How to make corset-like lacing?

wargis

Hello! I wonder, how can one make lacing on a corset or dress by the tools of Hexagon? My first attempt to create a primitive lacing was not very successful because of a wrong way/ Here is an example below-

http://i33.fastpic.ru/big/2014/0319/53/a7d7a5f5d705eea16a4374e579122c53.jpg

When I made it, I decided to create a long thin cylinder at first, to UV-map it, and then to draw a bracket-shaped polyline and bent the cylinder along this line. But it took a very angled shape and I had to apply smoothing (level 2). Smoothing multiplies polygons, so the first trial lacing made of cloned brackets came out very hi-poly. Is there some simpler way to create low-poly bent laces and ropes? I saw corset lacing in commercial models, it goes both outside and inside, and found once a tutorial for 3Ds Max, where the author adviced to draw a bracket from a bent spline. But as I see, Hex has other modeling toolset, than 3ds Max. I tried to draw laces from arcs and curves, applying thickness, but cannot get the necessary shape of a smooth bracket (it comes out too round).
Here is a shot of my lacing to illustrate it.

http://i57.fastpic.ru/big/2014/0319/9a/907885ac69ccd2ec2922978a2bd4429a.jpg

How can I make such smooth curved brackets, avoiding smoothing and increasing polygons in Hex? (Applying decimation destroys the Uv-map, so it's the bad way too.). And how to make such flowing lacing as in these armbracers below? (My first attempt was rough and purely decorative but I'd like to make it normal and realistic).
http://i58.fastpic.ru/big/2014/0319/68/3c7d96f6f469fd4b09c599206c04cc68.jpg

Roygee

Hi Wargis:)

Take a look at this - by one of the greatest Hexagon users ever :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkPBoAt05Jk

wargis

Thanks, Roygee! Working with lines is really more natural for me, though it's a long process. Is it a single tutorial about lacing from EZHexagon, or there is the second part?

Roygee

Far as i can tell, that tut is complete in one video.