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Brad Peebler unveiled modo 201 at NAB, spilling out a flurry of new features, modules and capabilities. Not only has the software evolved, but the method of delivery and concept of artistry anywhere has been retooled by Luxology. Luxology recognizes not just about the software; it's about end users; it's about the team; it's about the big picture.Modo was built on a foundation that would assist other 3D software applications, but with 201, Luxology has outfitted modo with its own render engine and paint tools which really makes it nearly a stand-alone product.
Especially powerful in the new application is the integrated texturing systems. 3D painting has been a tool that many artists have been hungry for, allowing them to paint to the geometry. An integrated paint feature also allows artists to remain in the application, without exporting to a third party's bitmap editor. This can be especially important when creating different surface maps for specific areas under specific lighting conditions.
The 3D paint system included in modo 201 boasts serious sets of tools. Allowing for procedural painting, there are many brush presets, with more becoming available all the time. The ability to move between modeling and painting without losing time to UV unwrapping and a photo-bitmap editor helps the artist to efficiently map out where textures and modeling balance the object.
Image Synth, an image generator of sorts, is a bit of texturing nitro under modo's hood. The texture-engine application runs a bit of alchemy with your input material sources, allowing the easy creation of a "chunk"-based seamless tile. Anyone who has seen the shortcomings of Adobe Photoshop's default tiling plugin will recognize the strength of modo's new tool. This new tool shouldn't, however, be confused with the Photoshop plugin ReMap from Allegorithmic.
Another important part of modo 201's paint set is the ability to take advantage of the new baking/render features, which include natural lighting, sss, blurry reflections, fov, and several GI techniques and more. You can paint directly into the scene, with lightning fast results.
Of course, as in previous incarnations of modo, where falloffs allowed the user to create custom modeling tools, paint brushes also can be equipped with falloff values for a variety of uses.
Of course, there are additional software upgrades, including the new render engine including true lens distortion and orthographic rendering, a simple one-click UV-unwrapper and modo's ground-breaking modeling tools.
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Source:Ko Maruyama.
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