Modo Convenience/Flow vs. Power?

[Spacelord]

Keep a watch on there forums, ever friday they release some videos.
I don't use modo, but keep a good eye on it.
I don't think it can do anything that you can't do in Max.
They just make it easier.
http://forums.luxology.com/discussion/forum.aspx?id=2

[tikal26]

Some of the tools are nice, but it still lacks some tools. the best part is the interface that males it so eaasy to do the task. It all depends on the kind of stuff you want to do.

[Sonk]

Some of the tools are nice, but it still lacks some tools. the best part is the interface that males it so eaasy to do the task. It all depends on the kind of stuff you want to do.

Indeed, there is a free demo on their site , just try it for a month and see if it fits your needs.

@Dario, I really dont know whats so specail about Max " Editable Poly" , care to enlighting me?

[Dario D.]

@Dario, I really dont know whats so specail about Max " Editable Poly" , care to enlighting me?

Well... it does just about everything you could want, with finesse and power (referring to Max7 and 8 Editable Poly). The only things it doesn't do are the nifty "time-saver" operations of Modo, etc.

[Sonk]

Well... it does just about everything you could want, with finesse and power (referring to Max7 and 8 Editable Poly). The only things it doesn't do are the nifty "time-saver" operations of Modo, etc.

See, most people viewing that reply, would be like "huh?" Not much susbtance to your responds to really understand what are "editable polygon" are in the first place. I took a 3DSMAX class once, the instructor didnt really go into deep about editable polygons and why they are so good.

[Nando]

Editable Poly is all poly's, but there are some tools that go along with that option that the other objects formats dont have ( editable mesh). Editable Poly, and the tools that you have an option to use are just like the standard modeling tools that are in most realy good modeling Apps today. Edge tools, Poly tools, Vertex tools, connecting, splitting, selection loops, spinning polys, Isoline = Tab key for Modoers or LWers. etc etc.

its probably the best format in Max to use when you bring in a Obj, becuase it keeps the quads all nice and uniform like in Modo.


Where modo excels is in the GUI speed and interface.
Max's ui seems a bit, sluggish compared to Modo on my machine.

[tin-tin]

Sorry to say this max 7 and 8 have no real improvement. I wasted two years trying to learn max, I find it diffecult, so I switch to lightwave and voila everythings just easy, with modo its about speed and better work flow.

[Dario D.]

Sorry to say this max 7 and 8 have no real improvement. I wasted two years trying to learn max, I find it diffecult, so I switch to lightwave and voila everythings just easy, with modo its about speed and better work flow.

Once you "understand" Max (which I learned in less than a year, taking classes at community college from a good instructor) it's really, really simple... It's like learning a language (an easy one). Once you know it, you can learn *any* aspect of the program in minutes, just by briefly reading through the Reference Help, which covers everything.

I will admit that a few things are dangerously complicated at first (like Radiosity in Mental Ray, and some advanced raytraced materials), but it's only a matter of hours before you learn even the most complicated things (or minutes if you read the Help documentation, which tutors you in painstaking detail, with thousands of images and examples).

The reason I'm still looking into Modo as a modeler is because I understand that a lot of the more time-consuming operations in Max are automated in Modo (including UVW Unwrapping), so I see the potential for a big modeling speed increase if I learn to use Modo.

In the great race to finish models and scenes quickly, Max is like a tank (strong, deadly, and crushing in power), whereas Modo is more like a race car (fast, speedy, but not overly powerful). While it's better to know Max, because it covers all things very well, it's faster to model with Modo, then dump your finished models into Max/Maya, etc, because it's designed to get models done quickly, and that's it.

[paul k.]

Dario, I actually have worked in both a Max studio and my current position in a company that uses various products for different tasks. Here we use Modo almost exclusively to Model rather than Max which we also own.

Bottom line the powerful tools you are looking for are all there plus some new ones max doesn't have. Also the convenient utility's that you have mentioned are on another level.

The bottom line at our studio (that makes games- typically high res organic models) is that Modo's interface and tool set becomes invisible. That invisibility " IS " the power you are looking for because it saves you so much time.

Also the tool pipe, and especially the fall off system are years ahead of the system in Max.
Another one is the Morph tools. Fast, easy, they can be propogated, they can be painted on other characters with different resolutions, scaled whatever you want.

One more thing......... I noticed when I model in Max I spend about %40 to %60 percent of my time in the interface.........Changing selection modes, using the extrusion, navigating, etc. etc.

In Modo I work in the interface "Maybe" %10 of the time. That is being generous it may be less. Being able to toggle between different selection modes, via hitting 1, 2, or 3, and or the space bar is reason enough to switch to Modo, and learning it will not take you a year either.

[paul k.]

Also,

Another really fantastic tool that Max does not have is the Spinquad function. It is such a powerful tool thats necessity is not always understood at first but all high end modelers use it. Very Very Powerful and fast.

Hope this helps.

[ViCoX]

I second that.

[Dario D.]

(what paul k. said)
Yeah, that's basically the confirmation I was looking for, before getting into Modo (thanks, and to those who posted after). I just needed to understand whether I would be wasting my time or not in getting a new modeling app inserted into my workflow, and forking out the cash :sad:.

And now all I need to know is:

1: Where do you get training for Modo? Are there some good video tutorials?

2: And a simple question for those who have done it before: how long does it take to get Modo under your belt?

3: And is there a way to get Modo's camera control keys to match 3dsMax? I will still use 3dsMax every day, so I don't want to have 2 different control schemes for moving the camera.

[tikal26]

there are some tutorial included and some are provided by the community. Checked out http://www.luxology.com/community/

vertex monkey also has a tutorial section
http://www.vertexmonkey.com/tutorials_modeling_objects.php

and there is nice support in the forums

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