I have been evaluating it for about a week or so. Here are my thoughts: *THE GOOD-*
The renderer is pretty fantastic in modo. It has Shading Rate, ala PRMan, a way of rendering to a certain degree of refinement, then saving it out, and later on picking up from where you left off until the frame is done. They have an insane number of AOV's, can output multi-channel EXR, have a way of setting the amount of time you want for a render of a set number of frames (so if you have only 25 minutes before you have to show something, you tell it to render all the animation within that period of time and it automatically calculates the quality it should render at. Bloody amazing if you ask me. It has multiple selection editing (or whatever it is called) where you select many of the same thing and it gives you the question mark if some of the values differ, just like Soft does. It allows you to change it once, and they all change. It has a robust token system for naming files. It has crazy good render preview window that can show the statistics of every aspect of every frame rendered, it can post process frames for AOV's, but you can make some get it, but they don't all have to, or none of them, etc. The GI is actually really nice, especially the daylight system. It has a great material preset library. The Graph Editor is really nice. The UV tools are great. The modeling is very powerful, but I personally prefer Softimage for modeling. It has one of THE BEST Advanced OpenGL modes I have ever seen, and it is really fast when it is in that mode. *THE UGLY (no idea what the "bad" is after so little time with it)-* It does annoy me that there is little in it that is procedural except rigging, because procedural is totally how I am used to working, and that is hard to get past. I also don't seem to get the logic of their ICE-like node tree that does particle stuff (ICE-like is a large over-statement). It does seem powerful, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to logically connect certain things. It really seems that I am just hunting around for a port that will allow me to connect, which is very much a workflow killer. The color coding in ICE is really brilliant in that regard. Another thing I don't like is that all the potential connection ports do not show up until you add them or (somehow) reveal them. Even things you connect don't automatically show up unless they are "added" to the nodal view. However, I would use ICE for things like that for now, and hopefully (if I do switch) the Fabric people will have connectivity to modo ,especially with the graphical programming stuff coming from them at some point. I feel it updates slowly when showing a largish number of objects. Not hundreds of thousands, but more like thousands. That was surprising (although the progressive renderer is VERY responsive, and at times I was able to move around the scene faster int he rendered view than in OpenGL!). The interface is pretty, but very fiddly, too many windows, sideways vertical tabs that I have to turn my head to read, There is a lot more, but this is only my first few days with modo, so I have a lot more to learn. Hope this is helpful as a POV of a Softimage guy who just started playing with modo... Perry On Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 8:13 PM, Artur Woźniak <artur.w...@gmail.com> wrote: > I believe that The Foundry and Luxology can create great combo and can > bring it to the another level. > Let's wait for 801 which is due shortly, last I heard. > > Artur > > > 2014-03-13 1:00 GMT+01:00 Bk <p...@bustykelp.com>: > > I'm certainly wouldn't say Im transitioning to Modo, but I totally believe >> in their dedication and vision and Brad has to be one of if not THE most >> communicative leaders and that counts for a lot in my book. They listen and >> react properly and are forward thinking. >> Modo currently lacks hugely compared to Softimage for the work I do, but >> I was using it as a renderer before moving to Arnold. I enjoyed Modo >> rendering, to be honest, but nothing could compete with Arnold directly in >> Xsi. >> I do feel like the time is coming when modo is going to get more >> interesting to animators and riggers, but for me I think it's a way off. I >> need ice too much. >> Anyway. I'm upgrading my modo licence , if mainly so I can get mesh >> fusion, but also because who knows? If they are going interesting places in >> the future, I don't want to be completely rusty. >> Oh and the renderer is better at interiors than Arnold and a lot cheaper >> to run so I may reintroduce it for the odd job. >> >> >> On 12 Mar 2014, at 23:18, Perryharovas <perryharo...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> >> Seriously evaluating modo as all this evolves. >> >> Please add me: >> >> perryharo...@gmail.com >> >> Thank you! >> >> >> >> On Mar 12, 2014, at 5:55 PM, Mario Reitbauer <cont...@marioreitbauer.at> >> wrote: >> >> add me in, gonna do the transition to modo and houdini. >> >> cont...@marioreitbauer.com >> >> >> 2014-03-11 17:00 GMT+01:00 Ahmed Barakat <ahmed.barakat.mail...@gmail.com >> >: >> >>> I would sure like to take a look at it aabara...@gmail.com >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 3:21 PM, Tim Crowson < >>> tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com> wrote: >>> >>>> Yes the lack of non-rigging-related operator stack (not just history) >>>> has been an issue for some people who really do like to model more >>>> procedurally. In rigging, you'll find that deformers are stacked using >>>> Order of Operations, similarly to the operator stack in Softimage, on a >>>> per-deformer basis. But that's not the same thing as a construction >>>> history, or procedural modeling, which every agrees would be awesome to >>>> have. >>>> -Tim >>>> >>>> >>>> On 3/10/2014 3:05 AM, Szabolcs Matefy wrote: >>>> >>>> I am evaluating modo now as an alternative, and it looks really >>>> promising, however, I miss the history. But since I worked with LW before >>>> SI for four years, it’s really fun to feel a somehow familiar feeling :D >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [ >>>> mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com<softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com>] >>>> *On Behalf Of *David Rivera >>>> *Sent:* Saturday, March 08, 2014 9:23 PM >>>> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com >>>> *Subject:* Anyone in the SI list transitioning to MODO? -Please add >>>> your mail here >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Hi, I was really touched by some of the in-depth opinions about leaving >>>> SI. TD´s perspective, and other >>>> >>>> users who have dedicated their lives (literally) to build a rock-solid >>>> pipeline for studios all around the world >>>> >>>> using softimage, have really made me think a lot into consideration. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> So, to cut a long story short, I´d like to know if there´s a thread in >>>> the list that´s already being aligned into >>>> >>>> the Softimage/MODO transition? If not, I´d like to start it off with >>>> this post. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> I´m going into MODO and here´s my email: >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> david_rivera...@yahoo.com >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Thanks. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> *David Rivera* >>>> *3D Compositor/Animator* >>>> LinkedIN <http://ec.linkedin.com/in/3dcinetv> >>>> Behance <https://www.behance.net/3dcinetv> >>>> VFX Reel <https://vimeo.com/70551635> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> >>>> >>> >> > -- Perry Harovas 203-448-7206 Animation and Visual Effects http://www.TheAfterImage.com <http://www.theafterimage.com/> -24 years experience -Co-Author of "Mastering Maya"<http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Maya-Complete-Perry-Harovas/dp/0782125212> -Member of the Visual Effects Society (VES)<http://www.visualeffectssociety.com/>
