Luxology modo
I want to talk about one great program for working with 3D graphics.
Immediately make a reservation: I know that this is not news, and even not the first review of the program, but mine.
I think it’s worth starting with a small company, Luxology , which is developing it.
The story began in 2001 when internal disagreement arose at NewTek, the developer of the popular 3D LightWave package. Key engineers insisted on a complete LightWave census. As a result of these frictions, Brad Peebler, Vice President of 3D Engineering, left the company to found Luxology. He was joined by the founding fathers of LightWave Allen Hastings and Stuart Ferguson and most of the programming team. This move caused a wave of indignation, in particular, LightWave fans.
After three years of hard work, modo was presented at Siggraph, the main exhibition for those interested in computer graphics. In September 2004, the first version of the program, which was intended exclusively for 3D modeling, was released.
Why rewrite something that works so well? One of the reasons is that programs like LightWave were invented and written almost 20 years ago, when we still had no multi-core processors, no powerful video cards, or other joys of progress. A fresh look at things made it possible to see bottlenecks in existing solutions. Thus was born the Nexus.
Nexus is a “cross-platform, multi-tiered, generic architecture for the rapid development of 2D and 3D media applications.” Generalization plays a very important role in this architecture. Once deeply embedded principles are then used throughout the program. At the very first level, all that matters is objects (items), their properties (channels) and time. An object can be anything: a camera, a mesh, a quick-time movie - for Nexus it does not matter. This condition of maximum generalization is important for each new layer of the system. If developers add a new feature, it automatically extends the functionality of other tools. If you compare this with existing programs for 3D-graphics, the advantages of this approach become crystal clear. Over the years, programs are overgrown with new features,
So, modo is the brainchild of Nexus. Developers spend all their time at Nexus. And when some features reach a more or less polished look, they are “baked” into the next modo release. Moreover, Luxology licenses Nexus architecture to other companies. This allows you to simultaneously develop several applications, and do it all centrally. So cool rendering hit such huge (by the number of users) products as SolidWorks (CAD for mechanical engineering) and MicroStation (CAD for construction).
Well, enough about the Nexus. Let's talk about what's so special about modo, and why I suddenly decided to write this review.
From the technical side of things, modo is a fast render. Moreover, it scales linearly. That is, if you use four instead of one processor, rendering will accelerate 4 times. Also, modo can handle almost any rendering resolution. There is also a bunch of OpenGL joys. For example, drawing displacement maps in projection windows.
But this is not the most important thing in fashion. The main impression is made by the interface, or rather, what is called the English word workflow. But about him a little later.
When you start the program, we are already surprised by: no 3-minute splash screen with a fascinating listing of downloadable libraries. Opens almost instantly. The modo interface itself is a set of viewports, each of which can be anything. You can build your own interface literally. You just make an empty viewport, then separate it as you like and tell each created viewport what to show it (3D-window, list of objects or materials, toolbar or properties, etc.). You can, for example, make a separate material editor to your taste. The advantage of such a system is that you are free from a dozen overlapping windows. There are practically no modal windows.
3D is a tricky thing. But working with a complicated thing can be simplified. The creators of modo wondered not “whether users will be able to complete the task”, but “how quickly users will be able to complete the task”.
For example, such a simple thing as selecting objects. What the artist uses every minute. In modo, double-clicking on an edge selects a chain of edges. Double click on a polygon - all connected polygons. Yes, that’s so simple. Or for example, work with materials. Here is one universal shader. For everything. And the creation and organization of materials in the scene is very similar to working in Photoshop: layers and masks familiar to everyone. Or for example, the unloved by many UV scan process. modo is one of the first programs where this process was reduced to a couple of clicks.
Modeling, sculpting, painting, fur and hair - all this is done in one program and in parallel. No need to convert and drag a model from one application to another to paint on a texture. But even if necessary, no one is against it.
A separate point is the preview, in which you can in real time explore the scene with GI, HDRI, displacement, diffuse reflections / refractions, caustics, volumetric lights on. I won’t even say how comfortable it is and how it’s untying its hands.
What is not yet in modo, but will be soon: character animation (bones, skinning), particles / vibes, dynamics. But now the soil prepared for these modules (animation, rigging, particle-replicators) is absolutely clearly felt. And in general, when working, you never cease to be surprised at the wit of people when you see how tightly the instruments are intertwined. Character's hair, jungle thickets, megalopolis to the horizon, blizzard - the technology under the hood is the same.
modo is used in a huge number of famous studios. Remember Eve from Wall-E? Have you looked at "District 9", "Avatar"? Of course, using modo as the main tool in film and video production is impossible for purely technical reasons. But the philosophy of Luxology: "Play well with others." This means that no one is going to pull a blanket over himself. In large studios, people work on different tasks, each of which has its own hammer. However, the developers of Luxology are not sitting still, so we still have to see what they are working on now.
Yes, of course, the program is not without flaws. But I suggest you look for them yourself and individually. It all depends on what program you worked in before and whether you have solid habits.
About modo, and about Luxology itself, you can write a lot of interesting things. But it’s better I stop spoiling and suggest further to understand myself. On the official website, anyone can access a ton of video lessons . Every week on Friday, President and CEO Brad Peebler uploads a modcast on the Luxology website , where you can learn about all the latest news and listen to a good share of chatter :)
Collected from a little bit from different sources and personal impressions.
Immediately make a reservation: I know that this is not news, and even not the first review of the program, but mine.
I think it’s worth starting with a small company, Luxology , which is developing it.
The story began in 2001 when internal disagreement arose at NewTek, the developer of the popular 3D LightWave package. Key engineers insisted on a complete LightWave census. As a result of these frictions, Brad Peebler, Vice President of 3D Engineering, left the company to found Luxology. He was joined by the founding fathers of LightWave Allen Hastings and Stuart Ferguson and most of the programming team. This move caused a wave of indignation, in particular, LightWave fans.
After three years of hard work, modo was presented at Siggraph, the main exhibition for those interested in computer graphics. In September 2004, the first version of the program, which was intended exclusively for 3D modeling, was released.
Why rewrite something that works so well? One of the reasons is that programs like LightWave were invented and written almost 20 years ago, when we still had no multi-core processors, no powerful video cards, or other joys of progress. A fresh look at things made it possible to see bottlenecks in existing solutions. Thus was born the Nexus.
Nexus is a “cross-platform, multi-tiered, generic architecture for the rapid development of 2D and 3D media applications.” Generalization plays a very important role in this architecture. Once deeply embedded principles are then used throughout the program. At the very first level, all that matters is objects (items), their properties (channels) and time. An object can be anything: a camera, a mesh, a quick-time movie - for Nexus it does not matter. This condition of maximum generalization is important for each new layer of the system. If developers add a new feature, it automatically extends the functionality of other tools. If you compare this with existing programs for 3D-graphics, the advantages of this approach become crystal clear. Over the years, programs are overgrown with new features,
“Instead of just introducing the new technologies that users want, we need to understand why they want these technologies.”
Stuart Ferguson, CTO
So, modo is the brainchild of Nexus. Developers spend all their time at Nexus. And when some features reach a more or less polished look, they are “baked” into the next modo release. Moreover, Luxology licenses Nexus architecture to other companies. This allows you to simultaneously develop several applications, and do it all centrally. So cool rendering hit such huge (by the number of users) products as SolidWorks (CAD for mechanical engineering) and MicroStation (CAD for construction).
Well, enough about the Nexus. Let's talk about what's so special about modo, and why I suddenly decided to write this review.
From the technical side of things, modo is a fast render. Moreover, it scales linearly. That is, if you use four instead of one processor, rendering will accelerate 4 times. Also, modo can handle almost any rendering resolution. There is also a bunch of OpenGL joys. For example, drawing displacement maps in projection windows.
But this is not the most important thing in fashion. The main impression is made by the interface, or rather, what is called the English word workflow. But about him a little later.
When you start the program, we are already surprised by: no 3-minute splash screen with a fascinating listing of downloadable libraries. Opens almost instantly. The modo interface itself is a set of viewports, each of which can be anything. You can build your own interface literally. You just make an empty viewport, then separate it as you like and tell each created viewport what to show it (3D-window, list of objects or materials, toolbar or properties, etc.). You can, for example, make a separate material editor to your taste. The advantage of such a system is that you are free from a dozen overlapping windows. There are practically no modal windows.
3D is a tricky thing. But working with a complicated thing can be simplified. The creators of modo wondered not “whether users will be able to complete the task”, but “how quickly users will be able to complete the task”.
For example, such a simple thing as selecting objects. What the artist uses every minute. In modo, double-clicking on an edge selects a chain of edges. Double click on a polygon - all connected polygons. Yes, that’s so simple. Or for example, work with materials. Here is one universal shader. For everything. And the creation and organization of materials in the scene is very similar to working in Photoshop: layers and masks familiar to everyone. Or for example, the unloved by many UV scan process. modo is one of the first programs where this process was reduced to a couple of clicks.
Modeling, sculpting, painting, fur and hair - all this is done in one program and in parallel. No need to convert and drag a model from one application to another to paint on a texture. But even if necessary, no one is against it.
A separate point is the preview, in which you can in real time explore the scene with GI, HDRI, displacement, diffuse reflections / refractions, caustics, volumetric lights on. I won’t even say how comfortable it is and how it’s untying its hands.
What is not yet in modo, but will be soon: character animation (bones, skinning), particles / vibes, dynamics. But now the soil prepared for these modules (animation, rigging, particle-replicators) is absolutely clearly felt. And in general, when working, you never cease to be surprised at the wit of people when you see how tightly the instruments are intertwined. Character's hair, jungle thickets, megalopolis to the horizon, blizzard - the technology under the hood is the same.
modo is used in a huge number of famous studios. Remember Eve from Wall-E? Have you looked at "District 9", "Avatar"? Of course, using modo as the main tool in film and video production is impossible for purely technical reasons. But the philosophy of Luxology: "Play well with others." This means that no one is going to pull a blanket over himself. In large studios, people work on different tasks, each of which has its own hammer. However, the developers of Luxology are not sitting still, so we still have to see what they are working on now.
Yes, of course, the program is not without flaws. But I suggest you look for them yourself and individually. It all depends on what program you worked in before and whether you have solid habits.
About modo, and about Luxology itself, you can write a lot of interesting things. But it’s better I stop spoiling and suggest further to understand myself. On the official website, anyone can access a ton of video lessons . Every week on Friday, President and CEO Brad Peebler uploads a modcast on the Luxology website , where you can learn about all the latest news and listen to a good share of chatter :)
Collected from a little bit from different sources and personal impressions.