Amusingly enough, I was talking about the Vampire Killer. Which, to be completely honest, isn't a real whip either 75% of the time.
And it's a motion that whips...
...cannot do. From all my experience with mine (I find it funny we both have one) you can't just whip it and have it thrust forward. It's a snapping motion, not a thrusting motion in which the whip shoots forward falls afterward. But maybe I'm just being picky.
Reference here;
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v289/cadientej/JuliusBelmontSprite.gifJulius' from AoS is probably the closest portrayal visually as to how it would really work. Notice the whip snaps down, and doesn't just shoot out straight. It is by no means a proper use of the whip if you're trying to get a crack, but it IS very doable. If you were using it as a weapon like they do in the series, its a pretty quick and basic move to pull, so it makes sense.
On the opposite end, Rondo's was a pretty weird visual way of doing it though. Perhaps they really never looked into it too much, but Julius' is pretty much on the mark, within the gameplay structure and design they've classically had for the series. Obviously you cant get time to stop and have the whip extended for that long as the games show, but yeah, that's a game mechanic more than anything so your attack window isn't a split second.
Leon on the other hand, has a bunch of moves that are actually viable. The one move where he whips it forward, and the sorta wind tunnel effect appears, is actually one of the most basic whip cracks only with added special effects.
As an added bonus, holding the attack button down in CV4, has the most realistic brandish. In the newer games it simply just flops down, but in CV4 it actually flies back with a little momentum. That is pretty much dead on to what would happen if you did it with a real leather whip just leaving your arm extended without pulling it back.
I'd demonstrate but I'm not going to look like a fag flinging a whip around on youtube.