Couldn’t you have asked something simpler? ;o) I think your best bet is to keep everything as “flat” as you possibly can to avoid confusion. Basically you should try and use multiple layers/ masks and animate each of them separately – one for the loops, one for the dangling ends of the bands and so on. This way you will have the most control. Once you are happy with your mask animations and timing and only then should you start using the 3D part. In most cases then a slight bend will suffice. You could also turn some of the layers into 3D layers and position them using AE’s standard methods. If you do that all in a sub-comp, you can then further modify this with effects or build some 3D “shading” as explained in one of my tutorials here and used in my text style presets on my webpage (just follow the link in the signature).
Mylenium
[Pour Myl