lw users turned modo

[paul k.]

It is basically Modeller version I don't know 11 maybe?

It's just way ahead in terms of workflow and the tools it employs.

Customizing the interface is a great example. I can't think of anything off the top of my head it cant' do. I use dual monitors at work for example (And will never use one again) and I couldn't use Modeler that way at all.

I also find that edges are all there cracked up to be and more.

Just speed overall is what makes all the difference to me. It also " feels " really really nice to use. Clean, organized, well put together piece of software with some good ideas.

[MadMax]

I don't know if it was discussed already.
I guess that most of Modo's users are Lightwave users as well and as someone who considers the program I would like to know how you see Modo compares to Lightwave, well Modeler...

I can find a number of reasons that i am glad to be using Modo for modeling now. All of which are killer tools.

A few thigns that come to mind: The manipulator tool, (much like the one in Maya) is far better than LW's method of using the ctrl key to contrain along an axis. Especially in the perspective view.

Also, the "fit working plane to selection" is fast and easy. A MAJOR timesaver.

Edge tools. well worth the cost of admission. People claim LW has plenty of edge tools, like "add edge" and "edge bevel" but those are not really edge tools. You are working with vertices in LW's edge tools. Edge bevel selects vertices, run tool, it creates more geometry. In any other program it is referred to as vertex bevel and is grouped with vertex tools.

Add edge allows you to slice polys up the way you want, but is very slow and cumbersome.

I would suggest try the demo and mess around with edges. You'll see just how useful they are.

As for cost, which is an area where people advising against Modo cling to, look at it this way.....

LW is 2 apps. Bottom line, it's 1600.00 Thats 800.00 per modeler, 800.00 for Layout. Even if you want to say those figures are not accurate, the bottom line is 1600.00

Modo frequently has specials available. Trust me on this, it is possible to get it at a really good deal. And combine Modo with say that cheap version of Messiah, which I think has everything Studio does for 299.00 then you would have a full package for around 800.00

Add to that, in just a few weeks comes Siggraph. Luxology has shown new revisions of Modo at Apple stores across the country recently, last year they showed a technology preview with a rendering app that blows away FPrime ($295.00) by a mile.

Ask yourself this, if they spent the time to program that stuff, do you REALLY think it was just for demonstration purposes only????? If so, I have a bridge to sell really cheap you might be interested in :)

I suspect that Luxology will have a whole lot more to announce at Siggraph this year than just what they have shown on their recent tour.

EDIT: Bottom line for me was time, not the cost. I do the exact same work in Modo much faster, and more accurately due to the tools available than I did in LW.

While people will tell you it is the artist and not the tools, look at it this way... A bartender can make a frozen margurita with a towel full of ice cubes, a hammer and a shaker. However it is a hell of a lot easier and faster if he has a blender.

If it takes a minute or more to beat the ice with a hammer, to do the same thing a blender will do in 10 seconds, I'll take the 50.00 blender over the 5.00 hammer.

[Nemoid]

i'm currently evaluating the demo, after i had an occasion to test modo ina friend's studio, when it was still at 1.0 now, its more stable than before, and its great working withi it. i have still to find the same feeling modeler gives me, but ita alsoa matter of habitudes. also, i liked working with edges and ngons. edge slice now works way better than in modo 1.0 so, its easier to fix problems when u need. simmetry is quite good. and also i have to test many other things. eklement move is very good for tweaking the mesh. it allows u to work faster. it has the same tools you find in modeler on steroid and u can organize them as you want.

this being said, more things i think have to come in modo to allow it to be the best.

first of all modo has IMO to go far from its Lw inheritance, keeping the good things, and letting go down the bad things.

for example,
object selection possibility and editing per object should be introduced as well. layers are there, but while we're here a layer editor allowing the same things u can do in Photoshop would be fine.

then i'd like to have :

more mouse customization possibilities, as in Silo. i.e possibility to navigate in viewposrt a la maya (i like that way ) and select a la Lw at the same time

UI colors customization possibility within the app. - look at z brush.

non linear endomorphs. they're like this so far because of Lw, but for the future they obviously have to become more powerful.

topology brush a la silo

construction hystory to edit objects even after u made them.

instances. this is a cool thing especially for modelling purposes and brings alot of flexibility.

a good thing to introduce and change is that when you change the number of span and
rows into a primitive, arrows are better than mouse. mouse its more difficult to use for that task . pls give us the Lw way at least as a different option.

more brush toolset. not z brush, but something similar woudn't harm.

finally i'd like to have indicators of tools, because especially when working in quad view they're good and indicate what tool u're using in that moment.

[webshot]

I am actually going through the camera tutorial. And many small things are jumping out at me that seem just far more intuitive. Modo just may be my next purchase. But I do have a question. It seems primarily that modo users are ex-LW'ers. And people chant ngons. But since LW has no support for them, what is there to cheer about on them? And how do you guys use n-gons with LW if it is possible?

[StephanD]

For my part,N-gons are only of use in two situations but I strongly depend on them for those.

The first is when I boxmodel something and want to add an edgeloop.I simply slice through the mesh without any consideration for those so-called 'rules'.Which ends up creating a few triangles and N-gons around my cut,no big deal.A few collapses here on the triangles and one or two edge slices there on N-gons and I'm back to full-quad and poles only.Sometimes I also like to Bevel my cut before taking care of the rest.It's a bit more work but you know what you're doing this way.


The other is when I need to merge two very differently parametrized objects or surfaces together.It's just easier to remove or add a few edges and then bridge or weld them together rather than matching every vertice.

[webshot]

aaahhh.....thanks Stephan. That makes sense. Do you make your fixes in LW or Modo? I am fairly new to 3d game so I dont really have a workflow yet. So I am just trying to understand others...:)

[paul k.]

Thats the big thing I was trying to describer earlier. Everything in Modo allows for you to model fast. So when you ask a question like where do you fix things....... it's always going to be where it's fast. LW was were things used to be fast. A lot of people in the studios I have worked in touted other programs and found out quickly that they simply didn't have the tools to keep up with us LWers. Now at my current studio most of us have moved on to modo for modeling becuase the transition is so easy and the tools are just faster. It's really been a very very good experience.

Just remember that even though Modo saves objects as LWO's you need to export to Lightwave in order to keep things as they should be as you go back and forth. ala textures and soforth.

[webshot]

well I askd this in the LW forum as well. But I have a shot at doing some web in exchange for a Messiah Studio license. Does anyone know if Modo plays well with that render engine? I dont have time to test modo and messiah as I have to either accept my clients offer or reject it and receive 500 bucks for my services.

Sorry to hijack this thread. I swear this is my last hi-jack attempt.

[Headcrash]

I am actually going through the camera tutorial. And many small things are jumping out at me that seem just far more intuitive. Modo just may be my next purchase. But I do have a question. It seems primarily that modo users are ex-LW'ers. And people chant ngons. But since LW has no support for them, what is there to cheer about on them? And how do you guys use n-gons with LW if it is possible?

My Modo output is rendered in Renderman, which handles n-gons in subdivs quite nicely. It's great to have an accurate display of my limit surface while modeling, something that LW never really gave me.

[Chewey]

My Modo output is rendered in Renderman, which handles n-gons in subdivs quite nicely. It's great to have an accurate display of my limit surface while modeling, something that LW never really gave me.

Which version of Renderman are you using?
PRman and if so what rev?

[algo]

Thanks for the answers everybody, I will get the demo and try it right away.
You know if Luxology reveals a "Layout" equivalent than Lightwave is in a real danger, it's a shame but Newtek really haven't deliver in a long time. i heard quite a few complaints about version 8, it seams like Lightwave has more bugs with every version than it has new features.

[c-g]

Which version of Renderman are you using?
PRman and if so what rev?

Headcrash works at Pixar. :)

[Nemoid]

the good thing is that while Lw forces you to use quads and tris in your meshes, modo does not, and so you are allowed to use ngons both in your rounded undeformable object (a car or other and both when modelling to obtain your quad mesh at the end and using edge slice to your earth content, while working in subpatch mode.

this being said, it also depends from your modelling workflow. quad models are certainly good for deformation and nothing than your skills stop you from making them in lw too.

there are good tools in the ikeda power set included there, to cut and slice leaving quads and no tris. sometimes tho, its easier to simple have the possibility to slice your mesh, erase edges ( i like that) and also tweak the mesh moving edges too.

however there are also things in other modelling standalone apps that make me wonder on where the really innovation is : modo is cool, but without history and instances a lot of flexibility is lost. then there are plugs. they will surely come,

but where's for example a greeble for modo? a bender tool, like hexagon has, to be coupled with history? u can literally modify how the mesh bends not only in real time, using a curve, but even after u made it.

what about a topology brush.

these are innovations IMHO.

[yog]

It seems primarily that modo users are ex-LW'ers. And people chant ngons. But since LW has no support for them, what is there to cheer about on them? And how do you guys use n-gons with LW if it is possible?As Stephen said, for LW users the main advantage is that you can alter the flow of different edges without completely destroying your model. Such a simple thing as deleting one edge in order to alter the flow is a major pain in LW as it means you have to skip out of sub-D mode, make your change, then back into sub-D mode to see if it was actually the change you wanted to make.
Also for those of us ex-LW's that have started using other apps, it's not a problem as just about all other apps support N-Gons and Sub-D's together.
And as for the N-Gons not deforming in a predictable manner, of course this only applies if the object is going to be deformed. I use Sub-D's a lot, but very few of my objects are deformed. You can save massive amounts of polys on background objects if you can throw the quad poly rule out the window.

however there are also things in other modelling standalone apps that make me wonder on where the really innovation is : modo is cool, but without history and instances a lot of flexibility is lost. then there are plugs. they will surely come.Initially I started using Modo when I started using other non-LW applications because I thought it would allow me similar modelling process (LW'esk) whilst giving me access to the new applications improved animation and rendering abilities. As time has gone on I have learn't to model in these other applications much better than I thought I would, but for some things I prefer to model in Modo. As these other apps both have history stacks and instancing I can confirm they are very useful in "some" situations, but still I prefer Modo for some things. Which leads me to believe that the wooly phrase originally touted by Luxology, "it's about workflow rather than number of tools" might actually be true :)

[Nemoid]

uhm.. i don't agree completely.
lets suppose u own modo on ly, and u have to model an entire palace. you modeled all the windows, and the client asks suddenly for a change. he wants all the windows be larger, and have something different. u change them, because u have some time to do it. then he asks for another change. and you'll have to do it in 2 hours. he thinks its easy.

now, what do u do without instances? u simply cannot update your work without alot of work. this is a situation wich happens often with clients.

history could be used less, but allows you to have flexibility IF u want it. having a choice is better than having NO choices at all.

i agree that good things in modo rely on workflow. it has a strong Lw inheritance wich is an advantage comparing to other apps.
lets think to simmetry mode, for example. it rocks lets think to how it handles selections of faces and edges. its cool. this is very imortant. but its not enough in many situations.

in fact, at the same time, this Lw inheritanhe could also bring the risk of a sort of development "blocking". not always sticking with an idea is the best solution. but this couldn't be the case of Lux.


also. price is high. so, its obvious that users tend to want things wich are in similar apps, like Silo and Hexagon, and are there for a price of 100- 200 $

i'd say have them all for 300 $ could be a good price. :)

p.s. oh, i forgot. u can work with edges and ngons in those apps too.

[Limbus]

LW is 2 apps. Bottom line, it's 1600.00 Thats 800.00 per modeler, 800.00 for Layout. Even if you want to say those figures are not accurate, the bottom line is 1600.00

Modo frequently has specials available. Trust me on this, it is possible to get it at a really good deal. And combine Modo with say that cheap version of Messiah, which I think has everything Studio does for 299.00 then you would have a full package for around 800.00


NewTek has specials available all the time. Just to name a few: Upgrade to 8 inc. DFX, Add a second seat, special for Mac users including Realviz sticher or Realvis image modeller.
But even if you dont get a special deal you can still grab an old copy of LW from eBay and upgrade to the most recent version. I payd 250$ for LW 5.6 on eBay and then 500-600$ for the upgrade to 8 including DFX+. This price is hard to beat.

[yog]

uhm.. i don't agree completely.
lets suppose u own modo on ly, and u have to model an entire palace. you modeled all the windows, and the client asks suddenly for a change. he wants all the windows be larger, and have something different. u change them, because u have some time to do it. then he asks for another change. and you'll have to do it in 2 hours. he thinks its easy. That's why I aknowledged that instancing is useful in some situations, i.e. those situations that include a lot of reapeating detail. In fact a while ago I modelled a vintage car for a client using XSI, the tread pattern on the tyre was very unique and was a bit of a pain to get right first time, so I made one section an instance, radial arrayed it and was then able to use the benifit of instances to make all the sections connect correctly. But I don't find I need to use instances that often.
Also coming from a solely LW background I wasn't aware how usful the history stack was until I started using it in another app. That said, the next thing you find out is that there are a surprising number of commands that will automatically collapse your stack, or if you manage to avoid them it almost becomes a neccessity to collapse the stack yourself after a little while of working in order to keep interaction speed up. So again useful, but limited.

Now that I have used them I would hate to be without instancing or a history stack, that said, if it was a choice between lossing them or losing Modo, I'd drop them in a second.

Then again it's academic, as I do own Modo AND XSI and MAX, so whilst Modo retains what I liked about LW (and IMHO greatly expands upon it), I also have programs available to me that have tools with a foundimentally different approach to them. The best of both worlds in effect.

[Nemoid]

That's why I aknowledged that instancing is useful in some situations, i.e. those situations that include a lot of reapeating detail. In fact a while ago I modelled a vintage car for a client using XSI, the tread pattern on the tyre was very unique and was a bit of a pain to get right first time, so I made one section an instance, radial arrayed it and was then able to use the benifit of instances to make all the sections connect correctly. But I don't find I need to use instances that often.
Also coming from a solely LW background I wasn't aware how usful the history stack was until I started using it in another app. That said, the next thing you find out is that there are a surprising number of commands that will automatically collapse your stack, or if you manage to avoid them it almost becomes a neccessity to collapse the stack yourself after a little while of working in order to keep interaction speed up. So again useful, but limited.

yes i agree on that so far its useful but a bit limited. but.. what do will happen with 64 bit? more powerful compurters, better memory management . result : better and more frequent history for everyone.


Now that I have used them I would hate to be without instancing or a history stack, that said, if it was a choice between lossing them or losing Modo, I'd drop them in a second.

Then again it's academic, as I do own Modo AND XSI and MAX, so whilst Modo retains what I liked about LW (and IMHO greatly expands upon it), I also have programs available to me that have tools with a foundimentally different approach to them. The best of both worlds in effect.

u're lucky and yours is a way to face those probs. but not everyone can afford 3 apps (especiallly included Max ) to have the best of various worlds.

imo, Modo can become the best of all the standalone modelling apps, due to its structure, design, UI but to become this, it have to introduce things like history and istances, and also more innovation, making our work even easier, developing with the user in mind.

this being said, Lux team is a good one, Modo is at 1.02 version and so very young.
so i think we'll see great things in future versions.

[Beamtracer]

I used Lightwave for years, and did all my modeling in it. Now I switched to modo.

I didn't think I needed a modeler that bad. I was looking for a new renderer more. But I decided to get modo anyway, and don't regret it.

At first glance it was obviously a bit like Lightwave Modeler, as there are similarities. However, you soon start to realize the advantages with modo.

Now I'm completing some modeling tasks in modo exponentially faster than I would have in LW modeler. This is the future. I'd highly recommend it.

[algo]

Beamtracer as a real 'MacMan' what do you have to say about the close relationship between Luxology and The Macintosh?
As far as I can tell every presentation of modo was done using a Mac, The next Apple purchase maybe???

[MadMax]

The next Apple purchase maybe???



That would completely suck. I like Modo..............

[mlmiller1983]

Beamtracer as a real 'MacMan' what do you have to say about the close relationship between Luxology and The Macintosh?
As far as I can tell every presentation of modo was done using a Mac, The next Apple purchase maybe???

Don't say things like that. Its just not right.

[Beamtracer]

what do you have to say about the close relationship between Luxology and The Macintosh?
Luxology is a tri-platform company, developing for Mac OS X, Windows and (soon) Linux.

The Lux renderer looks good on OS X, because it was built for OS X from the beginning using the latest tools (eg Xcode). Of course, going down this route is going to give good results on OS X when compared to some other companies' software that are basically OS9 ports.

This is probably what has caught Apple's eye, though I don't think Luxology spends any more time optimizing for any one platform over any other platform.

So, Brad Peebler had a couple of on-stage appearances at Apple keynote presentations. I think Brad has also appeared at many non-Apple events as well. I wouldn't read too much into it.

On Apple's software developer website, they did an article about how Lux was using Xcode. I think this was just because Lux was a good example, rather than any special deal.

So, while it's nice to see that Lux is on Apple's radar, I wouldn't read too much into it, and I don't think Apple will buy them. I mean, a couple of years go everyone thought Apple was about to buy Alias, but that didn't happen either.

Apple bought Final Cut Pro because at that time Avid was pulling its editing products from the Mac (a decision Avid later reversed), so they had to do something at that time.

[Nemoid]

the main thing i like in this environment is that the mac is slowly going more and more towards 3D.
Mac is a great machine, so far perfect for 2D, print and audio .
so i see this as a very good thing.
so far there are only a few apps supporting mac very well. one of them is Modo, and this is good. as for features we'll have to wait till siggraph, and see whai it will bring. :)

[webhead]

Yes, I'm glad to see the Mac continuing to move more towards 3D /film and video production as well as developing more mutual support/cooperation with software companies like Luxology.
Is Modo good for UV mapping as well as modeling? Does it integrate well with ZBrush? I would imagine n-gons and better edge editing tools will be a high priority in the next major LW upgrade. At least, it should be in my humble opinion.

[kiwi123]

After having used LW as my main package for more than 10 years, I was looking forward to modo as the next evolutionary step. Edges are a very useful addition and all.

But to counter all the enthusiasm here, there are some things I do not like about modo as it is (pc version):

First of all the 3d shading of your models, the right side of a model is always very dark. Lightwaves preview is much more usable. You can get around this with weird tricks in config files, but that really is a pain and not a solid solution.

Second it seems to be much slower with hi poly objects, but that might have been my ati 9800pro.

Third, there are a couple of VERY useful plugins for modeler that are not (yet) available for Modo, tools that are essential in my workflow. Tools like KO_pointfit. Obviously time is needed to add wonderful tools like this, but right now it makes modeling less efficient in modo for me. Though that does depend on what you make.

Sometimes modo crashes for inexplicable reasons, after searching the forums it turns out you need to delete your config file to stop the crashing. It works, but it seems a bit...dodgy.

These are negative points that will surely be eliminated in future versions and will not be a major problem for most people anyway. Other than all that it seems like a great workflow enhancement and a delight to work with. I just love all the nifty edge selection things, like easy loop selections.

[MadMax]

After having used LW as my main package for more than 10 years, I was looking forward to modo as the next evolutionary step. Edges are a very useful addition and all.

But to counter all the enthusiasm here, there are some things I do not like about modo as it is (pc version):

First of all the 3d shading of your models, the right side of a model is always very dark. Lightwaves preview is much more usable. You can get around this with weird tricks in config files, but that really is a pain and not a solid solution.

Minor annoyance. I didn;t find it enough of an issue to be bugged by it.


Second it seems to be much slower with hi poly objects, but that might have been my ati 9800pro.

It's your system. I am much happoer with high poly models and responsiveness in Modo over LW.

Third, there are a couple of VERY useful plugins for modeler that are not (yet) available for Modo, tools that are essential in my workflow. Tools like KO_pointfit

I see this just the opposite. Modo has a ton of tools that LW desperately needs, and you have to spend a substantial amount of cash to add to an already expensive package. it was cheaper to just buy Modo.

Sometimes modo crashes for inexplicable reasons, after searching the forums it turns out you need to delete your config file to stop the crashing. It works, but it seems a bit...dodgy.

Lightwave crashes for inexplicable reasons all the time. My favorite is the dreaded crash on save bug, model f'd beyond recovery. known bug, been around for a very long time.

These are negative points that will surely be eliminated in future versions and will not be a major problem for most people anyway.

Personally I feel it has less baggage to deal with in Modo than in LW. So what bugs there are, are not of much concern to me. I've seen quite a few others say they would never go back to LW after using Modo, so I am not alone in this.

[webhead]

Did someone say that edge weights on a model created in Modo don't translate when imported into Lightwave? Obviously n-gons wouldn't, but if edge weights don't either than it would defeat many of my reasons for getting Modo as a compliment for Lightwave.
Can someone give me the straight poop on this? :shrug:

[kjl]

Did someone say that edge weights on a model created in Modo don't translate when imported into Lightwave? Obviously n-gons wouldn't, but if edge weights don't either than it would defeat many of my reasons for getting Modo as a compliment for Lightwave.
Can someone give me the straight poop on this? :shrug:

Well, LW doesn't even know what an edge is, so it's true, edge weighting does not carry over from Modo. On the other hand, the stuff you have to do to compensate for that limitation (e.g. making extra edge loops around corners, etc.) is easier to do in Modo than LW because of Modo's other edge tools (mmmm sweet sweet edge bevel/extrude.... tasty).

[webhead]

Well, LW doesn't even know what an edge is, so it's true, edge weighting does not carry over from Modo. On the other hand, the stuff you have to do to compensate for that limitation (e.g. making extra edge loops around corners, etc.) is easier to do in Modo than LW because of Modo's other edge tools (mmmm sweet sweet edge bevel/extrude.... tasty).

Thanks for the info! Now, I have a tough decision to make before the special runs out.

[Beamtracer]

Second it seems to be much slower with hi poly objects, but that might have been my ati 9800pro.
I'm also using modo with an ATI 9800pro card, though on a Mac so my experience may be different to Windows users.

The modo OpenGL response is brilliant! It's got more detail (than Lightwave) it's got more frames per second, it's faster.

OK, Lightwave's OpenGL performance on the Mac is a dog, and Lightwave on Mac is probably worse than on Windows. LW never seems to get optimized on the Mac.

So switching to modo on the Mac I really notice the difference. Large models spin around in the viewports much smoother. I feel like I've got a new computer, even though it's the same one!

[Steve McRae]

OpenGl is great, and it is far superior to LW's openGl on XP as well.

[Beamtracer]

I just notice on Luxology's own forum there is a comment from Brad Peebler about a modo price rise after Siggraph. Apparently the Lightwave user "friends and family" discount will be withdrawn then.

This may be of some relevance to Lightwave users who are thinking of picking up modo at some stage.

[nvvm]

That would completely suck. I like Modo..............why ?? apple makes great software, I just got the feeling I'm missing something very obvious but can't quite place what it is, long night I'm going to bed.

[MadMax]

why ?? apple makes great software, I just got the feeling I'm missing something very obvious but can't quite place what it is, long night I'm going to bed.

Apple ASSIMILATES great software. There is a difference.

Although unlikely to happen, Apple buying Modo would mean I would have to step down in quality of hardware I use.

[Beamtracer]

Apple buying Modo would mean I would have to step down in quality of hardware I use.
Oi yoi yoi!!! :rolleyes: I'll leave that one alone. :wip:

There's good reason to believe that eventually modo will go tri-platform, with OS S, Win and Linux.

As people have reported earlier, OpenGL performance of modo is fantastic on both OS X and WinXP.

[Nemoid]

Going for different platforms support is the best choice to make for an app, right now.
also, linux is a very strategic one, just because it allows to exploit the machine power better and will make every linux user happy too. building a renderfarm works good with linux.
looking forward to see what will be showed by Lux at siggraph. render technology for sure. and maybe some animation hint ? :)

[fez]

Got an opportunity to play with Modo this week. I will miss it, as my colleague and her laptop left me this morning. Sniff. I will miss Modo more than her, bless her heart.

Yeah, I took advantage of her because of her sweet software, but I left the wood pile a little higher than how I found it...by installing all of Seneca's scripts and setting them to hotkeys/pie menus for her!

My random impressions/praises/concerns. Take 'em or leave 'em:

I am used to dual monitors, but even on a little laptop screen and keyboard, navigation was no problem. Modo offers many ingenious ways to optimize whatever workspace you have.

Pie Menu behavior and customization allows for a very fluid, gestural workflow. My quad menus in Max now seem clunky by comparison.

Tools need to be unified/condensed even further, so that we are only using a few "smart" element-sensitive hotkeys to execute a wide variety of operations/tools. See Seneca's scripts. His philosophy for tools should be embraced and implemented natively in the program.

Edge Weights are really impressive but also of really limited use for embedded Lightwave-rendering pipelines.

The workplane is brilliant.

Solid-shaded background layers just about brought tears of joy to my eyes.

No transparency mapping display. Bleh.

Even if a renderer does come out at Siggraph, it is going to be a bit of a hassle if we cannot at least load Lightwave scenes. And without an animation environment how are we going to setup scenes with characters and such? We'll find out won't we!

So, all in all, though I am not blown away, I am very, very, very impressed.

300 dollars is really a steal for Lightwavers, but since I am hardly in desperate need of another capable modeling package, I am going to be stubborn and wait till the last minute for any info leaks from Lux and the other vendors.

[Beamtracer]

300 dollars is really a steal for Lightwavers, but since I am hardly in desperate need of another capable modeling package, I am going to be stubborn and wait till the last minute for any info leaks from Lux and the other vendors.
Don't wait too long, fez. As I said, Brad Peebler has stated that modo will be much more expensive after Siggraph. That Lightwave discount is going to end.

A lot of other Lightwavers, including myself, paid a lot more for modo before this current discount. Not that I mind, as I've had many good months use out of it. But if you're price conscious, I think now would be the cheapest moment to get into modo.

[fez]

I hear ya Beam. I know I am probably just putting off the inevitable, but I thought I would give the other vendors a chance to wow me. But believe me, my credit card is at the ready and I won't let July 31 (the end of the Modo-for-Lightwavers deal) pass lightly.

[mlmiller1983]

I am an current LW user and this Modo deal is simply too good to pass up if you have the money. Also taking advantage of the Cineam 4D going on for LW users as well. Adding more tools to the tool box. :)

Played with the modo demo and absolutely loved it. Better get it while it is cheap. If the rumors are true that they will raise the price come Siggraph then this is an absolute steal.

[skritter]

If the rumors are true that they will raise the price come Siggraph then this is an absolute steal.

Well its not going to get any cheaper, anyway!

[mlmiller1983]

Well its not going to get any cheaper, anyway!

Thats for sure.

[ages]

As it stands for me, and this is not my fault saying this, Newtek doesn't really care about the mac market. Proof is wheres the optimisations? The last updates saw pc get dual core support, and a host of other niceties. Newtek also announces stuff for macs we never see, xcode? 64-bit?....After 2 weeks of maxxon and lux announcing intel support, newtek gives a press line saying, yes we will support mac intel when its released. Funny thing is maxxon and lux actually made versions for it, newtek just states the obvious and says yeah yeah we'll support it.

IMHO Fprime saved lightwaves ass for the archi users, I have started to use Modo, its great, some tools work better in Modeller but due to Lux track record theyll be on the ball on this asap.
The new Lux renderer looked amazing.
As it stands I do love Lightwave and will give the new Newtek a chance, LW9 will be all their work this will be all their roadmap now. I will see what they do, if its excellent i will continue purchasing LW. LW8 didnt really feel like it was worth it until FPrime came out.
LW9 needs to be the renderer/modeller/effects update. LW8 was the animators update.

Modo feature that would be funny would be a "send object to layout" feature ;)



Headcrash do you work for Pixar and have they used Modo for jobs?

[T4D]

Modo Crashes more then LW 8.3 on my Dual Amd Cpu, Quadro FX1000, 2 gigs of ram

BUT Edges and ngons alone make working in it worth it for me


you work with polygon flow all the time as you work being able to grab those flowline "Edges" is the way it should be and Ngons while you cut flow lines around your model are a must You get none of that flipping back to polygons crap

View port options are great


the tools are great none of that hundreds of plugins doing things alittle differently
IN modo you have less tools But With options WOW what an idea !!

It feels alot like modeling in XSI but the simple symmetry and more direct UI

[MadMax]

Modo Crashes more then LW 8.3 on my Dual Amd Cpu, Quadro FX1000, 2 gigs of ram


Tyan K8WE
2 Opteron 250's
4gb OCZ ram (4 x 1gb)
Dual 6800 nVidia graphics cards


Virtually no crashes in Modo at all. Odds are you have a driver issue of some sort.

[T4D]

Virtually no crashes in Modo at all. Odds are you have a driver issue of some sort.

but i don't get any crashes in Lightwave 8.3, XSI ess 4.2, Zbrush, Poser Or Any adobe app PS, AE, PP etc ?? everything runs great :buttrock:

But modo just drops out and i get that nice message from Win Xp every now and then :rolleyes:

[MadMax]

but i don't get any crashes in Lightwave 8.3, XSI ess 4.2, Zbrush, Poser Or Any adobe app PS, AE, PP etc ?? everything runs great :buttrock:

But modo just drops out and i get that nice message from Win Xp every now and then :rolleyes:


Unfortunately just because you run LW or other apps just fine is irrelevant, and it doesn't mean that you do not have a driver issue.

See I can relate the same story in reverse. Maya, Digital Fusion, Avid, ZBrush and every other app I had ran just fine, no issues. LW would just boom..go bye bye without warning.

It was video drivers. Just beause one app works with a given set of drivers doesn't mean another app is also going to work without issue.

In fact, Modo had some stability issues due to some quirk in nVidia drivers that didn;t effect other software. Once nVidia released a bug fix, the problems went away.

Since there are plenty of users running without issue, it's clear that another issue is at the root of your troubles.

[Larrikin]

Well its not going to get any cheaper, anyway!

I beg to differ.
There's stiff competition in the 3D market right now and all the apps are getting cheaper, either by lowering their price or offering more for the same price.

[StephanD]

I beg to differ.
There's stiff competition in the 3D market right now and all the apps are getting cheaper, either by lowering their price or offering more for the same price.

Absolutely true but then the most populars tend to stick around and above the 500us$ bar.

I personally don't think any of them is worth less.

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