Extend and customize modo

modo is designed to be customized. Luxology offers several developer tools available at no charge to modo owners for customizing and extending modo. Every copy of modo includes the modo Plug-In SDK, plus user interface and scripting facilities for developers.

modo Plug-In Software Developer Kit

For modo developers, Luxology makes available the the modo Plug-in Software Development Kit (SDK). The modo 501 Plug-in Software Developer Kit provides an application programming interface (API) and numerous source code samples that enable developers to read and write modo 501 scene, image, and movie files, introduce new commands and items into modo, as well as plug-in scripting support (with an example Lua interpreter).

The modo SDK is based on COM, with C++ wrappers for many of the published APIs, and is available for both Mac OS X and Windows 32-bit and 64-bit versions of modo 501.

View the modo 501 Plug-In SDK document (PDF file).

What you can do with the modo SDK:

• Export data from modo into the rest of your pipeline or tool suite (e.g. game engine). Control how modo data looks to your application, for seamless downstream use in your asset pipeline.
• Dump the contents of an LXO file into human-readable form.
• Import data from another application into modo. Read a proprietary in-house format or tackle an industrystandard format.
• Copy the contents of one LXO to another, applying custom operations as needed.
• Introduce new procedural textures into modo like pudding or boiling mud.
• Add new Commands to modo that execute native C++-based actions.
• Introduce new types of geometry into modo like nuts and bolts and screws.
• Create new tools for modo users that by provide new ways to create and edit geometry.
• Add new Replicator point generators to modo. For example you could create a condensation plug-in that places replicators as you’d see on a sweating drinking glass.
• Design innovative new ways for users to pick colors in modo.

Scripting Language Support inside modo

modo can be scripted in LUA, Perl or Python. You do not need a special version of modo for this. To invoke a script stored on disk, hit F6 inside of modo.

You can evaluate the processing of scripts you have loaded via the Event Log in modo (accessed from the Systems > Advanced > Event log) off of the main menu bar.

Editing the modo User Interface using “Forms”

The modo user interface is composed of “forms”. If you hit F3 inside of modo, you can see or modify existing a wide variety of forms. These forms can be resized or torn off inside modo to further optimize the user interface. We have built useful combinations of forms that we provide as “layouts” to modo users. New layouts (be they rich or sparse) can be easily created and saved by both users and developers of modo.

Toolpipe (Custom Tool Creation)

modo’s Toolpipe lets you create an infinite number of specialized modeling and selection tool variants that you can assign to hotkeys or other parts of the user interface. With the Toolpipe, you are able to combine modo’s robust set of powerful modeling tools with falloffs and action centers in new combinations to customize the way a given tool feels, looks and affects geometry. You can either use modo’s tools as supplied, or leverage the Toolpipe to create a tailored set of tools that work exactly the way you want them to.

Pipeline

Use modo in the production pipeline with leading software packages, such as Solidworks, MicroStation, Photoshop, 3ds max, Maya, Lightwave 3D and many more.

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Nexus

Luxology has developed a software architecture called Nexus®. Nexus is a cross-platform, media-aware architecture for rapid deployment of 2D and 3D authoring and visualization applications. modo is itself built from Nexus, and Luxology is actively involved in licensing this technology to companies. Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. and Bentley Systems have licensed Nexus technology to deliver rendering and animation capabilities for their customers.

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