Modo 3D modeler/renderer

[Troutcatcher]

Has anyone on this forum tried out or tested Modo from Luxology?

It seems to be a superb 3d modeller and renderer. Do you think it is something that could become a Rhino alternative? Is it accurate enough for industrial/product design.....I mean if it is possible to to do parametric design, send the resulting files to CNC machinery and obtain accurate real replicas of the designed objects e.t.c. .........??

[CGN]

Rhino alternative?, no..., only if they add nurb surfacing then it becomes way above rhino, modo is great is one of the best and you can model anything that you can model in rhino, the only problem is limited in meaningful output lacks of iges or acis or step all those files accepted by most mechanical modelers also numeric input and control is not so friendly but is capable of do almost anything, IMO i wouldn't waste my time with polygonal modelers for production I'll use them for a good model for rendering....

It has some parametrics but I'm not sure on how useful they are when used for mechanical modeling (inside modo) but again why waste time?

ANY program that can output a polygonal file format (.obj or stl or 3ds or DXF etc..) can be use for rapid prototyping some may need more "polishing" than others but still usable for CNC.

[Troutcatcher]

CGN Thank you for the tips. The reason I started considering polygonal/subdivision surfaces modellers is that I have been having trouble with hidden or underlying NURBS surfaces resurfacing or reappearing when moving files between applications. Thought I could perhaps get rid of that annoying problem for once and for all if able to say goodbye to NURBS.

All the best,

[Steve Baer]

Hi Troutcatcher,
What applications are you having problems transfering files between? Is this a problem with Rhino that I could possibly fix?

Thanks,
-Steve

[CGN]

I know that such problem happens, but in my own expierence i have never had any problems with that, and the fault IMO is mostly related to the user, or software that does not handle properly trimmed surfaced, I have read before about such problem, maybe the iges saved by the program that you are using is not correct or updated, rhino for example has a command that "shrink" the trimmed surface to correct any problems that you may have.

I have surfaces going from rhino (using iges files mainly) to solidworks, amapi, ashlar, prosurf (works great with rhino), concepts3d and cnc software etc...now about maxsurf, maxsurf in older versions was not able to handle trimmed surfaces, even a render program like carrara was able to handle nurb files, no problems at all.

so to say that "nurbs" don't work and that you need to move away from using those, is quite extreme, i can recommend you to check your software and ask the vendor to solve your problem because it can be mostly lack of compatibility of one of those (programs) or a bug on it.

Also CNC software or CAM software in my experience was famous for bringing such problems but it was more related to compabilty or bug when the software writes the nurb file (usually iges), also surface tolerances and more, but certainly this problems have been disappearing either by updates on software or updates on files format.

what software are you using?

cheers

[Troutcatcher]

CGN, once again you are right (as usual :-)).

NURBS has been around probably since even before they invented the microprocessor/integrated circuits. So...... fantasizing about finding the criteria for 3D designer´s utopia satisfied in a single application based on subdivision surfaces is probably not at all realistic.

Being a rookie in the business of 3D modeling I am looking for a robust general purpose 3D modeler. Something nice and easy that one learns quickly to use properly. Drooling over the modeling and rendering capabilities of Modo, it is probably not the right choice if it´s lacking support for the file formats used by major CAD applications. With Modo off the list there seem to be 3 choices left:

1) Rhino..........everyone seems to love it, extreme flexibility when it comes to file conversion, tens of thousands of satisfied users, and tutorials easilly available. Seems like it´s impossible to go wrong picking this one.
2) Amapi Pro, comes bundled with Carrara renderer, some tutorials available. Do you like it? Is it fairly easy to learn? Does it lack something critical Rhino has?
3). PowerNURBS from npowersoftware.com..........seems to be a rather young product not having gained any flock of followers yet...Have you experimented with it? Heard any rumours?

[CGN]

"NURBS has been around probably since even before they invented the microprocessor/integrated circuits. So...... fantasizing about finding the criteria for 3D designer´s utopia satisfied in a single application based on subdivision surfaces is probably not at all realistic." ???

Ok....that was interesting...I all i see in "nurbs" is nothing a but a tool, polygon or subdivision modeling is great is nothing against the technology is just if it was suitable (tools wise and other) I'll prefer those one hexagon is great but it crashes a lot.

1- you said it...you can't go wrong
2-Amapi i found it too buggy and tends to crash at lot (few years ago), Lot's of users and includes good tools and also wide range of file formats, but IMO not there yet for design and production of boats
3-Powernurbs see my response to your question

you mention something very important:

"lacking support for the file formats used by major CAD applications"

yes, have a look on what format the use and can handle, pay attention to how you input and control your dimensions for your models, how they play with others on general 2d, 3d, polygon modelers, etc..., can you render and what rendering engines are available....support, plug ins (rhino has plug ins for marine use to me not a big deal but it shows me that is a tool that is being develop a lot) and users.

i don't like "follow the leader" idea, but is software like rhino are proven and improving.

also there are other good software that has been used for marine design like:

Ashllar vellum, and a clone or similar is concepts3D, vicad punchad (this is very basic but still works) this are closest to rhino as a software can be

so do as i did keep asking and looking maybe one will suite your needs and i hope this Q&A can help others new users

cheers