modo 401 refines rendering, animation, workflow
updated 07:10 pm EDT, Fri June 19, 2009
modo 401 ships
Luxology has launched modo 401 , the next generation of its 3D content creation software. The new update focuses on enhancing rendering and animation. Rendering enhancements include caustics, dispersion, blurry refraction, volumetric lighting and deep shadows. modo 401 adds instance replicators which allow dense amounts of surface detail like rivets, trees and barnacles to be rendered with trillion polygon detail. There is also light linking, stereoscopic rendering and support for multiple environments that provide precise control over scene lighting. Version 401 can render on up to 32 cores across a network of 50 workstations.
Animation enhancements include inverse kinematics, dynamic parenting, channel constraints and modifiers. The new animation capabilities allow for sophisticated rigs that can be driven with basic inputs. modo includes pre-built animation assemblies to allow users to apply animation to their models automatically.
modo 401 includes new workflows that have been optimized based on artists' feedback -- the reuse of assets is a primary feature, and the software ships with over 1500 pre-built assets. There is also an expanded modeling toolset, better realism built in to basic materials and better exchange capabilities when users switch between modo 401 and other 2D and 3D software.
Requirements for modo 401 include 2GB of RAM (4GB recommended), an OpenGL capable graphics card with a recommended 512MB of VRAM and Mac OS X 10.4 or higher. modo 401 is one of the first applications to recommend Mac OS X 10.6 as a preferred specification. The software is now available for $1000.
