modo 301

modo delivers the next evolution of 3D modeling, painting and rendering in a single integrated and accelerated package for the Mac and PC. And now, modo also includes true 3D sculpting tools, item animation and network rendering! More than just features, modo is a truly elegant integration of technology, raw horsepower and refined workflow.

	Model modo's modeler is the fastest, most advanced polygonal and subdivision surface 3D modeler available. It is used worldwide for everything from mechanical and architectural designs, to organic creature modeling. New snapping, UV and 3D sculpting tools make the heart of modo even stronger.
	Paint modo's paint tools provide one of the most natural painting experiences in 3D. Multi-threaded performance, a refined user interface, world class tools and the ability to directly paint on any image in the Shader Tree make painting in modo a breeze.
	Render modo is equipped with a world class renderer that creates gorgeous still images and rock steady animations—with physically-based lighting for natural realism. It's fast and fully multi-threaded. Render across a network of Macs and PCs for even more processing power!
	Animate You can vary the properties of any item in modo so that it moves or changes its appearance over time. Create two different views through your camera and you've got a walkthrough animation. You can also import animations from other 3D software.
	Sculpt Sculpting is built right into modo. This means you can use sculpting tools right alongside traditional modeling tools - all in a true 3D environment. This changes modeling forever.
	Advanced Ergonomics modo is far more than a collection of tools and features—it is an artist-friendly environment that delivers an uninterrupted creative experience. Details really do matter, and modo's workflows have been refined to be as smooth as possible.
	Who Uses modo? Architects, industrial designers, package designers and game developers are among the thousands who use modo worldwide every day. It is a winning combination of functionality and refined workflow for an active community of modo users.

Key Modeling and Sculpting Features:

• Hybrid polygon/SubD/Ngon modeler
• 3D primitives
• Symmetric modeling
• Pen tool supports structured drawing and has snapping behavior
• Curve creation tools
• Model over background image
• Power snapping tools
• A scene can reference multiple files on disk and then be updated as they change
• Task-specific layouts provided for modeling and sculpting
• Modifier keys affect (e.g. reverse) the behavior of sculpting tools so you do not need to drop a sculpting tool to get opposite effect (Push vs. Pull for example).
• Mesh based sculpting for roughing out forms
• Image based sculpting for adding fine surface detail
• There are fourteen 3D sculpting tools:
  • Push
  • Smooth
  • Tangent Pinch
  • Spin
  • Move
  • Carve
  • Flatten
  • Center pinch
  • Fold
  • Inflate
  • Smudge
  • Emboss
  • Attenuate
  • Mask
• Unique vector displacement brush lets you create a brush from 3D geometry and sculpt with it (e.g. an ear)

Key Rendering Features:

• Fast ray-tracer with physically-based shading options
• Fully threaded up to 16 threads (1 thread per bucket)
• Time-enabled for rock solid motion blurs, stable reflections in animations
• Fast global illumination
• Efficient GI walkthrough mode
• Render high resolution images to disk that vastly exceed available memory
• Network rendering on up to 50 workstations via Apple Bonjour (included on Windows, already present on Mac computers)
• Extensive lighting model (point, dome, area etc.)
• Create IES (photometric) lights from standard IES files with control over light strength, contours, width/height
• HDRI lighting
• Bake maps
• Displacement rendering with billions of micro-tessellated polygons at render time
• Orthographic rendering
• Transparency can vary with absorption distance
• Subsurface Scattering with "backscatter" control
• Anisotropic Blurred Reflections
• Weight maps supported
• Instance Rendering

Key Painting + Texturing Features:

• Paint layout includes a canvas, gallery-style row of images along the bottom, a color picker and brush preview pane
• Real-Time Bump Map Painting
• Layer-based Shader Tree makes it easy to get the surface look you want
• Image maps can be used to drive over 25 effects (e.g. displacement, bump, specular)
• Paint on any image in the Shader Tree
• Paint across multiple images and onto multiple UV maps
• Airbrush, Erasers, and numerous other brushes
• Advanced procedural textures provided that require no UVs (e.g. cellular, noise)
• Roller brush facilitates continuous painting (e.g. in direction of cursor movement)
• Image ink lets you paint with existing images

Key User Interface Features:

• Undo/Redo enabled
• 3D navigation method can emulate other 3D programs (or be adjusted freely)
• Task-specific layouts provided for common operations (like painting)
• Feature parity on Mac and PC
• Help system invokes explanations of commands (often with video examples)
• Familiar industry paradigms used for common operations
• Commonality of commands across modo (paint tools use same system of Falloffs as modeling tools do)
• Cut/copy/paste functionality
• Intelligent object selection (including grow and shrink)
• Completely configurable viewports (size, function, visibility options and location)
• Any viewport can become a popover
• Cursors indicate selection type
• Extensive system of Falloffs (spatial tool influence)
• Extensive system of Action Centers (center, axis for tool operation)
• High-Quality OpenGL display (numerous shading modes)

Key UV Editing Features:

• Streamlined user interface for interactive UV editing
• UV projection to variety of shapes (e.g. cubic).
• Project from view option
• Unwrap tool with seal holes (e.g. eyes) option
• Relax tool
• Peeler tool
• Fit UV's option
• Pinning
• Numerous UV alignment and expansion options
• Use same tools as rest of modo to move, scale etc.
• Move and sew
• Specify based UV border size
• Cut/copy/paste functionality
• Show UV overlaps option
• Show poly fill option

Key Animation Features:

• Virtually any property can be animated
• Seconds, Frames, SMPTE and film code formats all supported
• modo is able to harvest animation data from other 3D applications in order to render it. modo reads .MDD files for this purpose.
• Ability to capture animation seen in OpenGL viewport or Preview Renderer as a movie
• Graph editor
• Unify slope and weight option
• Break slope and weight option
• Real-time playback option
• Controls over slope of animation curve coming in and out
• Curve, linear or stepped animation "curves"
• Morphs (aka blendshapes) can be placed on a timeline and used to drive an animation such as changing the expression on a character's face over time. Multiple morphs can drive the shape of the item at any given time.
• User settable frame playback rate
• Animation channel controls can be suppressed in the user interface
• You can render an animation to a sequence of still images or to a movie file

General System Requirements:

• Minimum 1GB RAM
• Minimum 100MB available hard disk space
  (3GB required for all content and integrated training materials)
• Mouse or pointing device (pressure sensitive tablets supported)
• Monitor resolution of 1024 x 768 or greater
• Graphics card with OpenGL support
• DVD-ROM drive (for support materials)
• Internet connection required for product activation

Macintosh® Requirements:

• Mac® OS X 10.4 or later
• Macintosh® G3, G4, G5 or Intel processor

Windows Requirements:

• Microsoft® Windows 2000 or Windows XP (Vista not yet supported)
• Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon™ processor (SSE instruction support is required)
• Intel Xeon / Dual Core and AMD Opteron also supported