Animating a Film Reel

[Robken]

i've done something like that before.

first I modelled a proxy model just to see where the thing was going to lie on the ground and to know how much film I was going to need.

then I calculated the length of the proxy (the film in your example). You can measure the length by drawing a curve through the proxy and then using a curveInfo node (the arcLength attribute gives you the lengths of the curve).

then I'd model a straight filmreel the same length as the one I calculated.
duplicate that straight model and use a wireDeformer or lattice to shape it like the proxy (the end result of the film).
then just make a blendshape from the straight reel to the deformed reel and set the weight to 1

now you can use a script like "flatten" www.petershipkov.com on the straight reel to make it grow over time. as the straight reel grows, you'll see the deformed reel grow aswell, into the shape you want :).

[Aikiman]

This would be an opportunity to use nCloth if you have Maya 8.5. Follow Robken's advice up to modelling the finished shape, then convert this into nCloth, animate the film reel to wind the tape back onto the reel, cache, render, then reverse animation in comp.

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