I’m surprised to see that Rhino isn’t up there. It’s one of the most versatile NURBS modelers out there. I used Rhino quite a bit before EI had a modeler. Very stable, very fast and it’ll run well on practically any machine – even my Mac under Virtual PC!
I’m using Silo now that I’m not creating high-tolerenced models for manufacture but Rhino really should be on the list. In my opinion, it’s one of the best modelers out there.
Just my $0.02
Sorry, had to make a selection, and picked the ones I heard most about on the EIAS forums.
Cool, downloading the evaluation version now.
I realize there are lots of modelers to choose from. I guess everyone’s trying to find the ideal workflow. Thanks for putting this up!
EIM had everything under on roof, pitty it had to go the way it did, i was just starting to learn how powerfull it was, i can still use it but having a few issues running on WinXP, and i suspect it will only get worse…
So it if i want to model something its usually Silo, been thinking about Concepts3D hmm.
I dabble with Zbrush 2, but i really think the whole ZB+EI thing needs looking at on both sides.
Reuben
I am not an EI user at all but I have worked as a modeler at three different studios and have to say that if you want the best Sub D modeler in the world use MODO without a doubt. I use a combination of Modo and Zbrush and all is well. I really couldn’t ask for more.
I have been asked to Model professionally in Max, Lightwave, and Maya, and without a doubt my current Modo, Zbrush combo is far far superior. Modo is the base Zbrush for Zbrush things. Adding realism and small details basically. \
If I couldn’t use Modo, I would choose Lightwave’s modeler. It’s thourough, complete, really fast, and battle tested. Plus the whole app is so cheap now that you get the animation tools and a pro renderer for free. The modeling tools pay for themselfes. Also Luxology has announced a new Modo render that looks very promising.
Just my opinion.
Thanks Paul…
Yes, Modo is a fine piece of software. Great for modeling. As for rendering, well, we’ll stick to Camera. We’re pretty happy with it. 
Well, there could be a way to use both camera and the future Modo renderer.
Modo 201 will support Color and Normal Map Render Baking. I did some tests with this in C4D, it was useful for my EIAS projects, but in C4D the render baking is just to slow to be practical for me. Maybe in Modo 201 Render Baking will be faster and useable in EIAS.
Cheers
Hans
Maybe it is to some, but i still don’t understand why it requires 2x mouse clicks to do the same job every other modeler i know does with one click.
Thats just the feeling i got from the demo, oh and it seemed over complex, guess i’m just used to Silo
Reuben
I tried the demo of Modo too and a lot of stuff seems to be borrowed from Lightwave (clicking a specific icon to select and deselect, creating layers for boolean operations, etc.) but I think Modo comes to life when you need to generate complex arrays or automate the construction of a complicated spline path for an extrusion.
I’m still hooked on the Silo work flow (it’s “like butta”) and version 2.0 looks like a giant leap forward but I can certainly understand why people appreciate Modo. Silo and Modo are very much alike.
I will always keep a Mac around that runs OS 9 and EI modeler. I find that most modeling apps do something really well and faster than others. Still love the knife tool in EI modeler for that very reason.
For now Silo is the tool of choice for me. But I’m also holdiing on to Amorphium; it can do so many little tricks that just come in handy now and then.
I think modelers are like shop tools - you need a router, then you need a table saw. When modeling, sometimes its’ EI modeler, sometimes Amorphium, sometimes Lightwave’s modeler, sometimes Silo… I wish I had them all. In the words of Tool Times Tim Taylor “MORE POWER - UUUUGHH” 
I used first formZ, then Rhino and EIM a bit. Personally I’d avoid formZ now. I’ll look at Silo and Modo, although Modo sounds a bit formZish with all those clicks… Whats the difference between Silo and Modo, apart from price? Modo seems very comprehensive, but one gets the feeling the price will be hiked up once the user base is acquired.
Martin K
I like the clear and pragmatical UI in Silo, which allows focussing on the model instead of looking for hidden functions to much.
Silo 2 seems quite promissing too.
Steffen
I just had a very quick look at Silo. My first impression is that it certainly doesn’t have all that number of functions. I assume there are meshing controls somewhere as my first test export to EI, of a beveled cube resulted in over smoothed edges, inspite of setting the angle to 5 degrees on import.
Martin K
You can do a partial subdivide on sections ofthe mesh if you want.
It took me a couple months to get “it” with silo. And then a couple projects where I forced silo into my production work and viola! I can’t say enough good things about it.
Its fast, stable and I can make stuff with it!
I can’t wait for the next version with the displacment feature a la Zbrush!
Mike Fitz
www.3dartz.com
Yes, i’m looking forward to Silo2 a lot, i think it will be a pretty big upgrade.
Reuben
2.0 looks like a real improvement. I’m really looking forward to creating workable UV maps without having to go into Wings and Transporter to be able to work with UVs in EI.
Soon (I hope)
Hmm you’ll still need transporter (i think), Nevercenter seem to have trouble with the fact format, but you never know.
Reuben
I’ve been looking at Rhino 3 and it seems quite solid and forgiving. It makes sense for me to upgrade as its quite cheap to do so.
Martin K
My first ‘real’ modeler was formZ, which I loved. When EI introduced Modeler (EIM) the first version was very unstable for me. By the time it got to version three it was extremely stable for me so I started to give it a real go and rather quickly abandoned formZ. Not that formZ wasn’t as good. In fact it’s my belief that formZ is a much deeper modeler than EIM. I just started liking EIM more because I could get my work done so much faster. It seemed simpler to use than formZ and would edge round the pants off of formZ. When they discontinued it’s development I started looking at other modelers for down the road. Eventually I went with Modo which I also love now. That was a bit getting used to since I’d never used Sub-D modelers before. EIM does have UberNURBS which, to me is it’s modeler within a modeler, and for the most part it is a Sub-D modeler (or at leas operates along the same pricibles to me anyway) but it seemed the models would get cumbersome to deal with when they started getting a little complex. At the moment I use them both. I wish EI would pick up Modeler again and further it’s development but that seems very unlikely (there’s certainly no discussion of it that I’m aware of) but I’ll continue to use it. While EIM and Modo are very dissimilar, They’re my two favorite modelers at the moment. At the moment I render everything in EI.
Curt
Hey folks, thanks for putting Concepts 3D/Unlimited in the list. I really think that is is a good replacement for EIM (sans Ubers) if you like that kind of modeling. In fact, once you get the interface down, it is quite a bit more powerful tool wise.
I also used form*Z for a while, but just couldn’t get my speed up to anywhere near what I can do with Concepts. Now, the poly / subdivision modelers are a whole different animal. I’m more of a mechanical guy anyway, so those just haven’t appealed to me. I’ve played with them a bit, but I don’t have an immediate use for them, and I don’t seem to get them. Maybe some day.
-Steve