ZenCables

Creates a procedural cable bundle between two endpoints with start, end, mid master, ribbon controllers, and a global move control for fast layout in the scene.

• Use the Move control first to place and orient the whole setup before shaping individual ribbon sections.
• Ribbon controller count defines how much directable shaping you get between the endpoints.

Seed, random start, random end, and random sag work together to create repeatable layout variants without manually rebuilding the rig from scratch.

• The same seed reproduces the same cable arrangement and look variation.
• Use random start and end to spread cables both angularly and radially inside the endpoint rings.

Global sag, additive random sag, and multiple ribbon controllers make it easy to push the bundle into clean drapes, overhangs, and hero shapes.

• Sag affects the overall bundle, while ribbon controllers give you local sculpting control.
• Section overrides can reduce or remove sag on specific ribbon sections for cleaner overhangs.

Adjust thickness, twist, random thickness, random profile, and random rotation to move quickly from clean harnesses to loose, varied cable bundles.

• Round, Rect, Flat, Twin, and Bundle profiles cover both simple and stylized cable looks.
• Random thickness and random profile are stable, so rebuilds do not reshuffle the look unexpectedly.

Bounce drives the main bundle motion, while optional per-cable wobble adds extra animation breakup for cables that should feel more alive.

• Keep Bounce broad and use cable wobble for smaller, noisier breakup.
• Cable offset helps stagger the animation phase between neighboring cables.

Override individual ribbon sections or selected cables with local sag weighting, cluster visibility, thickness, twist, rotation, and profile changes without breaking the shared rig.

• Select one or more ribbon controllers to edit section-level overrides.
• Select a cable mesh or cable curve to override just that cable's look.

The Optimizations tab lets you lower or raise cable mesh density across the full rig so you can keep the setup lighter while working and denser for final output.

• Use lighter mesh density while shaping dense bundles.
• Raise the density again before creating the final baked output.

Bake selected rig creates a clean static geo-only result that can be handed off for shots or exports without the live cable rig overhead.

• The live rig stays available in the scene, while the baked result contains only the final geometry.
• Bake is ideal once layout, overrides, and look are approved.

What is ZenCables used for?

ZenCables builds art-directable cable bundles between two endpoints with ribbon controllers, seeded layout variation, section and cable overrides, look controls, mesh density tuning, and a clean geo-only bake for final output.

Which host application does ZenCables support?

ZenCables is built for Autodesk Maya and is distributed through AO Studio Tools.

Where can I download ZenCables?

Download the current AO Studio Tools package from https://aostudio.tools/getthetools.html and install it through AO.Hub.