Product: Luxology Debuts Modo 2.01

Tools company Luxology has announced the immediate availability of modo 201, its 3D modeling, painting and rendering software built on the modo code base. According to the firm, modo 201 combines significant modeling advancements with cutting-edge 3D painting and rendering technologies in a modern workflow customized to enhance productivity for 3D artists working in game development, film visual effects, video production, graphic arts and design visualization. New features in modo 2.01 include: - Advanced Modeling Technology – Core modeling enhancements to modo’s hybrid subdivision surface/polygon modeler include a new Solid Sketch tool for rapid creation of branched base meshes, efficient mesh instancing for large scene management, rounded beveling controls for corners, faster sculpting and a new Mesh Paint tool for easy placement of geometric details like whiskers or hairs on existing surfaces. modo now provides simplified UV map creation (Click. Drag. Done.) plus a comprehensive UV unwrap editor. - Integrated Painting Tools – New 3D painting inside modo enriches the modeling experience. Artists can directly refine the surface appearance of models using brushes that apply effects like real-time bump mapping. The full featured paint system provides a full range of brushes plus line, fill and gradient tools. Masking and blending capabilities are provided, as is support for pressure sensitive input devices. modo’s new paint tools work in 3D or UV views and flow through the flexible modo “toolpipe” which allows for hot swappable brushes, inks, nozzles and falloffs. - Accelerated Rendering/Baking Technology – modo’s new rendering engine is built from the ground up for massive scalability and super efficient hardware utilization. Modeling and painting changes can be seen almost immediately in a progressively rendered viewport and final renderings are achieved at a new pinnacle of speed and quality. The renderer supports a wide range of global illumination and physically-based shading techniques to deliver advanced optical effects including natural lighting, subsurface scattering, anisotropic blurry reflections, and micropolygon displacement. Lens distortion, motion blur and depth of field are supported, and the render engine can readily bake various results (like normal vectors or ambient occlusion) into image maps. - Workflow Accelerators – modo 201 sports a new integrated learning system with over 4GB of video tutorials and an expanded library of sample content. High-speed OpenGL navigation immerses the artist in the creative experience with incredibly realistic views that feature per pixel shading, multi-texturing and real-time bump mapping. Mouse and keyboard remapping options provide modo artists with common 3D navigation controls and hotkeys found in companion 3D applications for compatible workflows. Materials for rendering are built up in an intuitive layered Shader Tree environment that is familiar to Adobe Photoshop artists. “modo was developed to provide a fused workflow so that artists can spend less time focusing on the mechanics of 3D content creation and more time on realizing their artistic vision,” said Brad Peebler, president of Luxology. “modo 201 provides an enhanced 3D creation experience by combining modeling, painting and rendering technologies in a truly unique and complementary way.”