MODO 501 is released ..

[williamsburroughs]

Wow, some really nice workflow and tool enhancements.

I love the new Pixar SDS and the Sculpting tools look real world usable now! :buttrock:

[ctguitars]

AND the MODO 501 Feature Tour:

http://www.luxology.com/modo/tour/modo501featuretour.aspx

Aidan

[Kabab]

Kick ass release the new rendering features look amazing!

[musashidan]

I used Modo for the first time on my last project to try out the renderer. I was delighted with the preview renderer's amazing ability to cut down on long test render times..... but, wow, the latest release looks terrific. This is the first time in years that I haven't updated my 3dsMax. And having just watched all the 501 vids I might look Lux's way with my cash. :)

Some excellent all round core improvements (which probably should be every dev's priority- Adesk take note) plus a raft of workflow enhancements.

Well done Luxology.

[Obizzz]

I've only been playing around for a couple of hours but so far I'm one really happy customer.

The rendering improvements are awesome!

[WillBellJr]

Yep, they got me with this release - I'm a brand new customer!

I've been eval'n and learning v401 to get up to speed with using Modo, now I'm ready to also enjoy all the new v501 features!

-Will

[philnolan3d]

I'm still waiting for a complete 3D package before I think about whether I want to switch or not.

[plunq]

Just bought my upgrade and looking forward to giving it a good try! :)

[michibe]

No more Sub modeling with PSub??

[Magnus3D]

Yes you can still use the traditional subd for modeling and simply switch between the old and new PSub whenever you want. You are not restricted to use only the new one.

/ Magnus

[Jaspar]

This is a fantastic release.
I was initiallly disappointed to hear there weren't going to be any character animation tools in this release, but it's really hard to complain when everything else about the release is just awesome.
This upgrade was a no-brainer for me, Luxology really are thinking about their users, not just releasing a new version to screw out more cash.
Anyone who hasn't tried Modo to date, really should consider it, it's incredibly intuitive, a very comprehensive and powerful toolset, with excellent workflow.

[Bullit]

Very Good.

The Pixar SubD's and preserve curvature option will make me try it.

Btw i also want to commend the person that made the presentations: Directly to the point to not make people loose their time with useless babble.

Not good: just found that trial is not out.

[Cometsoft]

This looks like a fantastic release. So much stuff to dig in to, of what I've looked at ...

Even though the cocoa version is still somewhat beta it is so much faster than 401.

Image ink works great. That alone is worth the price, now I can use Modo as my main 3D paint program. Couldn't even use it before.

Snapping was always my main gripe with Modo, the new snaps are way better. Am looking forward to unlearning the workarounds I used in 401.

Am not sure how I'm going to use the Pixar Sub'ds elsewhere, but they do work nicely in Modo.

Kudos to Lux for this release.

[Nothingness]

Adesk take note

My first thoughts exactly.

I still remember the thoughts of CEO from sideFX saying "goodbye to innovation" when Autodesk accuired Softimage.
Seeing what Modo has become and growing to, i can't help to feel sad with everything that happens to Maya.
I mostly wasn't able to learn Modo or hang in there just to get over the first few steps. But now i really feel like i need to try again and hold on even harder. This really looks so nice.

Good job Luxology!

[musashidan]

This is a fantastic release.
I was initiallly disappointed to hear there weren't going to be any character animation tools in this release.


I read a Brad Peebler interview recently; in it he said: Introducing brand new tech- character animation and such- wasn't a priorty as he expected 3rd parties to pick up the gauntlet here via the SDK. He said he'd much rather improve existing features so as to greatly enhance Modo's workflow before implementing brand new major features. He also stated that this wasn't an excuse to shy away from expanding Modo's features but rather a motivator to continue perfecting the fundamentals.
I think this is a brilliant strategy and shows that the end-users are very important- unlike certain other 3D devs.

[mustique]

I read a Brad Peebler interview recently; in it he said: Introducing brand new tech- character animation and such- wasn't a priorty as he expected 3rd parties to pick up the gauntlet here via the SDK. He said he'd much rather improve existing features so as to greatly enhance Modo's workflow before implementing brand new major features. He also stated that this wasn't an excuse to shy away from expanding Modo's features but rather a motivator to continue perfecting the fundamentals.
I think this is a brilliant strategy and shows that the end-users are very important- unlike certain other 3D devs.

Yep,they do what they do best. Modo has the best looking raytracer IMO. I assume with this release they'll be able to make use of the new instruction sets of coming CPU's from intel and AMD too. That would make modo's cool raytracer even faster. I wish I'd have the time to learn how to use it.

[ngrava]

I've been using Modo and following Luxology for about 5 years now. One thing I was going to say is that even though I do think this is a really great release, I see it more as a 402 rather then 501. Character animation, or at least some more useable deformers would have made it more amazing for me. As it is, it's pretty neat but not enough to write home about. In my opinion at least.

I read a Brad Peebler interview recently; in it he said: Introducing brand new tech- character animation and such- wasn't a priorty as he expected 3rd parties to pick up the gauntlet here via the SDK

This is what I was expecting but I just read the info about the SDK and it seems there is no access for making new deformers. I think the initial comment was more about things like dynamics and particles that use motion modifiers. We'll see though. I'm hoping that they will add deformer support in a service pack release in a few months.

Yep,they do what they do best. Modo has the best looking raytracer IMO. I assume with this release they'll be able to make use of the new instruction sets of coming CPU's from intel and AMD too. That would make modo's cool raytracer even faster. I wish I'd have the time to learn how to use it.

You know, the more and more I use Modo, I see that it's actually true about being one of the best renderers out there. I don't know why it doesn't get more credit for rendering. With the new additions you can produce really amazing looking Images. If you are in a business that only does things like product/architectural visualizations, Modo is way more then enough for you as a stand alone product. I feel that at this point, the next big step for modo should be adding features for doing effects. This is where 3rd party plugins can really explode (no pun intended). If you think about it, you can already get character animation into Modo from another program like Blender or Messiah but then the issue is doing effects like smoke, fire, water, atmospherics, etc. So here's hoping someone gets moving on some plugins. :-)

I have a feeling that there's also a whole untapped market of people who would be interested in using modo just for feature film effects. I know I would! If I could use Modo's replicators with particle systems for explosions and storms and if there's good access to the volumetric engine, you could have an amazing product. For me, this teamed up with Modo's amazing render engine would be a real knock out.

[duke]

501 is to 401 what Windows 7 is to Vista. Good stuff.

To expand a little more, I made a comment in a post a while ago that Modo 301 did a bit of everything, but excelled at few - the modelling being the exception. With 401 and most definitely 501, they've really turned this around and added the extra polish to all those features, making them far more practical.

[philnolan3d]

I read a Brad Peebler interview recently; in it he said: Introducing brand new tech- character animation and such- wasn't a priorty as he expected 3rd parties to pick up the gauntlet here via the SDK.

Well, sorry Brad, but it looks like it'll be a long time before I drop that much cash on an incomplete product.

[sacslacker]

Fantastic upgrade to what's turning out to be one hell of a product. I'm very pleased. This is quite a significant upgrade in all areas of the application. Oh and kudos for Luxology for not caving into the "give me cool feature" crowd and instead, making the application much more solid!

[stooch]

i was initially dissapointed with lack of animation and particle tools.

until i saw the improved sculpting videos. good, not a fan of zbrush. Nice to see sculpting in modo becoming useable finally.

[Rezonance]

What is the documentation for Modo like?

[sacslacker]

Documentation is much MUCH better this release. It could still improve but it's better than it's ever been.

[duke]

Well, sorry Brad, but it looks like it'll be a long time before I drop that much cash on an incomplete product.

Feel free to spend 2-5 times as much for a "complete" one then!

[R10k]

I don't 'get' Modo. I tried to use it, but the UI drove me mad. It doesn't look like are huge changes across the board, so I can only assume 501 will drive me just as crazy ;)

[Jaspar]

Yep,they do what they do best. Modo has the best looking raytracer IMO. I assume with this release they'll be able to make use of the new instruction sets of coming CPU's from intel and AMD too. That would make modo's cool raytracer even faster
According to Brad Peebler in one of his videos a few months back, they've got a really strong partnership with Intel, who helped them seriously optimise their rendering code using all their latest instruction sets. AMD always seems to follow a bit behind Intel in instruction sets (compensating with brute force), but I'd imagine that Modo 501 must be one of the fastest raytracers out there on any chipset.


Well, sorry Brad, but it looks like it'll be a long time before I drop that much cash on an incomplete product.

Well it might not have CA, but it's about the most complete and refined SubD modeller out there. Many people end up using multiple apps to model, UV, sculpt, and texture. Not only is Modo a great modeller (used by some of the highest profile 3D companies out there), but it has class leading UV tools, 3D viewport painting/texturing, and pretty competetive sculpting tools.
Not only that, but it had all of these at least 2 versions ago (301). Unlike many companies, they haven't just got these on their feature lists, and then forgot about them, they've continuously refined and improved them (as indicated on the new features list). Personally, I'm really happy about this release, because the features and improvements that they've implemented are things that will really make a difference in day to day usage, they're genuinely well thought out improvements.
For what you get, comparing with other apps, I reckon the price is incredibly fair. You could even get Messiah for CA to complete it, and still seriously undercut many of the 'complete' apps.

[baobab]

Well, sorry Brad, but it looks like it'll be a long time before I drop that much cash on an incomplete product.

Depends on your definition of 'complete'.
Not every 3d program needs to try to do everything.
Modo has a very 'complete' subD modeller and render engine...
I don't CA, so I don't need those tools. For viz work, modo gets the job done.
The new upgrade looks good, 64 bit on mac is especially big.
Sure there are things that I would have liked to see implemented, but I think the price is reasonable for what you get.
I think it was a wise choice to work on refining some of the basics first, before implementing new features

[Obizzz]

Personally, I'm really happy about this release, because the features and improvements that they've implemented are things that will really make a difference in day to day usage, they're genuinely well thought out improvements.

+1 to that.

I find that the stuff in 501 is really the stuff that will improve my workflow and cut down production times.

I wouldn't mind some deformers though even if I'm not a character animator.

[fahr]

It's not a "complete" render engine. It has absolutely no way to render volumetric effects like smoke, clouds, etc. as far as I know. Nor can it render particles. I don't think it has a way to program custom shaders, and the shader tree is somewhat limited compared to a true node-based shader system. All of this means that I can't use it to replace mental ray (or v-ray, or renderman, or even LW) in a pipeline, even though I would like to. It's getting closer though!

[Kuziola]

I can't find any information about 3DConnection devices support.

[Novakog]

According to Brad Peebler in one of his videos a few months back, they've got a really strong partnership with Intel, who helped them seriously optimise their rendering code using all their latest instruction sets. AMD always seems to follow a bit behind Intel in instruction sets (compensating with brute force), but I'd imagine that Modo 501 must be one of the fastest raytracers out there on any chipset.


The instruction sets it makes use of are just SSE and SSE2 instructions, so the speedups should apply equally to AMD and Intel.

[plunq]

Well, sorry Brad, but it looks like it'll be a long time before I drop that much cash on an incomplete product.

Not sure why you think modo is an incomplete package... This is the description of modo from Luxology's product page:
modo 501
modo is an innovative 3D modeling, painting and rendering software designed to accelerate the creation of world-class models, associated color and normal maps, and ultra high-quality renderings.

modo does all of the above and does it very well :)

I'm very happy with the upgrade, just have to find time over the holidays to learn more about all of the updates.

[DrBalthar]

The instruction sets it makes use of are just SSE and SSE2 instructions, so the speedups should apply equally to AMD and Intel.
The problem is AVX (256bit long) instructions is where things start to become really interesting for rendering. SSE2 is nice but so much hassle in aligning your datastructures and memory model to it it is seldom really worth for only 4 instruction parallelism. Not sure if AMD's Bulldozer will include AVX.

[SheepFactory]

Ah reading the new features page I got the impression this release has character animation. So thats not the case?

[webhead]

Ah reading the new features page I got the impression this release has character animation. So thats not the case?
Unfortunately, not. I'm still waiting for that feature myself.
You still have the option of rendering animations from other packages inside Modo:

http://www.luxology.com/modo/features/animation/index.aspx

[ccross]

I can't find any information about 3DConnection devices support.

It looks like it still doesn't have it which I was really bummed about. There is hope that with the new SDK logitech can make their own plugin. It may sound silly but that's really the main thing holding me back, I've just gotten so accustomed to using it in my other programs it really bugs me not to have it, especially for modeling.

[Niong108]

well when i started 501 i felt that this is it now. Finally they delivered a really good app, and it does a very good job for what the app is designed (it is not a vfx app, nor character anim studio).
i heard brad on modcasts often talking about other products/companies for industrial modeling like the bentley systems, solid works and that luxology has good business relations with them. They even developed a render engine for bentley so it is not a coincidence that in 501 the renderer and preview renderer undergone major upgrades. This is what they are selling to other companies and i can only say it is a good strategy. i expect that solidworks will soon receive a nexus/lux render engine.

[Novakog]

The problem is AVX (256bit long) instructions is where things start to become really interesting for rendering. SSE2 is nice but so much hassle in aligning your datastructures and memory model to it it is seldom really worth for only 4 instruction parallelism. Not sure if AMD's Bulldozer will include AVX.

501 is about 50% faster (read: 33% less time) on typical scenes, and I believe that's mostly from using SSE2 instructions, so even that is a pretty significant boost. Having 8-wide parallelism with AVX would indeed be even better, though I have no idea (and probably couldn't say even if I did!) whether we're specifically planning on support for it.

It seems Bulldozer will support AVX, btw (source: http://techreport.com/articles.x/19514/2).

EDIT: Woops, it's 30-40%, not 50%, on an "average" scene.

[Olorin73]

God morning. I feel like a complete jackass here. You say there are no animation in 501, but saw rigging tools and stuff in the demos. Beeing a novice I wonder. What more will I need to animate a character? I thought the grouping and cloning of rigs looked really handy.

[KevBoy]

i expect that solidworks will soon receive a nexus/lux render engine.
Since the last release (this past September) this is already the case. Though me personally, I don't really notice the difference too much with the previous mental ray.

I liked 2009/2010 Photoview 360 as a product though but they got rid of that and are back to their Photoworks style interface (which they now call just 'photoview 360')

[mustique]

501 is about 50% faster (read: 33% less time) on typical scenes, and I believe that's mostly from using SSE2 instructions, so even that is a pretty significant boost. Having 8-wide parallelism with AVX would indeed be even better, though I have no idea (and probably couldn't say even if I did!) whether we're specifically planning on support for it.

It seems Bulldozer will support AVX, btw (source: http://techreport.com/articles.x/19514/2).

EDIT: Woops, it's 30-40%, not 50%, on an "average" scene.

AVX is told to be the next big thing and is supported on new cpus that will ship in 2011.
Hopefully every renderer out there will support it ASAP. Of course there's also openCL support for the ivy bridge and bulldozer cpus. But that is a whole different story.

[Olorin73]

How do you think the new render in 501 stack up against mentalray?

[Nothingness]

How do you think the new render in 501 stack up against mentalray?

As you should have read in previous posts, it's very fast and easy, but doesn't support rendering of particles, of no fluids or something like smoke. I guess cause these things aren't really inside modo yet.
Besides that, it looks like it kicks mr's ass on the general side of rendering.

[samartin]

How do you think the new render in 501 stack up against mentalray?

In my day job I have to use MR and I do think it's actually quite a capable renderer, I was very anti MAX about a year ago, but I've learned to embrace it. However, I do think Modo is in a different league, something that will take me a day to model and set up in MAX will take me roughly half the time in Modo.

Want fur, render product shots, render architecture scenes you've got it, it doesn't render effects as such but if you can get realflow data in, I'm sure it will chuck out some nice fluid renders!! Not my bag so I can't really comment on that.

Wait for the trial and see how it fairs, but the learning curve for rendering is very easy compared to MR...

[webhead]

...You say there are no animation in 501, but saw rigging tools and stuff in the demos. Beeing a novice I wonder. What more will I need to animate a character? I thought the grouping and cloning of rigs looked really handy.
Modo does have some useful animation tools - even if it isn't fully equipped with complete character animation capabilities like bones.

Quoted from wikipedia:

"modo is not considered a true character animation system, but has many animation capabilities.
Animate virtually any item's properties (geometry, camera, lights)
Graph editor with animation curve manipulation
Auto key option
Time system can be frames, seconds, SMPTE or film code
Morph target animation
Reads MDD files from other animation systems
Track View
Inverse kinematics
Channel linking
Channel modifiers
Dynamic parenting"

If anyone notices anything missing, or incorrect, just speak up.

[ngrava]

God morning. I feel like a complete jackass here. You say there are no animation in 501, but saw rigging tools and stuff in the demos. Beeing a novice I wonder. What more will I need to animate a character? I thought the grouping and cloning of rigs looked really handy.

Basically, They have a full bone like system (nulls can be made to look like bones) with just about every constraint, IK, set driven key, and now a node based relations manager like I.C.E. but alas... There is no way to connect these things to a skin. No skinning at all. So, basically you can create a "Rig" you just can't actually connect it to a character. :-( In fact, while you can connect a null to a set of points and even have a weight map control the motion like a cluster, as soon as you try and put it into a hierarchy it goes crazy with double trasforms. This has been a bug since 301.

Edit: I just want to be clear that you can "Connect" things like meshes to the rig by means of parenting a constraints, just not as a deformable skin.

[duke]

I ordered my upgrade from Safe Harbor more than 48 hours ago, but my CC was never charged and I never got any emails. What the hell is that about!

[Per-Anders]

I ordered my upgrade from Safe Harbor more than 48 hours ago, but my CC was never charged and I never got any emails. What the hell is that about!

You should probably contact Safe Harbor then. No-one here is going to know what's going on with your order or cc.

[HughBowen]

I ordered my upgrade from Safe Harbor more than 48 hours ago, but my CC was never charged and I never got any emails. What the hell is that about!
yea wrong place wrong ppl your asking :shrug:

[Snosrap]

Are the advancements to the sculpting tools worth the upgrade? I'm very much interested in getting into this kind of modeling mostly for product design (furniture i.e. leather chairs/couches etc.) Will modo's updated sculpting tools fill that type of need? Not really interested in a full blown - learn a new - app like ZBrush, so I'm really curious what you early upgraders think, as I'll want to make the purchase before their special expires at the end of the year.

[ambient-whisper]

Are the advancements to the sculpting tools worth the upgrade? I'm very much interested in getting into this kind of modeling mostly for product design (furniture i.e. leather chairs/couches etc.) Will modo's updated sculpting tools fill that type of need? Not really interested in a full blown - learn a new - app like ZBrush, so I'm really curious what you early upgraders think, as I'll want to make the purchase before their special expires at the end of the year.
they are better than before, but in all honesty, its very far behind zbrush. in fact, sculpting feels better in silo as well. i think a large part of it is how it updates the strokes/ normals as you sculpt. it makes controlling the sculpt more difficult.

the nice thing is, sculpting and painting generally feel a lot more solid now ( in terms of stability, and usability )

[Mattoo]

they are better than before, but in all honesty, its very far behind zbrush. in fact, sculpting feels better in silo as well. i think a large part of it is how it updates the strokes/ normals as you sculpt. it makes controlling the sculpt more difficult.

the nice thing is, sculpting and painting generally feel a lot more solid now ( in terms of stability, and usability )


Stroke interpolation is on by default. You turn it off and it feels much more repsonsive as well as being able to sculpt on much larger meshes. If you haven't you might want to give it a try. Personally I was okay with the image based sculpting for most stuff, but this is definitely better.

[bisenberger]

http://www.sharbor.com/products/LUXN0300033.html

[webhead]

http://www.sharbor.com/products/LUXN0300033.html
Just ordered mine from Safe Harbor today. Now 64 bit Modo 501 is up and running on my Mac Pro. :beer:

[bisenberger]

Just ordered mine from Safe Harbor today. Now 64 bit Modo 501 is up and running on my Mac Pro. :beer:

Cool! Wish I had waited a few days after the 501 release instead of upgrading directly from Luxology. Could have saved a few bucks.

[twosheds]

I was hoping they'd have ditched the shader tree idea by now and gone with nodal surfacing. I've been using Modo since 201 and love it for modeling and the occasional render, but the shader tree just kills me.
Maybe one day...

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