Thoughts on Modo for architectural viz?

[ahmedelhusseiny]

Hello Everyone,

 

I am starting up a new practice and at this point simply cannot justify the cost of 3DS Max + Vray (and that stupid dongle doesn’t help either) which is what I use on a day to day basis now.

 

I am very interested in using Modo, and I am wondering if anyone here has any thoughts or experience with Modo as an (almost) one stop visualization shop for architecture?

 

I would probably still use rhino for my base modelling, but quite interested in, rendering, texturing, animation, etc. has anyone run into any major issues after the 701 release? Stability, bugs, support, etc?

 

Also does anyone have any examples of great visualization using modo?

 

Any thoughts or alternatives would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers!

[Scott Schroeder]

Why don't you just stick to Rhino and use Vray for Rhino? If price is an issue, use Blender as it's quite nicely priced at Free.

 

Modeling in package A and rendering in package B can be a wasteful workflow, unless changes and be made seamlessly.

[ahmedelhusseiny]

Thanks for the response Scott.

 

 

I’d love to stick to one package but I’m afraid I will need to do animations/walkthroughs etc, that rhino just isn’t meant to handle. Texturing and uv mapping in rhino is also not very well developed. It is a great quick and accurate modeler though, and I do use grasshopper frequently for parametric modeling so rhino is pretty much a must, as is another package B.

 

Blender is a good suggestion, but the UI was enough to send me running to the hills!

[William Alexander]

Modo is a great application. Does it work for ArchViz hell yes it does and works well in all areas you outlined. 701 is stable and a very viable version. It's real benefit is ease of modeling, however the workflow is different from Max, way different.

 

Draw backs

Learning Curve

Not integrated with file exchange like AutoDesk products

Not widely used in ArchViz and looked down upon as substandard.

Entourage - Up hill battle in some cases.

 

As suggested you may want to consider other options, to make money and be employable in the ArchViz world

[ahmedelhusseiny]

Thanks Alexander,

 

Good point on the file exchange issue. 701 while read .3ds and .dxf (and write .dxf) but does not seem to natively read .dwg. There is a .dwg importer plugin, but it doesn’t seem to be too reliable….hmm..

 

I am trying to wean myself off of autodesk and their horrifically designed and bloated products, but those *(&^! Industry standards!

[Francisco Penaloza]

I own MODO, and yes 701 is a great release, but, there is a catch.

MODO is a very powerful software, you can do anything if you know your tool well. IF you go to MODO's website, you can fill yourself with hundred of great work from ArchViz to movies. Now in my experience it is always a battle, I do Arch Viz for living, I work for an Architectural firm and work with Autodesk products there, and from time to time I do freelance at home. Because budget, I Use MODO at home, but I am slowing transitioning to Cinema 4D because it just work better for Arch Viz. Modo render engine is ridiculously fast and Flexible but the network rendering is a Joke, Animation is new to MODO so everything need a long work around and twinkling elements that only the Modo programmers know where they are. As mentioned early interaction with other software is good, if you don't do Arch VIz , DXF works fine, OBJ works best, Lightwave files works great, Colada, is OK, FBX is bad, very minimum, and here is where MODO dies on me, I usually receive models from Architect, they are FBX from REVIT or ArchiCAD or they come from Sketchup. Opening those FBX get very painful in MODO and if the model is too big it just crash. MODO seems to work better on large scenes if they are created within MODO, but if you are importing from other software, you need to get first a decent transition software to export something that MODO can digest, that does not make seance to me. Shader materials are very flexible, but the layer system get saturated very easy in large scenes and easy to lost track.

So for small project, like a house, one building (not to large or complex) if the model is done in MODO you'll have great time rendering. if this is coming from any other CAD software, be ready for the battle.

Because all this reasons I am moving to Cinema 4D, it is an equivalent to 3DsMax, without insulting any of both software because both of them have strength and flaw, but for Arch Viz of any scale and interaction with other CAD software, Cinema 4D is way better.

 

 

Blender is a nice dream and very powerful but, really no a Pro level software, you can do anything with it, but in a production environment when you need consistent results and not waste hours or day trying this and that work around, Blender is not a valid option yet, hopefully soon.

My two cents.

[ahmedelhusseiny]

Thanks Francisco, That is very helpful! I have read in some places that C4D is sometimes quite slow compared to modo (or even max) particularly the actual working viewport. have you ever found that to be a problem?

 

Thanks again!

[Francisco Penaloza]

Slow in what? viewport performance it is relative.. It all depend of what you are working on, for example, I receive from a client a whole High School, this is a REVIT file with site, and 4 Buildings, with furniture and light equipment. Within 3DsMax I divide in separate files each building and site then Xref all of them to render. But Max will open the whole file, it will be slow but you can do that too. In Cinema 4D you can do the same, the FBX file will open, you can Xref all the elements and work with them, in MODO you can't open that file, you'll have to export from REVIT each building separated and the site in a separated file, maybe turn off the furniture too, depending of complexity, then try to open and clean each building before you can set the whole scene up, flipping faces, deleting normals and all that good stuff.

 

But in MODO you can fly around a forest made of millions of replicators trees or if you are modeling a Monster head with billions of polygons and displacements maps. 3DsMax will be slower in this situation and you don't have the same accuracy of viewport. So viewport performance is very relative.

[ahmedelhusseiny]

I see. Good to know!

[lifeofdave]

Also worth noting, it looks like vray is being developed for modo!

 

https://community.thefoundry.co.uk/discussion/topic.aspx?f=4&t=82989

[Justin Hunt]

isn't c4d is almost as expensive as max?

[Chris MacDonald]

The only reason to go with max is that it's Autodesk and everyone else uses it. I can't imagine how I'd cope with deadlines if I didn't have my tree, furniture & car libraries all set up for Max/VRay - which EVERYTHING is these days.

 

If it weren't for that, Modo looks pretty darn fantastic and given its price, i'd go for that. But, given as that isn't the reality of the situation I'm sticking with max.

[Justin Hunt]

I tried Modo and really liked it, but there are a few workflow practices that just seemed to get in my way, mainly having to drop a tool to make a new selection, only to pick it up again. I know there are ways around this and its something to get used to, but it just felt fiddly.

 

Snapping is also an issue, which apparently is getting an overhaul.

 

I really like the Modo community and follow Brad's pod casts (which are great).

 

I am going to keep on playing in Modo as each release is a big step forward and I do see a good future in it.

 

jhv

[Sketchrender]

I would have to agree, every year, I spend a lot of time, calling Autodesk a whole list of names because of the Subscription cost on the premium suite.

But at the end of the day, I make it back with in a few months sometimes weeks.

It's the industry standard, and I did go the cheap route and ended up loosing time and stripping out drawings missing info, when Autocad files were sent, usually by big clients.

So go with what everybody is using , and when your in trouble, you have a people to call on and help you.

 

You don't waste time, time is money.

 

Phil

[josephwan]

I'm a new Modo user (since this year) and I came from years of dabbling in Blender. Blender if you're learning your trade (that way you're not investing before you're ready to make the money), but Modo is 'future-proof' ie... it's like buying a Tesla car / stock. Max is industry standard, I've had job interviews where I would have got the job had I chosen Max. Modo is the 'Apple' of the VFX world, well, where Apple was before they peaked.

 

Fantastic group of developers as well, they are always in the forums and since merging with Foundry, from what I read, the original team is still there. The core system they use to drive Modo is also 'modern' in the sense that while some features are still in infancy, the 'nexus' (as they call it) will leap-frog Max by 801 in my estimation.

 

Modo is great for Archi Viz. It took me a month or so to transition from Blender to Modo and I'm now doing 'rendering' / modelling with some of the most advanced tools in the business. Mesh Fusion (HAVE to get this!) is amazing.

 

Provided they don't muck it up with the downsides of a 'merger', Modo is the future, Max is stagnant. Think Microsoft versus Apple in 2009 before iPhone's release. My two cents.