Have any of the pro modelers here seriously looked at Modo?

# 1 26-12-2009 , 08:44 PM

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Have any of the pro modelers here seriously looked at Modo?

Guys.

For a long time now I have been interested in hard surface modeling and I have to tell you when it comes to corners Maya is a PITA.

I have been going over to the modo forum and looking in the WIP section and I have to tell you I am really thinking of switching to Modo.

Go there and look at the MKIII's Devastater aircraft WIP, the klingon battle cruiser that deg3d is working on.

Or look at the TR6 suspension troutmac has started.

Or the assault droid time.bandit says is his very FIRST model!!!

Granted a lot of this stuff can be done as well in Maya but some of the stuff that I see would be a glorious PITA to do. The detail in deg3d's klingon ship and the panel details and cut out areas in the Devastater that MKIII are working on .... well I can't even think of how to do some of that stuff in Maya or if it's even possible!

Check this stuff out...

https://forums.luxology.com/discussio....aspx?id=42112
https://forums.luxology.com/discussio....aspx?id=42543
https://forums.luxology.com/discussio....aspx?id=40975
https://forums.luxology.com/discussio....aspx?id=35043
https://forums.luxology.com/discussio....aspx?id=42472
https://forums.luxology.com/discussio....aspx?id=33781

I have a lot of years invested in Maya and hate to switch. I don't like the idea of trying to learn two packages as I find you only end up being medocre at both. You need to pick one and really get good at it. It's tearing me apart trying to decide to switch or not.

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton, 1675

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# 2 26-12-2009 , 10:22 PM

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There's no doubt in my mind, that packages like MODO/ZBrush to name but a few, are the packages of the future.
The old packages also carry the weight of past development with them and the companies that develope them are not in a "customer first" mindset.
Companies like Autodesk act like the customer needs them for their productions whilest the fact is Autodesk needs the customers.
I think the future will see a couple more great packages that are created out of a demand( be it modeling, animation or rendering)of the market.

But to stay on topic you should learn the package MODO why not ?
There are people who play guitar but also do video editing on a same (high) level.
It doesn't neccesarily has to be a trade off.

That said I looked at the links you posted and I saw some basic extrusions which were duplicated a couple of times.
There were some tricky things which are harder in Maya but certainly not undoable, than in MODO ( I presume).

So try out Modo a 3d package is just a tool to get to a result nothing more nothing less

My website;
https://www.eyellem.com

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/martin-van-stein/42/a81/b82

Yoda post;
https://forum.simplymaya.com/showthre...highlight=yoda

Indiana Jones Post;
https://srv01.simply3dworld.com/showt...threadid=29188

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# 3 26-12-2009 , 11:12 PM

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YES it's better than maya for Hard surfaces! ... I'll try it ... and if i like it i'll do my hard surface modeling there for sure.. Till Autodesk wake up

p.s Did you try DRASTER NEX for maya ... i have it and i really can tell that this plugin SPEEEEED up things like Hard surface modeling user added image

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www.sevenbullsgames.com

Last edited by ColdWave; 26-12-2009 at 11:27 PM.

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# 4 27-12-2009 , 01:07 AM

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You've already made a few posts about this topic. Please keep it in there.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

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# 5 27-12-2009 , 01:20 AM

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I just got modo the navigation is very f***ed up ... ctrl+alt+LMB ... and the fast menus alt+~ ... omg ... i hope i find an option to change this ... Just check out some of the modeling tools too .. they are looking cool ... we will see in the next 3-4 days how it will turn out for me ... for now it's nothing fancy ... Maya is better with NEX!

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www.sevenbullsgames.com

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# 6 27-12-2009 , 01:34 AM

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I have tried Nex when they had a demo version some releases back. I found it to be quite buggy and slowed Maya to a crawl because of heavy overhead or slow scripts or both.

Also, I tend to avoid 3rd party addons for a number of reasons the top two are:

1. You cannot rely on them always being supported when a new release of Maya comes out and then you have to decide whether the new features in the new release of Maya is worth giving up the 3rd party tools or run multiple versions of Maya.

2. Draconian licensing where they want you to buy multi-hundred dollar licenses for every machine you run Maya on. I use Maya on at least 4 machines and cannot afford to buy 4 copies of NEX nor am I willing to be tethered to one machine to use NEX.

But yes it certainly has some nice tools, that in my oppinion should have been brought into Maya's default toolset all the way back to Maya 8.

NextDesign - I am asking for input from people that have tried Modo and are experienced modelers to get specific feedback. This is not the same as comments on Modo I have made in other posts!

I think I have been around this forum long enough to ask for feedback from people that have used both tools so I can make an informed decision.

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton, 1675

Last edited by ctbram; 27-12-2009 at 01:37 AM.

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# 7 27-12-2009 , 04:49 AM

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I didn't mean that in any offensive way mate.

If you really enjoy using it, it's fast, easy to use, and you get results, then go for it. It's you that has to make the decision. One thing you might want to try is asking the guys on the modo forum if/why they switched from their other applications. They will be biased, granted, but the same applies here. Maybe CGTalk, or some other application-neutral forum would give you a better idea.

I've been thinking about Modo myself as well. It has some very cool features, but I think it should be kept as a partner app with another mainstream one like Maya or Max; as this is what most studios do in production. Use each program for their specific strengths/weaknesses. For Maya, it would be animation, rigging, and dynamics. For modo, it would be modeling, and texturing. Rendering is a toss up, as they can both return great results.

It's all user preference is what I'm trying to say. To some, modo is cheap enough that they could buy both. I'm used to Maya's tools, so I would say that there is nothing wrong with them, and so on.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

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# 8 27-12-2009 , 05:38 AM

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Thanks NextDesign,

It's truely an agonizing decision for me. I can afford to own both maya and modo.

I hear what you are saying, but I hate the idea of trying to master two modeling packages. My only true interest is in modeling and texturing, and even there I am mostly interested in hard surface modeling, so the true strengths of maya (animation, fluids, dynamics) are not that critical to me.

However, I am really comfortable with Maya's workflow and the little bit I have played with Modo has taught me that it's a totally different kind of workflow and I am not sure I can handle trying to master both packages.

You are right though I need to put some probes out on the lux site to folks that have switched from maya to modo to get their insights, just as I am trying to get some feedback from anyone here that has tried both.

I have seen some great hard surface stuff on the lux site and have not really seen anything that can compare done with Maya. I have also not seen any good tutorials for Maya or Modo on hard surface modeling since the new hotness in modeling seems to be all about sculpting gazillion poly organic models in zbrush then normal mapping them back to low poly maya geometry.

Hard surface modeling has never been covered very well as far as I have been able to find. I see lots of great work but nothing that really discloses any details or techniques. Since most of the really amazing hard surface stuff I have seen lately seems to be from modo I am starting to think there is a reason.

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton, 1675

Last edited by ctbram; 27-12-2009 at 08:48 AM.

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# 9 27-12-2009 , 08:13 AM

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I share your problem CtBram. I am new to 3D. And just starting to get some flow with Maya. Downloaded and tried Modo. There are some simple modelling tools in there like radial clone and such that makes me wonder why they are not in Maya. But I am equally impressed with the water and particle models in Maya so I am not swayed yet. As for using both apps, is it easy to import models from Modo to Maya and can Modo poly models be converted to nurbs models in Maya if needed?

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# 10 27-12-2009 , 08:34 AM

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Originally posted by NextDesign
One thing you might want to try is asking the guys on the modo forum if/why they switched from their other applications. They will be biased, granted, but the same applies here. Maybe CGTalk, or some other application-neutral forum would give you a better idea.

Originally Posted by

Don't go to CGTalk, there is a rule against asking about comparisons between different apps or platforms.

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# 11 27-12-2009 , 09:11 PM

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Originally posted by Olorin
Don't go to CGTalk, there is a rule against asking about comparisons between different apps or platforms.

Originally Posted by

Would you mind linking to where you heard this? Looking through the rules on the registration page, https://www.cgsociety.org/join/?step=2 , does not mention anything like that.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

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# 12 28-12-2009 , 07:03 PM

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https://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=2&t=717637

"No pressure, no diamonds" Thomas Carlyle

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# 13 28-12-2009 , 08:09 PM

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I absolutely abhor Modo. Not my thing, and I can't navigate at all. It's a bit too different for me.

But go for it, if you don't mind the struggle of switching over.

Environment Artist @ Plastic Piranha
www.joopson.com

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# 14 28-12-2009 , 10:54 PM

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Wow... Seems that Leigh doesn't want you to post anything on the forum. I especially like the "Because I said so" remark...

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

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# 15 28-12-2009 , 11:42 PM

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That is not surprising and I understand the reason. I asked here because I feel I have known you guys for a long time and would like to get some honest feedback from anyone with a strong Maya background trying out Modo.

Personally I like the tool set but I am not sure I want to learn the workflow.

Thanks for the comments so far.

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton, 1675

Last edited by ctbram; 28-12-2009 at 11:46 PM.

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