modeling a curved railing
 

I am currently working on a project that needs a railing that has a curved end ( image below) I was wondering what the best way to make this piece of geometry would be in polygons, or curves any help is greatly appreciated

the curve surface extrude thing

nurbs or sub d would work for this, using poly would make a lot of geometry that might bog down the scene.

Get the createTube mel script (which I believe is on the downloads page here at SM). Create a curved line in the shape you need, then use the script to make the surface. You can change all kinds of attributes within the script, like the thickness of the line, and whatnot.

I agree with Joopson...just create the curve for the railing, than a curve for the shape of the rail (square, circle, oval etc.)...and under surface menu, extrude along path