Modo renders

firkins · 6 Jan 2008, 21:30

Jeff,

These renders are just incredible. You achieve a level of reality in the quality of light that I just haven't been able to achieve. Do you attribute that to the quality of materials that you use or the render settings you use, or is it just the Modo app itself that creates such realism? I'm stumped and stupified! Shocked

Regards,

Jackson · 6 Jan 2008, 21:31

Jeff,

You're killing me with these renders!

Jackson

jeff jacobs · 6 Jan 2008, 21:31

@firkins said:

Jeff,

These renders are just incredible. You achieve a level of reality in the quality of light that I just haven't been able to achieve. Do you attribute that to the quality of materials that you use or the render settings you use, or is it just the Modo app itself that creates such realism? I'm stumped and stupified! 8O

Regards,

Thanks Michael and Jackson,

I don't know. Lots of experimenting with light colors and ambient light. I also make my own HDRI's. While not true HDRI's they work fairly well for lighting . I adjust these quite a bit depending on a scene's needs.

Some of the materials are made from the free Arroway textures. These are low-rez so there is nothing special there.

I try to keep the compositions interesting and the lighting always errs on the warm side. There is some post processing in Photoshop involved. Sharpening, duplicating and adjusting layers, some attempts at tone-mapping etc. Probably more luck than skill.

alan wood · 6 Jan 2008, 21:32

Jeff
You said 'probably more luck than skill'
I love the expression 'the harder you work, the luckier you get'
Alan

AndreaGlucker · 6 Jan 2008, 21:33

Hello Jeff

May I ask you what your workflow from SU to Modo is, fbx/obj? Do you fully texture in Modo? How do the "SU materials" get imported into Modo, I mean, does it work well?

Sorry, I am pestering you with these questions, first about Maxwell, now Modo... just came across this thread here and thought "this looks interesting", maybe I need Modo, not Maxwell.

If you had to compare the two, in conjunction with SU, what would you say?

Regards from London, Andy.

not registered yet · 6 Jan 2008, 21:33

excellent work Jeff.
I had test run Modo before and heard that they render quickly
As an example of your images.How long did it render?

Thanks

P: EQC

jeff jacobs · 6 Jan 2008, 21:34

Any of the newer stuff with Modo 301 only took 25 minutes tops. A couple of the older images at the same resolution would have taken 4-5 hours with 201. The difference is a new new Intel 8-core machine and 301, which uses all 8 cores.

not registered yet · 6 Jan 2008, 21:34

Wow! That is so good!
I was thinking of getting Artlantis.
But do you think Modo is better
value?

Thanks for the info.

P: EQC

jeff jacobs · 6 Jan 2008, 21:35

@unknownuser said:

Wow! That is so good!
I was thinking of getting Artlantis.
But do you think Modo is better
value?

Thanks for the info.

Artlantis is a 100 bucks or so cheaper and a lot easier to use. The setup is faster too, but Modo gives better results with greater control over materials. That's a tough call. I've been able to get good results with Artantis, but it takes a little work.

Modo is also a great modeler, although I use it mainly for rendering and do most of my work in SketchUp. The next release of Modo will also have animation features. It all depends on your needs. What kind of work will you be doing?

not registered yet · 6 Jan 2008, 21:36

I will be doing mostly architectural stuff.
The nice thing with Modo it can do modelling
and Artlantis can't do that.
Have to wait till animation comes out.
Thank you again.

P: EQC

kwistenbiebel · 6 Jan 2008, 21:36

Jeff,
I think most people would be interested about the workflow to get a Sketchup model into Modo.
Which export settings etc...
Could you shine a light on that?

Thanks....and again: the renderings are just beautiful.

Cheers,
Kwistenbiebel

jeff jacobs · 6 Jan 2008, 21:37

@kwistenbiebel said:

Jeff,
I think most people would be interested about the workflow to get a Sketchup model into Modo.
Which export settings etc...
Could you shine a light on that?

Thanks....and again: the renderings are just beautiful.

Cheers,
Kwistenbiebel

I export as an obj's. I divide my model up into logical pieces that I think will probably undergo quite a few changes in the design process. That way I do not have to reimport everything, just the stuff that changes.

Open a Modo scene and then one at a time open these .obj meshes and drag them into the current scene. As i import them I label the object mesh carefully and the corresponding materials folder accordingly. If changes to a certain mesh occur then I trash the old .obj mesh reimport the new one and then trash the new materials folder. The new .obj's materials will assume the old meshes material if none of them have changed. If a few have changes I will drag them to the old materials file with the others.

Group all object and lights into logical folders so they can be easily turned on or off.

There are better ways to do it, but I find this works best when I have a lot of changes coming at me 4-5 times an hour.

What Modo needs is a smart folder system like Cheetah3d's. Once a folder of objects are linked to a scene in Cheetah, any changes made to that object are reflected in the Modo scene when updated. The object dragging in Modo gets kind of clunky at times.

Rumor has it that the SketchUp to Modo workflow will be improved soon.

tinanne · 6 Jan 2008, 21:37

bowing in awed silence, really great...

Richard · 15 May 2008, 07:01

Jeff (Jake) hey mate!!

i've made it here after a fair while!!

Nice to see what you are doing with MODO - I'm still working with Maxwell and improving results all the time! I've been watching a few of the MODO vids and it looks interesting and given the animation capabilities now and mocap input where axyz have already plugin peeps it really is something I now need to look at!

I tell you what I look really forward to the day someone develops a material or shader translator where materials from maxwell, modo, indigo, podium, vray etc may be coverted to other formats! It would be a real godsent to be able to use any material editor and then export your model to any renderer with known results. The library building for changing renderers has to be the single biggest drag!!!

Hey BTW have you looked at FRY, I know Biebel has been plying with it but from what I've seen elsewhere looks like he has dropped it from his workflow! (is that true mate!?)
Good to see you still so active everywhere!

And hey BTW(2) anyone interested in render quality should check out Stack Studio gallery on the maxwell forum. they have been producing a lot for Habid and all I can say is WOW WEE!!!!! New benchmark in quality!!!!! Amazing stuff!

mateo soletic · 15 May 2008, 07:16

Richard.
Nice to see You back Richard, And good thing You brought this interesting
thread back. Great images.