Anthony Frausto-Robledo, EIC (info@architosh.com)

18 Aug 2005

 

SIG: Luxology SIGGRAPH Event Introduces modo 201 for Mac OS X and Windows at Orpheum Theatre

Luxology Announces modo 201 with Event Showcase Website

Luxology, the makers of the new and innovative modo 3D application, were at SIGGRAPH 2005 in Los Angeles where they introduced modo 201 at a special event at the famous Orpheum Theatre. The company now has full details of the event and QuickTime media of modo 201 on their company Web site. (see event photos here)

modo 201 - Details: modo grows up

The company's new tag line for modo 201 is "create at the speed of thought". "Model. Paint. Render. Integrated and Accelerated", states Luxology.

modo is growing up with version 201. No longer just an innovative modeler, the company has revealed its longer term development plans for the application -- now destined to be a full-fledged integrated 3D application with modeling, rendering and painting technologies.

In a press release statement, company co-founder and president, Brad Peebler said: "modo 201 is not the first 3D environment to incorporate modeling, painting and rendering." "However, modo is the first environment built from the ground up to integrate these workflow steps in a way that dramatically improves the ability of 3D designers to focus more on creating and less on process and repetitive steps."

Modeling

modo 201 features numerous advancements in its modeling toolset, such as true mesh instancing. True mess instancing allows you to duplicate a mesh many many times and make edits to the original which are then replicated in real time to the instances.

A new Item Mode allows you to transform items directly in 3D space and export transform data to formats that support them. A new Quad Mode for pen tools will allow you to automatically create quad strips.

Texture

modo 201 has advanced procedural textures including cellular texture with angular and round modes; and a checker texture with square and cube modes and constant texture. There are several other types of procedural textures including wood and noise. Procedural textures can be treated as 3D volume textures or used as texture locators for projection modes including UV mapping.

Painting

modo 201's new painting system is highly extensible due to the native integration with the Tool Pipe. Painting includes real-time bump map painting as well as parametric ink. Use 3D data such as slope, altitude and incidence angle to change the color of inks. You can use preset brush types or create image-based brushes. A randomized ink setting varies ink by a user defined hue, saturation and value percentage.

Rendering

modo 201's rendering capabilities feature high-speed global illumination. Its GI renderer uses irradiance caching to dramatically improve render times over traditional Monte Carlo method. There are several different types of light objects such as directional, spot, area, linear, point, dome and cylinder. Additionally, there is environmental lighting. A one touch turntable creation system allows the camera to move or the geometry to turn.

This is just a brief summary of some of the new features in modo 201. To read a full detailed summary of the new features of modo 201 go here.

Price and Availability

modo 201 is scheduled for availability in the final quarter of 2005. You can purchase modo 102 now at an introductory price of USD $695 and receive a free modo 201 upgrade. Current modo 102 users can upgrade to modo 201 for USD $295. modo is fully supported on both Mac OS X and Windows platforms and has been highly optimized for OS X as demonstrated in a Apple Expo keynote speech.

For more information visit: www.luxology.com

Architosh Analysis: Luxology's Orpheum Theatre event is an indication of how serious this company is in the 3D market, despite its relative youth. Representative artists from big name companies such as Pixar, ILM, Sony Imageworks, NASA JPL, Disney and Digital Domain were at the event. Additionally they had several top-tier SIGGRAPH technology partners in HP, Intel and ATI.

Perhaps what one might gravitate to, in regards to this new company, is its revealed roadmap. Announced during SIGGRAPH, Luxology has stated that modo's ultimate goal is to be a full 3D platform with integrated and customized support for specific industries. Brad Peeler said: "Our product roadmap calls for modo to evolve into a comprehensive 3D design environment that entirely redefines intuitive and integrated workflow."

At the core of this is what the company calls its proprietary development platform: Nexus. modo 201 represents phase 3, which will include Linux support at some point. For 2006 and beyond phase 4 will bring a full animation pipeline to modo and allow the company to target specific industry markets. At this point modo 201 might become increasingly interesting to more technical 3D CAD professionals such as industrial designers or architects. For now it is becoming an increasingly great value for a general 3D program.

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