Mesh Creation for Procedural Cables

The mesh technique for Cable Systems is ideal when you require the appearance of a 3D chain or tank treads for your mechanism, for example.

A mesh chain made of links

When creating a mesh's graphics geometry for procedural cables, keep in mind the following guidelines:

  • The units are in meters.
  • The mesh's anchor point is located at (0, 0, 0). Most of the time, the mesh's center should be directly at (0, 0, 0) but there are cases where the anchor point is elsewhere, like a track shoe for instance.
  • The geometry should be aligned on the Z-axis, as if the chain/track was directly on the Z axis. For instance, a chain loop mesh would be positioned on the Z-axis with the hole facing the X- or Y-axis.
  • The mesh overlap value is used to specify how much of the mesh extends over the next segment.

For more information, see Customizing the Cable's Appearance.