Nevercenter Silo, new version just released...

PolyHertz

Anyone remember Nevercenter Silo? That 3D modeling app that everyone liked (other then all the crashes) but then was abruptly killed by the developer for no good reason like 10 years ago? Well apparently over the past few years they've been slowly working on reviving it and have just released this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIw9RnI3hAQ

poopipe

It came back briefly a couple of years ago with version 2.5 and then fizzled out again so not entirely confident it's here to stay but it really is a nice little package and would run on really crappy hardware (good for tablets etc.)

I wonder if my license still works..

edit:  apparently they're not giving free upgrades on 8 year old licenses  
have they learned nothing from pixologic ?

I'd still recommend everyone giving it a try

RaptorCWS

poopipe said:

edit:  apparently they're not giving free upgrades on 8 year old licenses  
have they learned nothing from pixologic ?

to be fair just about every studio has several licenses of zbrush and it is a must have at a certain part of the pipeline for some jobs. silo is not.

poopipe

I'm joking.. 

Although..
 I haven't given pixologic any money since zbrush 3 and I've still got a working license.  
That's got be to 13-14 years now - makes the £300 it cost back then feel like a bit of a  bargain really. 


I'd recommend trying Silo for people who correctly identify Maya as the massive piece of shit it is for modelling, don't want to pay £320 a year for a max indie license and don't get on with blender 

That said, In a world where Blender (as it is now) exists it's difficult to justify paying for it unless you're looking specifically for a lightweight, highly focused app to run on a non workstation laptop  or surface pro (It's  pretty tablet friendly)

thomasp

I do remember the name but confess I never looked at the software. Seems heavily inspired by the once fancy Nendo/Mirai.

Not sure that's the modelling paradigm I'd still pick nowadays. Remember modelling heads starting from a box a la Bay Raitt's Gollum?

poopipe

It does have shades of nendo about it for sure.  It's got more features etc but has the same back to basics charm and fluid workflow. 

I'd love to see it expanded to support marmoset style shading,  megascans/sbsar integration . Given features like that it could be a legitimately useful tool in production

mwgrafx

I personally feel this is a waste of money and time. They fell off the map, to resurface and say silo is alive, did a few bug fixes, then disappeared for years. Only to come back with a small handful of features and then to charge you full price for what very little is offered.  It feels like another poor attempt to grab money and then to fall back into obscurity again... I would save your money. My 2 cents. 

gnoop

 I tried Silo briefly a decade ago  and found it offers nothing extra over Bender that time.  It was still more convenient than 3d max 2008 I had.      Now 3d max finally  has a slight edge  over Blender imo while still damn puzzle to use a half of a time.           Wonder if  the new Silo has something over current Blender worth to dive in ?     

   Something  in respect of simplicity and quirk-less workflow at least.     I hate  to look through my  huge Evernote base  each time I need to figure out  what was a workaround  for things I already did  before.    Those damn "pro" level softs  are never going to be simple and easy to use.

 

Alex_J

The main things I see advertised is intuitive, speed, ease of use, etc.

For anybody who already knows any 3d modeling program already, these are non-issues, right?

Intuitive only makes a difference when you are first learning, right?

ScoobyDoofus

I was a Silo user back in the day and loved it (besides the aforementioned stability problems). The new version has some nice stuff...but is still super-crashtastic. Its position in a workflow can be for sub_d modeling, retopo, uv's of quick items for which you don't want/need to run Maya/Max/Blender. It is a VERY stripped-down little program.

If Max/Maya/Blender are a Semi-Truck, Silo is a dirt-bike.
Fast, simpler, cheap(by comparison), and you'll probably crash and curse a lot.

Blaizer

I tried the demo, and crashed doing some cuts XD. 

BTW, its subdivision modeling performance is good, but it's like the older silo. Modo is far superior for me.

Gmanx

I had it / loved it back in the day (pre-Blender). I’ve even got an official book on character creation for it somewhere. Not something I’d consider now though.

matsbtegner

I've used Silo since 2004. I like the new primitives introduced in 2022.3.

Silo 2022 implements Pixar's OpenSubDiv among other things:

Version 2022.3

• Added new Gear/Wheel primitive. Innovative settings for cog stride, spacing, and sharpness make this primitive useful for much more than just creating gears and wheels.
• Added a new Quad Sphere (available in a dropdown menu in the Sphere options window) with variable divisions, the perfect starting shape for SubD creature box modeling.
• Added a new Tri Sphere (available in a dropdown menu in the Sphere options window) with variable divisions, which is extremely useful for making low-poly spheres that render consistently from every angle.
• Fixed a bug where zooming would cause the current primitive to not live-update when changing values in its options window.
• Fixed a bug where Bridge wouldn’t work properly on selected faces.
• Fixed a bug that could cause a crash on undo after operations that merged shapes.
• Fixed backface culling when enabled
• Various other smaller bug fixes

Version 2022.2

• Added a new Align/Distribute window (accessible from the Modify menu) to easily align and evenly distribute selected elements along a given axis
• Added support for viewport navigation using 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse (in perspective viewports only for now)
• Viewport reference images now auto-reload when the source file is changed
• Fixed issue with viewport images not saving/loading with project files
• Fixed issue with international characters causing texture map files not to load
• Fixed issue where undocked windows weren’t being remembered correctly when re-opening the application
• Fixed issue where generating normal or displacement maps sometimes wasn’t working properly
• Fixed an issue where changing texture map images could cause the screen to go black
• Various other bug fixes

Version 2022.1

• Added built-in time-lapse screen recording (either including only the application window or your whole desktop) so you can easily record your modeling sessions to share online. Includes options for quality and speed.
• Made manipulators hide handles pointing mostly in/out of the screen to more easily access the handles you want
• Made orthographic viewport grids have infinite draw bounds
• Fixed area and lasso selection bugs
• Fixed bug where scrolling in numerical fields wouldn’t increment/decrement values consistently
• Fixed bugs in still screenshot functionality
• Fixed slowdown bug on Windows when assigning material texture maps

Version 2022.0.1

• Minor update to fix Preferences loading error on some systems installing Silo for the first time

Version 2022.0.0

• Now using Pixar’s OpenSubdiv library for subdivision surfaces calculations (uses approximately 50% less memory and subdivision is many times faster on high-subdivision models)
• Completely redesigned memory management for improved overall stability
• Tons and tons and tons of bug fixes
• Faster drawing in many circumstances for higher framerates on high-poly models
• Improved, modernized tools drawing, with more improvements to come
• Improved Cut Tool, Edge Tool, Polygon Tool, Draw Topology Tool, and Surface Tool reliability/predictability, including bug fixes
• Big improvements to the undo stack (edge creasing, material creation, and editing, custom primitive loading, and more added to the undo stack)
• Made tools each use their own window rather than reusing the same window across tools, and added a generic Tool Options window that will update to any tool
• Improved numerical field interaction—you can still click and drag up and down to adjust the value, but can more easily select text; plus improved response with hover scrolling over the value
• Made STL files import colors as materials
• Improved surface snapping, now works in object mode, applies per-vertex in vertex mode
• Improved zoom performance/smoothness
• Can now use selection highlighting and manipulators across multiple viewports without having to click in them first (unless switching between UV and geometry viewports)

matsbtegner

Version 2023.2

• A new Arch primitive for creating many different types of arch shapes
• A new Subdivide modifier for including subdivisions anywhere in the modifier stack
• New multi-monitor support for loading/saving Silo's window position across multiple monitors
• Fixed multiple crashes related to Blend Shapes
• Added wireframe display to Ghosted shading mode

Version 2023.1

• Added Array modifier
• Added Smooth modifier
• Added Reset to Default Material in the Material Editor
• Fixed Hide Unselected to also hide locked shapes
• Fixed display text color for locked objects in the Scene Editor
• Fixed normals not being updated after Combine Objects

Version 2023.0

• Added support for non-destructive modifiers, accessible from the main menu in Modify > Modifiers and Editors/Options > Object Modifiers. The initial set of modifiers includes:
  • Bevel
  • Crease Edges
  • Extrude
  • Numerical Deform
  • Shell
  • Triangulate
• Streamlined various menus
• Fixed bugs in certain Gear/Wheel primitive geometry
• Updated export options to include optional auto-baking of modifiers
• Added modifier bake and toggle commands
• Fixed bug that prevented disabling manipulator display from working
• Various other bug fixes and performance improvements

matsbtegner

Version 2023.3

• Added new Radial Mirror modifier, perfect for making wheels, tires, spokes, gears, and any other cylindrical shape or radially-repeated shape
• Most geometry operations are now faster, especially on higher-poly meshes
• Lower memory usage generally, especially on higher-poly models
• Most undo operations for geometry changes are faster
• Undo on geometry changes does better at keeping/restoring selection
• Fixed bug in scene editor where selecting nothing could make objects temporarily unselectable
• Fixed bug in numerical editor where certain rotation values could make your object disappear
• Fixed bug where using the Extrude modifier above a certain poly count could cause crashing on windows