MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA — Luxology LLC (www.luxology.com) has released Modo 601, a major new release of its artist-friendly 3D content creation software. Modo 601 includes character animation, built-in dynamics, volumetric rendering, and enhanced retopology modeling tools and can server as a full pipeline solution.
According to company president/co-founder Brad Peebler, Modo 601 is the company’s “most significant release ever. With new feature and workflow enhancements, Modo now offers an end-to-end production solution that is both powerful and highly usable by artists and designers.”
The software offers a range of character animation functionality, from easy-to-use posing tools to the creation of fully articulated character rigs that can be manipulated through a full-body inverse kinematics solver and a general purpose system of layered deformers.
Rigid and soft body dynamics, based on Version 2.79 of the Bullet Physics engine, are now a standard part of Modo and provide realistic simulations of mechanical and organic motion.
Focused tools and a new dedicated retopology modeling layout simplify the rapid creation of clean models on top of imported geometry.
New photorealistic rendering capabilities include volumetric rendering, render booleans, hair and skin shaders, and rounded edge control for hard surface models. Cel, contour and halftone shaders offer enhanced non-photorealistic rendering opportunities.
The multi-purpose paint system in Modo 601 is extended to paint, scale, erase and smooth vertex (weight) maps on meshes. The app’s preview renderer can now be used for final image production as it will progressively render an image to the desired resolution at full quality. And Modo's Pixar Subdivision surface modeling now includes the ability to crease individual vertices and control display resolution while rendering at full quality.
Modo 601 is available immediately for both Mac OS X and Windows at $1,195. The upgrade price is $495. Existing Modo owners can upgrade for $395 for the next two weeks. In addition, users of Maya, 3DS Max, Softimage, Houdini, Cinema 4D, and LightWave 3D being offered a crossgrade opportunity for $795.