Modo is a fantastic modeller. IMO its the best soft for modelling - by far. Ive used it for a year and a half and couldnt be happier.
You should download the 30 day free trial. Remember that your speed will be dependa t on the hotkeys and forms you have setup. Also, downloaded scripts like seneca maynard's are essential. Ill go so far to say that if you dont have senecas scripts and know how to use them you will slow down _a lot_
modo is great, and silo was great in it;s days, but devlopmeant of silo has compleaty halted, there aren't even bug fixes going towards it, which it really needs, so i wouldn't pay money for silo in it's current state.
I also hear it has a great rendering engine too ?
Also if i buy Modo, do i get lifetime updates ?
~Wentzel
Yeah Modo is great, the modeling tools are similar to Lightwave but more advanced (eg. Topology Tools, CA Tools...). But the Viewport Display is slow on ATI\AMD Cards, thats a big con! And NO you don't get lifetime update! ALl you get are Service Packs for the Version you have purchased, but have to pay every X.Point Release.
Modo also has a nice renderer, the shader tree can be strange at the begining , just try it out! You also have simple Baking Tools , but they are very basic...don't compare them with max or xnormal (no bake cage!)...
Regards.
I really hate what's happening to Silo, I mean I've never had time to have a good munch on it, but when I used it, it felt just so great to have such a minimalistic app with a clear focus on poly modelling.
I mean with the possibilities Zbrush gives right now it would be great to have a simple lightweight modeller if you're an environment artist, but the future of Silo seems to be highly unsure at the best.
They've just shut down the forum on nevercenter, I don't think it's a sign of a will to develop it further.
But maybe they'd release it as OS or at least as a freeware at some point.
Modo is ok but its cut tools arent great. Its not a fast modeller, its a more careful deliberate modeller.
Every time i read a thread about modo on this board someone says that its not a fast modeller. This simply is not true. Your speed in the program is dependant on your hotkeys and scripts and how much time you have practiced in modo. There seems to be some people who have the misconception that you cant use the cut tool properly or something. Well, let me tell you that this simply isnt true. The cut tool is very powerful if you tick the right settings when you select it.
Every time i read a thread about modo on this board someone says that its not a fast modeller. This simply is not true. Your speed in the program is dependant on your hotkeys and scripts and how much time you have practiced in modo. There seems to be some people who have the misconception that you cant use the cut tool properly or something. Well, let me tell you that this simply isnt true. The cut tool is very powerful if you tick the right settings when you select it.
People who can use Modo say it's one of the fastest modelling app. There is nothing wrong with cut tool. If any one have problem with modelling in Modo it's because they lack knowledge about Modo or are trying to incorporate habits from other apps.
I recently made the switch to Modo from 3dsmax. I've a couple months in and I'm fairly happy. It helped that one of my co-workers made the transition before me so I had someone I could ask when I was stumped on workflow.
The biggest reason I changed was out of frustration with autodesk and 3dsmax. Autodesk hasn't seemed interested in -really- improving max in a long time. Any major change comes with a bunch of caveats. The UI has gotten pretty bad and the program just isn't as responsive anymore.
I will say the biggest let-down I ran into when switching to Modo was how goofy their export pipeline is. Smoothing groups aren't as clearly defined as in other applications and the workflow for assigning them is lame. And you cannot export selected, you always have to copy and paste your geo into an empty scene if you want to only export part of your scene. Also there's no modifier stack. Which means getting yourself in a new mindset, and maybe making a lot more save files
Modeling in Modo is way faster for me, the workflow for adjusting modifications is a lot nicer, little handles for things. Snapping actually works, it's amazing all the bullshit workarounds I've had to use in Max to get snapping to work correctly in 3d just dont apply in Modo, snapping just works....weird
you cannot export selected, you always have to copy and paste your geo into an empty scene if you want to only export part of your scene.
Try this script. I assign mine to Ctrl+O
js_exportSelectedToObj.py
#python
# Export Selected To Obj
# Exports the Selected Geomtetry to an OBJ file
# @author: Johan Steen
# @author URI: http://www.artstorm.net/
# @copyright: Johan Steen
# @date: 30 September 2009
# @modified: 30 September 2009
# @version: 1.0
# @revisions
import lx
#** CLASSES **#
# Debugging class (Experimental while learning some python)
class Debugging:
# Constructor
def __init__(self, contents=None):
self.contents = contents or []
lx.out('Debugging class initialized')
def set_trace(self, state=False):
lx.trace(state)
#** FUNCTIONS **#
#** APPLICATION **#
# Output script info to the Event Log
lx.out("Script: exportSelectedToObj.py")
lx.out("Version: 1.0")
#Debug = Debugging()
#Debug.set_trace(True)
# Copy the selection to a new temporary scene
lx.eval('select.copy')
lx.eval('scene.new')
lx.eval('select.paste')
# Setup the file dialog and open it
lx.eval('dialog.setup fileSave')
lx.eval('dialog.title "Export as..."')
lx.eval('dialog.fileType scene');
lx.eval('dialog.fileSaveFormat obj extension');
try:
lx.eval('dialog.open')
except:
dialogAbort = True
lx.eval('!scene.close')
# If file requester wasn't aborted
try:
dialogAbort
except NameError:
# Get the filename, save it and close the temporary scene
filename = lx.eval('dialog.result ?')
lx.eval('scene.saveAs {%s} wf_OBJ false' %filename)
lx.eval('scene.close')
Every time i read a thread about modo on this board someone says that its not a fast modeller. This simply is not true. Your speed in the program is dependant on your hotkeys and scripts and how much time you have practiced in modo. There seems to be some people who have the misconception that you cant use the cut tool properly or something. Well, let me tell you that this simply isnt true. The cut tool is very powerful if you tick the right settings when you select it.
I dont bother so much with keyboardy shortcuts, but even with them its still slower than Wing3d or Silo. You have to activate the tools then deactivate them, for one reason why.
In Wings3D or Silo I can select any edges and connect them quickly. In modo I use like loopcut, it always usually miss's some edge's I'm presuming because it only work on quads. The other cut tool is slower than the simple select and cut method in the other programs.
I dont bother so much with keyboardy shortcuts, but even with them its still slower than Wing3d or Silo. You have to activate the tools then deactivate them, for one reason why.
In Wings3D or Silo I can select any edges and connect them quickly. In modo I use like loopcut, it always usually miss's some edge's I'm presuming because it only work on quads. The other cut tool is slower than the simple select and cut method in the other programs.
You don't have to activate the tool... you can change that in Pipeline tab. In any tool you want. Loop Slice in Modo stops on non quads because it doesn't know where to go... seems reasonable ;P in max it's the same but maybe there is better solution and I just haven't seen it yet. I never had an issue with cut tools in Modo. You just have to know strenghts of each tool.
I never used Wings or Silo I heard good things about Silo but now it's pretty much dead. There is even movie on youtube where guy created compilation of the crashes he had in Silo
@WarrenMarhall
It does perfectly capable of handling smoothing groups,since version 501.Not sure which version you last tried.It doesn't have smoothing groups tab like in max but hey it works.
@Wentzel
There's boolean and drill tools in modo,booleans are not a useful practice for hi-poly modelings but sometimes it comes handy,it's not really big issue to ignore whole app though(and same for your crash issues in 3dsmax).Under the mesh edit tab there's many options about booleans and drills,which works very well for me.
Not 3d app but only you can make good art,if you feel in need of utilities that modo brought,just go for it.It's a very capable application.People already mentioned many advantages/disadvantages above.
Replies
You should download the 30 day free trial. Remember that your speed will be dependa t on the hotkeys and forms you have setup. Also, downloaded scripts like seneca maynard's are essential. Ill go so far to say that if you dont have senecas scripts and know how to use them you will slow down _a lot_
Yeah Modo is great, the modeling tools are similar to Lightwave but more advanced (eg. Topology Tools, CA Tools...). But the Viewport Display is slow on ATI\AMD Cards, thats a big con!
Modo also has a nice renderer, the shader tree can be strange at the begining , just try it out! You also have simple Baking Tools , but they are very basic...don't compare them with max or xnormal (no bake cage!)...
Regards.
Knowing my time with Blender, the features are probably there, you just haven't found them yet.
I mean with the possibilities Zbrush gives right now it would be great to have a simple lightweight modeller if you're an environment artist, but the future of Silo seems to be highly unsure at the best.
They've just shut down the forum on nevercenter, I don't think it's a sign of a will to develop it further.
But maybe they'd release it as OS or at least as a freeware at some point.
Every time i read a thread about modo on this board someone says that its not a fast modeller. This simply is not true. Your speed in the program is dependant on your hotkeys and scripts and how much time you have practiced in modo. There seems to be some people who have the misconception that you cant use the cut tool properly or something. Well, let me tell you that this simply isnt true. The cut tool is very powerful if you tick the right settings when you select it.
People who can use Modo say it's one of the fastest modelling app. There is nothing wrong with cut tool. If any one have problem with modelling in Modo it's because they lack knowledge about Modo or are trying to incorporate habits from other apps.
The biggest reason I changed was out of frustration with autodesk and 3dsmax. Autodesk hasn't seemed interested in -really- improving max in a long time. Any major change comes with a bunch of caveats. The UI has gotten pretty bad and the program just isn't as responsive anymore.
I will say the biggest let-down I ran into when switching to Modo was how goofy their export pipeline is. Smoothing groups aren't as clearly defined as in other applications and the workflow for assigning them is lame. And you cannot export selected, you always have to copy and paste your geo into an empty scene if you want to only export part of your scene. Also there's no modifier stack. Which means getting yourself in a new mindset, and maybe making a lot more save files
Modeling in Modo is way faster for me, the workflow for adjusting modifications is a lot nicer, little handles for things. Snapping actually works, it's amazing all the bullshit workarounds I've had to use in Max to get snapping to work correctly in 3d just dont apply in Modo, snapping just works....weird
Try this script. I assign mine to Ctrl+O
js_exportSelectedToObj.py
#python # Export Selected To Obj # Exports the Selected Geomtetry to an OBJ file # @author: Johan Steen # @author URI: http://www.artstorm.net/ # @copyright: Johan Steen # @date: 30 September 2009 # @modified: 30 September 2009 # @version: 1.0 # @revisions import lx #** CLASSES **# # Debugging class (Experimental while learning some python) class Debugging: # Constructor def __init__(self, contents=None): self.contents = contents or [] lx.out('Debugging class initialized') def set_trace(self, state=False): lx.trace(state) #** FUNCTIONS **# #** APPLICATION **# # Output script info to the Event Log lx.out("Script: exportSelectedToObj.py") lx.out("Version: 1.0") #Debug = Debugging() #Debug.set_trace(True) # Copy the selection to a new temporary scene lx.eval('select.copy') lx.eval('scene.new') lx.eval('select.paste') # Setup the file dialog and open it lx.eval('dialog.setup fileSave') lx.eval('dialog.title "Export as..."') lx.eval('dialog.fileType scene'); lx.eval('dialog.fileSaveFormat obj extension'); try: lx.eval('dialog.open') except: dialogAbort = True lx.eval('!scene.close') # If file requester wasn't aborted try: dialogAbort except NameError: # Get the filename, save it and close the temporary scene filename = lx.eval('dialog.result ?') lx.eval('scene.saveAs {%s} wf_OBJ false' %filename) lx.eval('scene.close')I dont bother so much with keyboardy shortcuts, but even with them its still slower than Wing3d or Silo. You have to activate the tools then deactivate them, for one reason why.
In Wings3D or Silo I can select any edges and connect them quickly. In modo I use like loopcut, it always usually miss's some edge's I'm presuming because it only work on quads. The other cut tool is slower than the simple select and cut method in the other programs.
You don't have to activate the tool... you can change that in Pipeline tab. In any tool you want. Loop Slice in Modo stops on non quads because it doesn't know where to go... seems reasonable ;P in max it's the same but maybe there is better solution and I just haven't seen it yet. I never had an issue with cut tools in Modo. You just have to know strenghts of each tool.
I never used Wings or Silo
My only disappointment with Modo is the way it handles (or, rather, doesn't handle) smoothing groups. It's kind of hokey...
It does perfectly capable of handling smoothing groups,since version 501.Not sure which version you last tried.It doesn't have smoothing groups tab like in max but hey it works.
@Wentzel
There's boolean and drill tools in modo,booleans are not a useful practice for hi-poly modelings but sometimes it comes handy,it's not really big issue to ignore whole app though(and same for your crash issues in 3dsmax).Under the mesh edit tab there's many options about booleans and drills,which works very well for me.
Not 3d app but only you can make good art,if you feel in need of utilities that modo brought,just go for it.It's a very capable application.People already mentioned many advantages/disadvantages above.