I am trying to wrap a rope around a character
 

I guess I have jumped in over my head but I am trying to wrap a rope around a character I have created. It is a poly character and It needs to be very cartoon-like in nature. I want the rope to indent or squeeze the body heavily where it goes around. I could easily do it as a character already wrapped up, but I wan't to show the animation of the character being wrapped. I am doing this with my son and it is an informal (for fun) project at home.

I need it to indent the body as the rope goes around...about 4-5 times from the bottom of the character to the top. would I be better using a target shape or some sort of deformer. I am a supernoob but I am learning fast. I am a good reader and I have an insatiable thirst for knowledge.

Can someone give me an idea on how to get this started, or let me know of a good tutorial related to this effect.

since I do not even know where to begin, it would be pointless to attach pictures of my work to this point.

also tried deformer
 

I thought I could use a skin deformer. like one used to make a swallowing motion in the neck. but i cannot seem to figure out how to make the indention "stick" as the deformer rotates around the body.

it´s not exactly a rope but it´s the same process. try that link:

http://www.christerb.com/tutorials/maya_modelbraid/

If you select the object and press the Make Live button, the object will turn into a green wireframe and you'll be able to draw a curve directly on to the surface, which you can then use to create the rope path. You'd then need to manually indent the surface like you'd want.

Good luck.

how would i show the animation of the path
 

I can handle the manual deformation (thanks)
sorry for not being more clear, but how would I show the animation of the indention.
the rope is to be wrapped and then pulled to tighten.
so all the indention happens at once. can you set vertex modifications as key points? and then key point back to the original shape when the rope is removed?
OR (it just know came to me) could I use the indention as a target shape?

thanks for everyone's help.

I would probably use a blend shape.