I get the cable to maintain it's roundness?

Any suggestions...?

Answer 1

You can do this wihout cloth simulation, use the Draw Curves tool.

Add a Bézier curve object.

In edit mode delete all vertices (x).

Select Draw Curve from the toolbox

Press N to bring out the properties region, and in the Tool tab set the Draw Depth to Surface.

Then draw your curve freely.

Then set the curve to have some bevel, to make it the width you need.

You might need to adjust the Tolerance and Detect Corner values to fit your particluar needs.

For more detail on the tool read the manual:

https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/modeling/curves/tools/draw.html?highlight=draw%20curve

Answer 2

Susu answer works for this, but maybe in general also check out the 'blender secrets' 1 min videos on cables. Just search on 'blender secrets cables' there are a few very good tips.