Modo Indie 10 worth it ?

Andreicus

Hi, i'm currently working on my environment art portfolio using Maya student as my main 3d package and i'm very comfortable with it and i wanted to start making some assets for Unity and Unreal and in the future i would also like to work on some freelance jobs so i would like to get a proper commercial license for the software.
At first i wanted to buy Maya LT but then i saw that it is rental only ( and the price is too high ) and also many other companies have switched from perpetual+rental to only rental and i totally dislike the "pay forever without owning anything" method so at the end of the day my only options are Modo Indie 10 and Blender.

Some years ago i tried all the main 3D softwares from Maya to Cinema 4D to Blender and the ones that i liked the most are Maya and Modo, now with that said i have some questions:

1)  Is it worth buying Modo Indie 10 perpetual ( it is on sale on Steam for 120 € instead of 300 € ) ? Because i read that Foundry want to go rental only in the future and i also read that maybe they won't make a Modo Indie 11, so is Modo Indie 10 too outdated to buy nowadays ?
2) If i use only Modo or Blender can i still get a job in the industry or they will pass you because you aren't using what the company is using ( i know how to use Maya because is what i'm using at the moment but if i buy another software i'll probably use the new one ) ?
3) I read that Modo 10 has a 100k poly export limit, now i usually bake my normal maps in substance painter but i could bake them in modo so are the bake tools in modo 10 good ?

ExcessiveZero

I have no idea about the first though that would be disappointing if they were to go rental only, I would say modo 10+ isn't outdated really all the plugins should work etc but I dunno about indie specifically.

As for industry work id say be ready to adapt, maybe you can be the modo guy and convert people, blender is likely easier to convince an employer to use if it doesn't disrupt the pipeline as there is no extra cost, I know how to use max, used it for way longer than I have modo and I can use maya but would take some time to get up to speed.

 my feelings on it now is 3d is 3d, the concepts are the same, do a refresher every 6 months and make something in max/maya so you don't develop rust, try and get your navigation and custom hotkeys workflow etc relatively the same and then you are good to go across any application put in-front of you .

I do all of my normal baking in modo lately and its working for me

here are a few bake tests I did in modo 10 when I first started 
High poly

To flat plane in marmo

Low poly pretty much cylinder bake

hope this helps your decision 

Andreicus

Thank you for your answer and for the bake tests that you have provided me, i'll make a decision before the steam sales end.

Cibo

My last info was that Maya LT support Mel Scripts (but no modern Phyton addons) but Modo indie has no script support (and people say the fundamentals are lacking without scripts). Modo 11 is out but no Infos  for a Indie version, maybe  they have given it up. Maya Lt has no Renderer, you need something like Unreal4 Engine but the export is smooth and very easy.

My greatest problems in Modo was stability and performance. Use the 30 day Trial version and push around a few million polygons in your workflow. Many features where ununsable for me. Maya is alot besser in this aspect.

Andreicus

Cibo said:

My last info was that Maya LT support Mel Scripts (but no modern Phyton addons) but Modo indie has no script support (and people say the fundamentals are lacking without scripts). Modo 11 is out but no Infos  for a Indie version, maybe  they have given it up. Maya Lt has no Renderer, you need something like Unreal4 Engine but the export is smooth and very easy.

My greatest problems in Modo was stability and performance. Use the 30 day Trial version and push around a few million polygons in your workflow. Many features where ununsable for me. Maya is alot besser in this aspect.

Yes, stability and lack of support from The Foundry along with the export and import limitations ( i read that with Modo 10 you cannot import the latest version of FBX files for example ) were my main concerns.
For now i'll stick with Blender for my commercial projects and i'll switch to Maya LT in the future even if i don't like the rental plan of Autodesk.

Kraftwerk

Ill be blunt as much as i love modo, but the fact they may jump the subscription only bandwagon is concerning, or maybe Autodesk buying them *shrugs* im tired of those chances and can always wholeheartedly recommend Blender. Its ugly as hell to learn yes, I went that road my self but its rewarding in the end and you just have to deal with a few minor shenanigans the Blender Foundation may come up with. But Blender is open source so there are ways to get your troubles sorted if they come up.

Zack Maxwell

Do NOT get Modo indie. It has zero support, will not be getting further updates to the perpetual license, will not be getting further updates on Steam at all, and may get dropped altogether.
There's little reason not to just go for Blender instead, unless you just really prefer the workflow.

RN

Andreicus said:

2) If i use only Modo or Blender can i still get a job in the industry or they will pass you because you aren't using what the company is using ( i know how to use Maya because is what i'm using at the moment but if i buy another software i'll probably use the new one ) ?

From an article by Bungie:

(In job descriptions) look for what is required versus desired. If we are looking for an animator and we list as a requirement that we need someone with experience in Maya, we need someone with that experience. If it is “desired”, we don’t necessarily need it.

Sage

So far from what I have been told by professionals is that they only care about your critical eye and the quality of your work. They will teach you the tools they use if you do good work. All the pros I have talked to have told me this and if you watch videos on youtube that discuss what to do and don't do in your reel they say the same thing. If you need to do freelance, get the software then, as in when you have the contract. Maya LT doesn't let you use the scale constraint last time I checked, which kind of makes it useless for rigging...

pmiller001

so i personally love Modo, Its the best modeler I've used to date. I went from Maya>Blender>Max>Modo, and I havent looked back yet. 
If youre trying to decide on whether to use Modo or Blender, i dont think either of those is a bad option. I know more industry people using Modo than Blender, but if your work is good enough, that shouldnt be an issue. 
As far as the baking tools, modo's are quite good. I tend to jump around from baker to baker,(marmoset, Modo, SP) depending on what i need. 

Cibo

Yeah but we talk about the Indie Version. What is Modo without Seneca/farfarer scripts  like for the fundamentals like smoothing edges 

Odow

I have friend that are addicted to modo that as start using blender and enjoy it quite a bit.

Unknown_Target

Why not go with Modo subscription and then upgrade to perpetual if you need it later?