modo 401 has arrived!
The fourth major release of modo delivers a huge boost in functionality and workflow.


Fur in modo 401
What began as a relatively simple feature addition quickly evolved into something far more. As we near the end of the project, it is obvious that “Fur” in modo 401 has many applications. Fur is a system of sculpting and rendering tools that let you grow and arrange fibers that can look like fur or hair or roots or grass or tinsel. There is no difference between fur and hair, hair is just fur with long fibers.

If you apply a texture map, the Fur will grow like a rug with the colors from a texture map. Fur direction can be controlled with direction texture maps that can be sculpted like vector displacement maps. You can also use curves as hair guides. Fur attributes (flex, root bend, length, size, etc.) can be animated.


Volumetric Lighting
modo 401 can simulate the effect of light that is scattering as it hits small particles in the air and forms visible shafts of light. One of the most dramatic effects in Volumetric Lighting is volumetric shadows which project shadow rays into the volume, as you might see from a cloud that is lit from behind by the sun at dusk. Volumetric lights can also be textured via the Shader Tree. They are also visible in the Preview Renderer inside of modo 401.


Light and Shadow
The modo renderer will receive numerous enhancements that are designed to allow you to create more nuanced and physically-accurate images than ever before. Light Linking allows you to link a light to specific meshes in the scene so that only those parts of the scene are illuminated and the new Shadow Catcher feature makes it easy to cast shadows onto an image. A new Dispersion option will “tint” refraction rays, as is often seen when looking through cut glass or gemstones. Direct light Caustics are available using Photon Mapping. Blurry Refraction is now supported, perfect for frosted glass. In modo 401 you can use an image map to modify the Anisotropic Direction on a surface, which lets you control the orientation of the micro-scratches on the surface that spread out specular highlights and blurry reflections. The new Clearcoat amount setting controls how much of a physically-based reflective Clearcoat layer is applied to the material, which simplifies the rendering of high reflective surfaces like those found on an automobile or on a drumset. Photographic Tone Mapping in modo 401 provides the ability to control the dynamic range of final images for nuanced effects.


The core rendering engine in modo has been updated.
modo 401 dramatically steps up the performance and functionality of the Preview Renderer so that it is an even more essential partner in the creation process. Faster navigation updates and progressive quality refinement allow you to see your scene updated in the Preview Renderer immediately, with even large scenes. Preview speed is no longer primarily dependent on the number of items in a scene. You can now use any camera you want in Preview and also invoke Irradiance Cache-style global illumination, just as you experience in the modo offline renderer. Quality improvements to anti-aliasing (up to 256 samples per pixel) and depth-of-field in the offline modo renderer are evident, and will accommodate even extreme cases. Motion blur quality is also enhanced, especially for radial motion. Shader Items now have an option for employing Monte Carlo versus Irradiance Cache-style Global Illumination. Monte Carlo is especially useful for very detailed surfaces, such as fur or carpet. Curve Rendering is now supported.


Modeling in modo 401
In modo 401, the modeling tools receive many dozens of improvements in
both functionality and workflow. Two pages in the modo 401 preview will be dedicated to modeling and in this first page, we look at the humble Pen and Sketch tools, which have evolved into powerful foundational modeling tools, especially when used with Background Constraint.

modo 401 is more capable than ever at letting you work on top of background geometry in order to support retopology operations (lightweight geometry creation on top of dense meshes that come from scans or CAD datasets).

In modo 401, Profile modeling is introduced enhancing operations like extrusion or sweeping via the use of 1D and 2D profiles. As you model, you can select from various profiles to easily create things like handrails or crown molding in a house. You can also build your own profiles from lines and curves for later re-use. The new Instance Replicator can be paired with familiar tools to let you add details to your scene quickly. modo 401 also allows for the transfer of vertex information from one model to another, including morphs. This lets you, for example, re-purpose existing character expressions (like a surprised look with raised eyebrows) to another mesh.


Presets in modo 401
modo 401 introduces enhanced workflows for leveraging pre-built content known as Presets that greatly speed
up the process of 3D content creation. Presets offer a wide array of pre-built (and yet customizable content) for building and decorating models and scenes.

A drag and drop interface from a visual browser facilitates scene assembly and organization. In this section we explore (just) two Preset types — Material and Environment Presets — in their application and variety. Material Presets drive surface appearance, and Environment Presets (indoor, outdoor and studio) supply lighting, backgrounds and props. modo users are free to create their own Presets and the processes for creating both Material And Environment Presets are shown below.

We also demonstrate use of the new spherical camera in modo for creating HDRI images — a common element
of many Environment Presets.

Pre-built content known as Presets are included in modo 401 along with new workflows for leveraging them and creating your own. Material Presets let you easily experiment with different surface appearances like glass and metal. Environment Presets let you explore different lighting arrangements or staging to highlight your models by double-clicking on their thumbnails. Profile Presets are utilized when modeling to quickly add surface detail when beveling, for example. Mesh Presets (3D geometry) let you quickly “grow” a meadow or furnish a room right down to a vase on the dining room table. Camera and Light Presets provide additional ways to quickly prep your scene whether you are a seasoned modo pro or a novice. All of these Presets are modifiable —and most importantly— anyone can create new ones. The Presets that come with modo 401 are only the beginning, for Luxology will facilitate the sharing of Presets across the world-wide modo community.


Animation
This week we get started on animation, which is a big focus of the modo 401 release and will be the topic of several reveals in the coming weeks.  First, we delve into modo’s ability to layer transforms without the clutter and execution penalty of always having to create explicit hierarchical relationships in the scene. Then we move onto modo’s channel architecture, which has always offered deep flexibility in that all channels are treated equally and their values can all change over time (aka animation). Now in 401 you can link those channels to drive each other – and those channels can have a relationship. Not that kind of relationship – we mean a gradient curve can specify how and when one channel drives another (think Set Driven Key). When you can affect any channel of any object with another, the possibilities for scene orchestration grow exponentially. Taking this further, you can add your own User Channels, which are generic channels that you add to control other channels. To make it easier to work without breaking your concentration, we have added some new “heads up” tools for channel hauling and specifying channel relationships. Cue the videos!

modo 401 makes it easy to organize your models so they are ready for animation. In many cases, such as when
reading in data from another source, your model may not have been organized for animation at all. modo allows you to isolate your model into the parts needed to animate it and arrange these components into new Groups that are ready for rigging. In this week’s overview of modo 401’s animation functionality we explore how to prep models for animation - all the while preserving information in your model that is used for modeling and final rendering.

We continue to explore modo 401’s many new animation features, which include a simple 2 joint planar Inverse Kinematics capability and a new family of Constraints which let you (for example) force an item to follow a path, or to follow the position of another item or to face in a particular direction. Dynamic parenting in modo 401 lets you change the hierarchy as needed for actions like picking up and then dropping an item or grabbing and releasing a doorknob. Add in a few weight deformers and some locators and there is much potential for animated amusement or serious work for that matter.

Animated rigs and movies that leverage the new animation capabilities of modo 401 are presented below.  All of these movies were created during the development of the new release of modo by beta testers and Luxology engineers.  They helped to test both the performance and the use of animation features in combination with one another.  These tests directly contributed to refinement of the user interface, finalizations of feature sets and speed optimization. We also introduce channel modifiers in a series of videos that explain how they can be used to modify or even create new channel values in a scene.

Go beyond the traditional 3D workflow to an immersive creative environment

modo delivers the next evolution of 3D modeling, painting and rendering in a single integrated and accelerated package for the Mac and PC. And now, modo is a true end-to-end solution that includes true 3D sculpting tools, animation and network rendering! More than just features, modo is a truly elegant integration of technology, raw horsepower and refined workflow.

Modeling
modo has the fastest, most advanced polygonal and subdivision surface 3D modeler anywhere. Ideal for precision modeling of mechanical and architectural designs, and for freeform organic modeling. Integrated sculpting tools working alongside traditional tools take modeling to a new level.

Painting
modo’s paint tools provide one of the most natural painting experiences in 3D. Multi-threaded performance, a refined user interface, world-class tools and the ability to paint directly on any image in the Shader Tree make painting in modo a breeze.

Rendering
modo’s world-class renderer cranks out stunning images and rock steady animations—with physically-based lighting for natural realism. It’s incredibly fast and fully multi-threaded. Render across a network of Macs and PCs at ultra-high resolution.

Animation
modo is ideal for creating walkthroughs, product assembly animations or motion graphics of all kinds. You can vary the properties of any item in modo so that it moves or changes its appearance over time. Or import animations from other 3D software and render them out in modo.

Sculpting
Sculpting is built right into modo. This means you can use sculpting tools right alongside traditional modeling tools—all in a true 3D environment. This changes modeling forever.

 

Minimum system requirements - Windows

• Win XP / Vista (32 and 64 bit)2 GB available hard disk space (for full content installation)
• 2 GB of ram
• OpenGL accelerated graphics card capable of at least 1024 by 768 resolution
• Mouse or pointing device (pressure sensitive tablets supported)
• Pentium 4 processor or better
• Resolution Internet connection required for product activation and to access streaming help videos

Minimum system requirements - Macintosh

• Mac OS X 10.4 or later
• Macintosh G5 or Intel processor
• 2 GB available hard disk space (for full content installation)
• 2 GB of ram
• OpenGL accelerated graphics card capable of at least 1024 by 768 resolution
• Mouse or pointing device (pressure sensitive tablets supported)
• Internet connection required for product activation and to access streaming help videos

 Load Scene

• Luxology scene LXO
• Solidworks model sldprt, sldasm
• LightWave object LWO2, LWOB
• Autodesk DXF
• Autodesk FBX
• Autodesk 3ds
• Videscape GEO
• Adobe Illustrator EPS, AI
• Adobe Photoshop PSD
• Wavefront OBJ
• COLLADA DAE*
• Rhino 3DM*

Save As Operation

• Luxology scene LXO
• LightWave Object LWO
• Web3D X3D
• Autodesk DXF
• Autodesk FBX
• Autodesk FBX 2006.11
• HPGL Plotter file PLT
• Layered PSD
• Videoscape GEO
• Wavefront OBJ
• COLLADA DAE*
• Rhino 3DM*

Load Image

• Flexible Precision image FLX 
• Targa TGA
• Windows BMP
• Compuserve GIF
• Radiance High Dynamic Range HDR
• Adobe Photoshop PSD
• EUlumDat LDT
• Radiance High Dynamic Range HDR
• JPEG 2000
• JPEG
• Portable Network Graphic PNG
• SGI (SGI RGB RGBA BW)
• Tagged image file format TIF
• ies IES
• OpenEXR EXR

Save Image

• Flexible Precision image FLX
• Targa TGA
• Windows BMP
• Compuserve GIF
• Radiance High Dynamic Range HDR
• JPEG 2000 JP2
• JPEG 2000 16 bit JP2
• JPEG 2000 16 bit lossless JP2
• Portable Network Graphic PNG
• Portable Network Graphic 16-bit PNG
• Adobe Photoshop PSD
• SGI RGB
• Tagged image file format TIF
• 16-bit TIF
• 16-bit uncompressed TIF
• OpenEXR EXR

Notes
Save Animation to Quicktime .MOV (not available in 64-bit)
.MDD files can be read into modo (to render animations created in other 3D applications)