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.