Anyone using MODO on a regular basis? Comments please :^)

What are U using now ??? What do you want to know ? :)

Hi Kemal, Over the last 20 years I've had the opportunity to use most of the major spline modelers on the Mac platform. My favorites have been the ALIAS products and FORM-Z. Now I'm primarily using SHADE 7 PRO. I do concept and illustration so I really don't need more animation capability. SILO is the poly modeler that I'm playing with now and I've just discovered MODO. I've been wondering how much more evolved MODO is compared to SILO. I wish there was a MODO demo but... Do you have positive or negative impressions about MODO that you'd like to share? Do you use it in a production environment? Bottom line... what more could I do with MODO than with SILO. Is it worth the extra $$$. Thanks for your response :^)

Attached Link: http://www.luxology.com/modo/eval/

I do not use Modo cuz I believe that modeling app should not be that expencive, regardless of capabilities, investing that much money in rendering app is more close to my idea of spending money :)

However, I do happen to know lot of ppl who actually use Modo in everyday life...

This is what I learned so far:

Modo is a excellent application as a whole, every possible interface option is there, plenty of room to customize, except mouse (which is much less customizable then in SILO, at least till now)...

There is huge manual and crapload of tutorials on the CD and online, enough to make you busy for months to come...

Excellent support, forums, their advertizing campain and all other stuff in between make ppl believe that MODO is the last thing you will ever have to buy !!! :P

Modo does everything from regular poly modeling tools, morph targets, UV mapping ant whatnot (macros, internal prog language, etc)...

However, what about ppl who actually want to go to modeling part right away ? What about us who do not wish to go through bunch of tutorials just to learn how to do something relatively simple ?

Modeling application is supose to be relatively simple and very, very fast (nothing should be introduced if it's gonna mess up the workflow), yet MODO have this thing that U have to enter the tool first then do something with it and then drop the tool ??? Too slow of the workflow for my taste (I'm keyboard shortcut oriented, edge flippin' speed obssesed modeler, hehe) :P

Anyways, if you have enough money, and time to learn/use it, go for it, but if you want to go with simpicity and real speed (modeling and learning), Silo is the good option...

IMHO, the best $100 I ever spent in my life, so far :D

P.S. I'm amateur so there is no production thing involved, I do modeling only for fun...Is it worth extra $$$ ? In my opinion, NO, not for what I do, ofcourse, you can do more then with SILO, but real question is do you realy need it ! :)

MODO trial is actually available (see the top link)! :D

There is a Modo demo now, check their site.

Just don't be fooled into thinking a high price tag means it's a better app! I've not tried Modo yet but from what I've read it's still missing some important features and probably couldn't be described as mature. Silo is missing some features as well in my opinion. I doubt there is anything you could model in Modo that you couldn't in Silo (or Wings for that matter, and Wings is free) but Modo probably has a wider range of techniques available. I believe it has fairly good spline tools whereas Silo's spline options are very primitive. Then again Cinema CE has very good spline tools and that's free!

Bottom line is you've got to try them yourself and see which you prefer. The new Eovia modeller Hexagon sounds very good and may be just what you're looking for, no demo yet though.

Is Modo worth the extra $$$, in my opinion NO modeller is worth that much. Bear in mind XSI experience is about $200 cheaper, has all the tools you're ever likely to need (including animation, dynamics, top of the line renderer etc..... and is one of the most respected apps on the planet! No mac version though unfortunately. I think Luxology's pricing strategy is waaaay off. But maybe that's just me! - Baz Oops! Cross posted there Kemal!

Message edited on: 05/16/2005 03:18

Thanks for the input guys. I know both of you through your work and I value your opinions. I agree with what you both said and it is the common sense conclusion that I came to before I asked for input. I just thought that someone might have some physical experience with MODO. I actually did just find the Luxology download link while browsing CGTalk. I like SILO a lot too and see much potential there. Thanks again for your valuable insights. I'm sure we'll be connecting again on the various forums. :^)

Take a close look at Modo from Luxology. http://www.luxology.com/modo/201/ I am a Mac user on G5 dual 2.7 They recently showed off their new version, Modo 201 which will be released either in november or december 2005. I am new to 3D. I was learning Maya till i saw Modo. I was totally blown away. I have downloaded a demo of Modo 103 ( the present version) and am learning it and enjoying the experience. They have free video tutorials on web site to help learn as well. Modo 201 introduces modeling, painting and texturing and rendering in one environment. No need to use another software to texture your creations! Modo makes using Maya and cinema 4D a pain in the backside.

marlo: Thanks for your input and replying to such an old post. Iknow that Modo has excellent features and support. I'm very hesitant to depend on one app for 3D. I've been working in 3D modeling for about 15 years and have found that the use of multiple apps gives me more options and keeps things flexible. I like to use the best features of different apps in a combination that achieves my visual goals for constantly changing projects. Since you're new to 3D, you have no idea how much fun and personal satisfaction you have in store. Thanks again.

"I like to use the best features of different apps in a combination that achieves my visual goals for constantly changing projects." Agreed.

Modo has become my main modeler within the last two months. I'm a Mac user and prior to modo I had been using ElectricImage's modeler which I loved. They've discontinued it's development so I started looking into new apps just to be on board something else if and when EIM finally started to seem obsolete as other products continued to develope. ElectricImage was offering a special deal on Silo when they launched version 5 of EI since they were no longer offering their own modeler. I downloaded the demo of Silo and played with it a bit but not a lot to be honest. I had never used a Sub-D modeler before and the interface was unlike anything I'd ever used before so I kept reverting to EIM to get my work done because of time concerns. I saw info on modo and when to the Lux site and was impressed with what I saw there even though I still had no experiance in Sub-D modeling. What I liked though was that modo works as well as a ploygonal modeler as it does a Sub-D modeler. In fact it is able to work a lot like EIM (a solids/NURBS modeler) so I was able to get results from it pretty quickly. I can't say that I ever gave Silo a fair tryout. I've seen great work done with it but then I've seen great work done with almost every modeler I've ever seen. I like modo and I'm happy that the forth coming version (which I've pre-ordered) will have the new layered renderer in it, but in truth I've always felt that the tools which do the best work are the ones that you connect with the best. At the moment my tools of choice are EI and C4D for rendering and modo and EIM for modeling.
Curt