modo Advantages
By Mark Daviesh
World-Class Modeler
modo's hybrid polygon/SubD modeler has proven to be one of the
world's great modelers, allowing rapid ideation of virtually any manmade
or organic shape. modo produces models that are clean and have great flow,
which makes them easy on the polygon budget and appropriate for downstream
uses like rigging and animation. Its artist-friendly tools can be used in a
variety of modeling workflows including loop modeling, poly-by-poly, and
true 3D sculpting. Topology recreation, symmetry and vertex mapping workflows
are fully supported too. There's even a Game Units option and a Power of
2 grid. Simply put, modo is ideal for producing game characters, props, tiles,
levels and other assets.
Get Your Data In and Out
The modo File I/O SDK has what you need to get data into your game engine. Create loaders and savers for both geometry and images that run inside of modo. The File I/O comes packed with examples and is included with every license of modo.
UV Editing and Retargeting
UV editing is not an afterthought in modo, it is an obsession.
We are on a mission to nail UV editing for even the most complex objects
with cavities, overhangs and differing levels of geometry detail. We offer
automatic tools that are complemented by the down and dirty tools like pinning
and move-and-sew that you need to get it done. And if you need to go back
and adjust your geometry later...in modo you can often do it without breaking
your UV's!
If you need to retarget your UV's for a different platform—no
problem. In modo you can create your assets however you like with huge texture
maps and as many UV maps per mesh as you like. Then when it is time to export
to your target platform, just create the UV configuration you need and bake
your textures out—diffuse, color, normal maps, specular maps, all of
them.
Render It. Bake It.
We almost called our renderer "the baker" because that is really what it is.
So not only can you get awesome final renders from modo for cinematics, you can
also use it to generate maps that you can then reapply to your characters, props
or backgrounds in modo or in game. Outputting a normal map or an ambient occlusion
map from modo is no afterthought, it's built in.
3D Paint
modo lets you paint right on top of your 3D model to get exactly
the right look or add surface bump/normal details that are ultimately baked
as maps for your game. modo is also great for creating world textures by
pumping up the 3D-ness of your textures so they really pop. The “image ink” feature in modo lets you
paint details from any image right onto your 3D object. Adding scales,
scars and battle damage is as easy as finding the right texture and brushing
part of it on your model at the size, angle and location you want it.
Customization
modo can be customized and adapted to the needs of your game or title with ease. modo is fully scriptable in PERL, Python and LUA. Plus, you can literally completely revise the modo user interface in minutes with its totally configurable viewports. Once you have the configuration you want, save it to a file and share it with the rest of the team. And the modo toolpipe lets you create an almost infinite set of new tools by modulating how commands work in terms of selection behavior, area of influence, workplanes and axes. If you want a tool that is ideal for painting vertex map values on the tips of radiating antennae, you can create it in modo. Or, check the Internet; the tool or script you need may already be out there. Here is a cool
site for games-oriented modo scripts.
|
