In this issue

Iron Man 2: The Video Game
John Hayes uses modo to create game characters.

HDRE Kits Simplify Outdoor Lighting
Ryan Drue shows how to use the new HDRE Kits.

Green Environmental Design
Viktor Ramos shows off the MIN/MAX HOUSE.

Nature By Numbers
A film of great proportion by Cristóbal Vila.

Phil Brace, Industrial Designer
phil&teds uses modo with Solidworks.

Art Center College of Design
Chooses modo for Entertainment Design Instruction.

Luxology News and Gallery Images
Two new modo 401 tutorials now available.

Events Calendar
List of upcoming Community events.

Stay Connected
Find us on Facebook, Twitter and more.

Newsletter Center
Manage your subscription.

Iron Man 2: The Video Game
You may already know John Hayes from a profile we published earlier on the Luxology web site. John and a team at SEGA used modo to create characters for Iron Man 2: The Video Game.

Want to know more?

“modo’s polygon editing tools are more advanced than the other modeling tools in our pipeline,’ said John Hayes. “Combined with modo’s integrated UV editing and rendering, it really helped to raise the character quality level as well as speed up the overall design process.”

More images and information about Iron Man 2: The Video Game on our media page >

Green Environmental Design
Viktor Ramos shows us the MIN/MAX HOUSE he created for a housing competition using modo.

A tip from Viktor Ramos on creating architectural wireframe renderings:

“For the plans, I rendered in modo to get the basic textures and shadows. I then took the model to Rhino and used the Make2d command to create a hidden line vector drawing, which was then overlayed in Illustrator onto the modo renders. The sections were completely rendered in modo, with text overlayed in Illustrator again. I cut the sections with the slice tool, then created polys for the actual section cut and used the wireframes-to-curves script to get the linework.”

Read more about the MIN/MAX house on the Luxology Forum here >

Download Andrew Helmer’s wireframe-to-curves script >

HDRE Kits Simplify OutDoor Lighting
Ryan Drue demonstrates the new HDRE Kits from Luxology in this online video. The new HDRE Kits (the E stands for “Environments”) provide you self-contained environments for placing your models in realistic outdoor situations. With the Kits, you simply drop your model into the desired location and use custom controls in modo to arrive at final lighting.

How do HDRE Kits work?
They are very easy to use. Ryan Drue recently made an online presentation for modo users showing the whole HDRE setup process – from start-to-finish.

The presentation is quite in-depth; it takes over an hour. But once you learn the methods for adjusting the HDRE environments, you can create photo-realistic images very quickly.

HDRE Kits are a great complement to other modo Kits
Try the new HDRE Kits to create ultra-realistic outdoor renderings of your scenes. For photography-studio style renderings, use the SLIK Kit. And take advantage of the PAD Kit (Product and Automotive Design Presets) to drag-and-drop realistic materials (and more) onto your models for fast professional results.

Special Offer: Save 10% on selected modo Kits
As a Luxology Newsletter subscriber, you can use the special code xikei234n to save 10% when you order any or all of the HDRE, SLIK or PAD Kits during the next 30 days.

Nature by Numbers
Many artists and designers appreciate the proportions found in classical architecture, such as the Fibonacci Series and Fibonacci Spiral, the Golden Angle and Golden Ratio, as well as Delaunay Triangulations and Voronoi Tessellations. You probably won’t be surprised to know that nature uses these proportions as well.

Cristóbal Vila has created an inspiring short movie based on these numbers that shows how nature and geometry come together. Models and UV mapping for the film were created in modo and the final animation and rendering are from Cinema4D. Worth watching several times...

Want to know more?
A companion web page to the movie provides an in-depth discussion about the theories of the Fibonacci Series and the Golden Ratio.

Meet Phil Brace
This month we talk with Phil Brace, one of the inventors of the what is now known in the world as the “dishdrawer” (yes, a dishwasher in a drawer). Phil is the design leader at phil&teds, a New Zealand company that offers a stylish range of products that allow parents to adapt and survive. They have a strong, fresh sense of design.

World’s Faster Baby Jogging Stroller
We were anxious to speak to Phil about the product creation process at phil&teds, on the eve of their introduction of a fabulous new jogging stroller called the “Sub 4” aka “The world’s fastest jogger.”

Solidworks and modo
For implementation, Solidworks is the tool of choice for their design and engineering team. “We’re not designing space-shuttles just yet, so SW is perfect for plastic parts, extrusions, and the mechanics of folding mechanisms. modo provides the pre-design visuals, and later the accurate renders from the SW data.”

Article continues on Luxology web site >

Art Center College of Design
Scott Robertson, chair of the Entertainment Design program, has announced that Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, will provide modo for all their Entertainment Design students as part of their training. Alex J. Cunningham created these designs using modo.

Luxology News Updates and Gallery Images
Summary of recent news and gallery images from the modo community

Backpack Modeling Training Video
Modeling “soft goods” is a key skill for product design visualization. Industrial Designer Adam Ohern shows you how to create a complex model of a backpack, including all the interesting details, like cords and stitching in our newest modo Training Video.

The methods demonstrated by Adam are applicable to a wide range of textile-oriented designs, including handbags, gloves, flexible athletic gear and soft recreation equipment.

Check out the Backpack Modeling Training Video >

Human Eye Training Video
In this brand new modo video tutorial, Luxology’s own Andy Brown demonstrates how to use modo to model a human eye and the surrounding facial structures.

This area of the human face is complex, being the confluence of many curved surfaces flowing into each other, and re-creating it is an opportunity to learn new modo skills.

Andy demonstrates key aspects of using modo, from polygon modeling, UVing and hair to sculpting, painting and rendering.

Check out the Human Eye Training Video >

Free modo toolpipe video tutorial
Andy Brown offers a free tutorial on the modo toolpipe. Check it out on Luxology.TV >

Bouncing around the Twittersphere
Keith Brogan’s giant Lego© version of the Mario action figure still shows up regularly on Twitter. It’s here on the Luxology forum >

Events Calendar
Upcoming events of interest to the modo Community

May 17 - 20, 2010
Be Together: Bentley Systems Conference
Philadelphia

Join Luxology at the Be Together conference in Philadelphia. Come visit us in Booth #2485.

June 7-10, 2010
Sustainable Brands 2010
Monterey, California

June 10-12 Miami
AIA Convention
Design for the new Decade
Miami

Join Luxology at the AIA National Convention in Miami. Come visit us in Booth #2485.

June 10, 2010
CaT: Creativity and Technology
New York City

June 15-17, 2010
E3
Los Angeles

June 25-27, 2010
Dwell on Design
Los Angeles

June 29, 2010
World Industrial Design Day

July 13-15, 2010
Develop in Brighton
Brighton, UK

July 25-29, 2010
Siggraph 2010
Los Angeles

See you at Siggraph 2010!

August 4-7, 2010
IDSA International Conference
Portland, Oregon

See you at the IDSA Conference!

September 9-14, 2010
IBC
Amsterdam

September 28-30, 2010
IBEX International Boatbuilders Exhibition
Louisville, Kentucky

Stay Connected
Find us on Facebook, Twitter and more

Facebook.com/luxology
Luxology’s Facebook Page >

Twitter.com/luxologymodo
Follow Luxology on Twitter >

Twitter.com/bradpeebler
Follow Luxology’s Brad Peebler on Twitter >

YouTube.com/luxology
Luxology YouTube Channel >

modousergroup.com/blog/
Online modo User Group >

Luxology.com/community/
Luxology Community Blog >

Luxology.com/modcast/
Luxology modcast by Brad Peebler >

Luxology.tv
Free training videos on Luxology TV >

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