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NEW INDIE SURVEY: Kits, Plugins and Training for MODO Indie?

Hey modonauts,

I know that everyone is pumped up and awaiting the release of MODO Indie 901, but in the meantime I've been working with others in the background to try and evolve the software more.

If you can please take the time to take this survey it will greatly help us out in order to know how to approach the subject of kits, plugins and training for MODO Indie.

To incentivize users of MODO Indie to take part in our survey, I've been given approval to give out one full copy of MODO 901 to a random lucky winner. This survey is targeted at current MODO Indie users and you can only take the survey once so make it count okay!

The winner will be announced on Monday September 14th which should give all of you plenty of time to take part in the survey.

Your feedback matters, so we're doing our very best to evolve MODO Indie's offerings for the you, the community.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PM9RD2W

BladeEvolence OUT! :)

Replies

  • Bek
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    Bek interpolator
    I didn't do the survey as I'm not an indie user BUT as a general perspective... Scripts! Scripts scripts scripts. Modo needs scripts. I hope some sort of whitelist or something is being considered for modo indie.

    Also; I'm pleased to see you posting here on polycount and asking for specific feedback. That's a very good sign for game artists using modo.
  • ZacD
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    ZacD ngon master
    How about people that really want to subscribe to MODO Indie, but there's a few areas lacking that are holding us back?
  • Stromberg90
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    Stromberg90 polycounter lvl 11
    I don't use modo indie at the moment, but I took the survey anyway since I have used it before and got some opinions on it.

    I use maya LT which shares common "problems" with modo indie.
  • Joost
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    Joost polycount sponsor
    I own Modo indie but I don't use it actively right now because there's no script support. I imagine there's other people who feel the same way.
  • Zack Maxwell
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    Zack Maxwell interpolator
    Holy crap, the winners are announced the day before my birthday. That would be hilarious if I won.
  • Dataday
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    Dataday polycounter lvl 8
    Modo Indie and Maya LT share a common restriction, no python scripting. I do not think either of them have the luxury of changing that for obvious reasons. In Maya LT you can have some limited mel scripting, in Modo Indie, a user can create macros and tools from combos of other tools.

    The neat thing the survey reveals is an interest in possibly compromising a bit more with kits.
  • MagicSugar
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    MagicSugar polycounter lvl 10
    I think Modo Indie (or whatever version they're marketing to game devs) would be more of a success for The Foundry if they just enable poly and scripting restrictions.

    Who cares about dynamics, animation (even in the full version character anim is still a bitch and you pay extra for a good rig), and rendering. All these handled by game engines.

    They should just make it super easy to handle multi million files from zbrush, do bakes with little to no errors (see, this is not the creative side), and export with no errors to unreal and unity. All without having to rely on outside scripts.
  • Aabel
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    Aabel polycounter lvl 6
    Just copy Side Effects on indie licensing.
  • JedTheKrampus
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    JedTheKrampus polycounter lvl 8
    Which game engine does character animation well from scratch? I know UE4 has some capabilities but it's pretty minimal compared to Maya or Blender.
  • Dataday
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    Dataday polycounter lvl 8
    MagicSugar wrote: »
    I think Modo Indie (or whatever version they're marketing to game devs) would be more of a success for The Foundry if they just enable poly and scripting restrictions.

    Who cares about dynamics, animation (even in the full version character anim is still a bitch and you pay extra for a good rig), and rendering. All these handled by game engines.

    They should just make it super easy to handle multi million files from zbrush, do bakes with little to no errors (see, this is not the creative side), and export with no errors to unreal and unity. All without having to rely on outside scripts.

    I agree, originally they had that with the first SE version before it became Indie. Somewhere along the line someone must have said, "hey lets target everyone" instead of a specific market. This sounds nice but in practice it makes the product less appealing when other non used features force the need for certain restrictions for a particular market.

    As it stands right now, I am not sure they can get rid of features like rendering and dynamics because they already offered it. If they could get away with it, removing the render option would go a long way in removing any fear of cannibalization taking place.

    Still, Modo Indie is solid. It can take multimillion poly meshes that are non editable, for easy retopo and baking. Just dont expect to export the million poly mesh.
    Aabel wrote: »
    Just copy Side Effects on indie licensing.

    That forces an annual sub and really no way to track the kind of revenue people make with it. Not sure how feasible that would be with Modo Indie, much less how appealing it would be.
  • Zack Maxwell
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    Zack Maxwell interpolator
    Urgh, I'm totally losing it in anticipation.
    I've been wanting to get a full license forever, so the fact that this happens to fall directly on my birthday is messing with me hard.
    I'm gonna be so disappointed :polytwitch:
  • lefix
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    lefix polycounter lvl 11
    I once won a modo tshirt. When I finally got it in the mail, it didn't fit :/
    Maybe better luck this time!
  • Michael Knubben
    Joost wrote: »
    I own Modo indie but I don't use it actively right now because there's no script support. I imagine there's other people who feel the same way.

    Exactly this, which also sums up my survey response fairly well.

    I love that Modo Indie exists, but without scripts it feels more like Modo For Hobbyists.
  • Zack Maxwell
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    Zack Maxwell interpolator
    MightyPea wrote: »
    Exactly this, which also sums up my survey response fairly well.

    I love that Modo Indie exists, but without scripts it feels more like Modo For Hobbyists.
    It's the same thing with Maya LT; the lack of Python scripting and plugins is way too big of a loss.
    Saying those might allow it to compete too effectively with the full version isn't good enough.
    The problem they're creating is bigger than the problem they're trying to fix.
    Those are the last people anyone should be emulating the business practices of.
    Most software does well just by putting an income limitation on the indie version, so being that aggressive in the limitations is a very anti-consumer approach.
    Trying to maximize profits is fine, but viewing your own customers as the enemy can only backfire.
  • Fomori
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    Fomori polycounter lvl 12
    One thing that Maya LT has over Modo Indie is an auto rigging solution (Human IK) and also just a robust animation system. For anybody looking to do character animation for their game, or invest in software for future games, they're just so much more likely to go with Maya LT because of this. From personal experiences with indie studios, it's more clearly the case.

    So modelling and rendering is great in Modo. It just doesn't seem as complete a package enough for small studios to replace Max/Maya.
  • Dataday
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    Dataday polycounter lvl 8
    On the rigging side of things, one of purposes of this survey is to see if external kits are viable (probably as DLC) with Modo Indie.
    One such kit is the ACS
    [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i20FXD80-XM[/ame]

    Regarding the scripts, its a tough challenge they face. Like Maya LT they cant toggle on python scripting because then the limitations are meaningless. They are not copying Maya LT either in the fact that they are providing every feature, from rendering to dynamics, where as LT is just a select few.

    Whether this will change or not is in up in the air, but surveys like this are trying to give them the kind of info they need as they plan the next move. This may mean it will take awhile for some stuff, but at least you know its not due to the intent to screw over a user base.

    When 901 indie comes out, it should be a nice update for most people.
  • Dashiva
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    Dashiva triangle
    Substance.

    I use Blender but would love to try Modo. Substance support would make me pull the trigger on a license, because it would finally give me a definite reason to go with Modo over Blender.
  • Zack Maxwell
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    Zack Maxwell interpolator
    You're holding out on us, man. This suspense is killing me. KILLING ME!
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