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

Have any of you tried "modo"? (see link) It's a 3D modeler, and at the moment it appears that's all it is, but WOW! The feautures are amazing! There's a downloadable 30-day-limited, but fully-functional demo (allows saves and exports) at the website, along with MANY video tutorials you can save to your HD. It also comes with complete documentation. It's $695.00, which may seem alot for something which only models and doesn't render, but for it's amazingly-advanced UV tools alone, it's worth it, imo. It's also got all the standard advanced modeling tools, including sub-patch, plus some new ones which may be unique to it. Check it out! Please forgive me if you've all been talking about this already. I just found this forum. :)

MOdo's nothing new here. How about telling us (and showing us) some of your experiences with it?

Well I'm planning on a massive modo session this weekend, so I'll have some experiences to tell about after that. I had never heard of it until the other day when I saw it advertised at CG Talk, so I don't have any experience with it yet except for the usual screwing around with it like we all do when checking out a new program, such as checking out the tools, seeing how it exports and what information the export contains... scale and positioning of objects when imported into other programs, and such. In other words, things that are important to me. Such as a .obj export includes a .mtl file, but not bitmap texture info, and it imports LightWave 8 models beautifully, with materials and layers, point and part groupings intact. Sorry if I upset you with this posting..you "sound" kind of irritated.

Nope, not irritated, just curious. Looking foward to seeing what you do with it.

The free update will have rendering.

"Looking foward to seeing what you do with it. " Well, now, I suppose I'll make a model with it, eh? Either that or curse its name for eternity out of frustration. ;)

lol, well I have a ton of programs I've done that with. If it turns out to be like one of those, at least the mapping tools rock. :)

I hear ya man. :)

Is Modo 3.6 times better than Hexagon?

I tried Modo a few months ago, and I could not find any list of objects in the scene. Did I miss something?

Yeah, the object list is there, in one of those windows on the right. Takes some searching. It took me quite a while to figure out how to have multiple viewports...for that matter, modo seems to have quite a steep learning curve. I only had to play with LightWave for just a couple hours before I was able to make something, but modo's getting the better of me. And it crashes. Oh, how it crashes...

"Is Modo 3.6 times better than Hexagon?" Can Hexagon render sub-pixel dissplacements, 3d paint with real time dissplacement? Try buying a standalone renderer/paint package for the same price ;)
How about falloffs usable with the majority of tools...falloffs with selections, edgeweights, extrudes, polygon reduction (201)etc, etc.Pelt mapping.

"And it crashes. Oh, how it crashes..." Are you running the latests nVIDIA drivers by any chance? If you are go back to the 78.01 version driver...the latest drivers have some major OpenGL issues.

"It took me quite a while to figure out how to have multiple viewports...for that matter, modo seems to have quite a steep learning curve." Errrrrrrmmmm, how about reading the manual, just pressing the numeric "0" key on your keyboard would switch between quad and single view...if one key press constitutes a steep learning curve, no wonder you haven't got to grips with it

Really people...Modo has one of the best help systems about, it even has a mini teaching video for each function or command on the press of "F1"...use it and you will find that you will be up and running in no time.

Cheers

Message edited on: 11/14/2005 07:40

Message edited on: 11/14/2005 07:44

"Are you running the latests nVIDIA drivers by any chance?" As a matter of fact, I am. It said so on the modo site that I ought to, and that they were pleased that Nvidia was working with them. I didn't do it right away, but the first time I opened modo it told me I ought to. I don't know that I want to revert though, because updating my driver helped out my Lightwave interface. My card, a Ge-Force FX 5700 before I updated the driver would have a problem every now and then...releasing memory, or something. Sometimes when I opened another Open GL app, I'd get a brief "flash" of what I had been seeing earlier in a different program. That doesn't happen anymore. I also used to see artefacts in LW modeler, which also are now gone. "Errrrrrrmmmm, how about reading the manual..." Yeah, that's what I ended up having to do. ;) "if one key press constitutes a steep learning curve, no wonder you haven't got to grips with it" Well, that's a bit harsh now, don't you think? Not very cheerful of an attitude at all.

The nVIDIA issue. It may be worth your while checking your CPU usage when running an OpenGL app...some reports are saying that the drivers run the CPU at 100%. I apologise if I did come across as having a rather abrupt attitude, but it also seems to me that far too many people are too happy to just publically slate a software without doing research into the problems. Yes an app may crash and if it is down to bad programming then fine; it deserves all it gets...but, critism without a background knowledge of what is the cause is just as bad an attitude. As for ease of use. Yes, Modo isn't an open, pose, done type of app, but a very powerful SubD modeller. That type of power has some complexity, but I think it would be hard to find that kind of power combined with ease of use in a modelling app, like Luxology have created. When you think that Modo is in use by people from the humble hobbiest right through to pro studios and even NASA, I think you start to see how versatile it can be. Like anything in life though, it has to suit your mindset...that is why everybody has their own personal choice of software they wish to use. Cheers

No, my CPU stays within normal range. I have an ASUS motherboard which comes with this "ASUS probe" program which monitors everything and I always have it open on my second monitor, just to watch such things. There might be an issue with certain cards in certain configurations, but mine is doing great. I am actually impressed with modo. My crashes are more than likely a result of me pushing it too hard, too quick, trying to learn it as the demo clock ticks down. The documentation IS good, and the video tutorials I downloaded are very helpful. I'm planning on buying it, if that means anything. :) Like I had stated earlier, the UV tools alone are worth its price.