Can anyone with Silo and Hexagon do a side by side comparason for us? Here's my thing, I can get one or the other right now and I am torn which way to go. I have Amapi 6.1 so I can get Hex for $99 or Silo for 109....

i dont have silo so i cant give an objective veiw point, my apologies. id wait for SHONNER to tell you which to choose. or i wait for the demos to be released and make your own choice. the demo for hexagon is due about 23rd may. personally id never buy an app without trying out the demo. i recommend waiting. stu

I agree Stu. I am currently using Silo's demo and I have to say that the more I use it the more I like it. Hopefully you're right on the date for the demo or it will narrow my choice down to one.

Hi. I am still learning the basics of both apps, so I'm probably not the best person to answer this question either. Silo has some neat features, that's for sure and it's interface is highly customizable from what I've been reading in the NeverCenter forums. I will say that I managed to discover the tools more quickly in Hexagon though. I can't put my finger on why that is. Don't get me wrong, Silo puts the tools wher you can get them too, it's just that I found myself playing more with Hexagon. Silo's recent version (1.4) has some cool new features that I liked in Wings so I may migrate to Silo more if Hexagon is found to lack them. Silo comes with help files but no manual. Hexagon comes with a 228 page PDF manual that has video embedded in it of almost each major feature. It also comes with tutorials for you to follow that seem simple enough. There are now videos you can download of most of Silo's features and there are tutorials avaialable for it at the site. Hexagon is very new on the market, so tutorials may be hard to find for awhile and that may hinder people's choices. Long and short of it though is that I agree with Stu. Wait until you can play with the demo of Hexagon before making your decision. Silo won't have another major upgrade between now and then, so you should be okay. :) Big bonus: Silo let's you map the mouse...I haven't found Hexagon's ability to do that yet.

Interesting. Thanks Teyon. That's exactly what I was looking to get. An unbiased assessment. Hopefully others will also chime in.

The price of Hexagon will jump up for you to $169 in 2 weeks. For non-Eovia customers, Hexagon will cost $249 in two weeks. What are you planing to render your models with? If you have nothing, you may want to wait until Eovia bundles their Carrara renderer (which is an extremely good texturer and renderer) with Hexagon. If you have used Maya and you are thinking of heading that way because you like its interface and workflow, SILO would be a great add-on for it to do quick modeling with.

www.youtube.com/user/ShawnDriscollCG

The price jump with hexagon is why I am trying to figure this out now, before there is a need to shell out the extra $$$. As to a renderer, I have not given that much thought. I have a few programs that can render (poser, shade, bryce) but I have heard nothing but good things about the carrara renderer. I think rendering is secondary right now as neither program offers it anyway. Maybe the way to go is to get Hexagon now at the $99 price and get Silo later as the Silo price is stationary.

I'd have to agree with Teyon. I think Silo is a great piece of software, but for some reason I can pick up on Hexagon a lot faster. I very much recommend testing out the demo before buying. Eovia should have had a demo available at release time, I'd never buy something without trying it first.

I have been using Silo for about 5 months now and find its interface and workflow perfect for me. The recent update just made a great program better. Now to try to compare it fairly to Hexagon, which I have used for only a few hours. Capability, they both appear equally capable and the deciding factor in this one would be user preference & comfort. Stabability, I have not experience any trouble with Silo or Hexagon. I have read MAC users were having some trouble with Hexagon. Something to consider if you use a MAC. Tools, As far as poly modeling they both have similiar tools. Silo offers a topo brush which is not available or I haven't found yet in Hexagon. Hexagon offers more line tools, UV Mapping and Surface Modeling. Note that I haven't tried these yet, but from what I read they appear to be better than the line tools and Auto UV' offered by Silo. Hexagon's tools are very similiar to Amapi and may be a benefit to you. Support, NeverCenter has to have the best software support I have ever seen. They listen to their customers and incorporate their requests into their software. I have had no personal experience with Eovia's support but have read both good and bad concerning it, especially in regard to amapi and bugs. I am quite happy with both apps and if I had to choose one over the other, I would most likely stick with Silo at the moment. But after diving a little more deeply into Hexagon that could change. The way I look at it these two apps are still a lot cheaper than Modo.

Model in SILO. Render in SHADE. I know you've got it.