Hi Paulo,
Like Sergio, I'll try to answer as best I can..
1) Modo does not have a models paradim like XSI. It follows Maya's
philosophy more than anything else: reference /*scenes*/, and manage
/*overrides */on the scene. It was overhauled in 801, but is still not
complete. However, I think it's on the right track, and hopefully they
can wrap things up for 901. If it were complete according to the spec,
it would be more flexible and powerful than XSI's ref model system. When
you reference in a scene, you choose what parts of the scene you want to
import (geo, lights, cameras, environment shaders...). Could be a great
way to abstract things for a lighting pipeline. As Sergio mentioned, you
also have Assemblies, which I think can be referenced, though there are
probably some bugs there. Assemblies can be things like ICE compounds,
but they can also contain items in the scene (pretty much any item I
think). Modo also has what it calls 'proxies' but these are not the same
kind of thing as you find in other renders.
2) Not sure about the particles. I think it can write out to a CSV
cache. For geo there is a free MDD plugin you can install to export
MDDs. Reading MDDs is available natively. Alembic is also supported, but
only partially at the moment. Eric Mootz has also released his emReader
plugin for Modo.
3) No animation clips or mixer yet.
4) The sculpting system has gotten a /*lot */better over the years.
Nothing is as powerful as Zbrush of course, but depending on what you
need, the sculpting in Modo can be very useful. Modo also has a decent
painting toolset.
5) The Nodal shading is complimentary to the Shader Tree. Think of it as
a way to rig elements in the render tree. It's extremely powerful, very
low-level if you want, and gives you global access to the entire scene.
XSI's shader trees are local to individual materials and don't really
let you share data with other elements in the scene. There's a larger
discussion to be had here about how Modo's shading works in general, but
that's a big topic.
6) Render Passes.... not sure what you mean by 'complete' but the basic
functionality is fine. There are some serious /workflow /issues with it
now though, especially related to how framebuffer filenames are set. But
the key thing to realize, and this is absolutely critical, is that in
Modo /a pass is a container for parameter values/. That's all they can
contain. They can't "contain" groups or 'partitions' either, they can
only modify the states of existing groups/partitions. Groups (which are
a type of 'item') in modo must exist in a pass-neutral state, available
to all passes. This means that if you want to create a 'partition' in
Modo, you have to create in a non-pass state, and then set its channel
values in the pass. In Modo, *scenes *have *items*, and items have
*channels*, and channels have *values*. Any item must exist globally in
the scene. You cannot have an item /*exist */in one pass and not in
another. Anyway, it takes some adjustments, and I think there are
workflow enhancements to be implemented (I've logged a request for
pass-specific groups that only exist in that pass, but it's a long
shot). But potentially, it means you could do some really crazy stuff
like animate a camera one way in pass A, and give it a different camera
move in pass B. Same item, different animation, because animation is on
channel values, and */passes are containers for channel values/*.
7) vRay is in beta. Octane is released. Don't know of any others. We're
hoping Redshift will come along sooner than later, but there's no
indication of that yet.
Modo has a lot going for it. It just has a couple of major obstacles
holding it back, but it's quite the versatile tool.
-Tim
On 8/6/2014 3:50 PM, Paulo Cesar Duarte wrote:
Hello everyone, I'm learning Modo and have some doubts and if anyone
can help here goes:
1) How can I work with assets in Modo, Is there any format to work
with, like the Models in XSI?
2) Modo has its own format of particle and geometry cache?
3) Is there a way create and work with animation clips, like in the
animation mixer?
4) I don't see anyone using the sculpt system's, it is very limited
compared to Zbrush? And can I paint textures in layers?
5) In 801 I liked the shading node on the videos I saw, it is a
complete system or is complementary to what already exists?
6) Render Passes is complete and customizable or need implementations yet?
7) How many third party renders exist for Modo?
I know these are many questions, but if anyone can answer some oh
these already appreciate.
Thank you.
Paulo Duarte
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