MODO indie 901

This is a very user-friendly version of MODO with very capable modelling features.

This is a very basic version of Modo but still very powerfull to create buildings, 3D objects, edit humanoids and animation!

Sadly the full version of Modo is very expensive!

Really great app, wish there was an option to upgrade to the newer editions for cheap. Been using it for years now.

I cannot recommmend this software

Yes its professionall, but there are so many pitfalls to this software that I cannot give it a good rating. This software was required for my intro to 3D class, but so many of my classmates and the Professor himself ran into problems that could not be fixed and dirupted our workflow. These problems became so frequnt that the program became a running joke in our class. Now that the class is over im going to check Blender as reccomended by my Professor. It is apparantly a more effecient program and whats more its free.

Better choose Blender for this money you have nice plugins for Blender

Right now search for Blender Addons:
- HardOps https://gumroad.com/masterxeon1001
- SpeedFlow https://gumroad.com/pitiwazou
- Y.A.N.E https://github.com/fedackb/yavne
- Capsule https://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?397963-Capsule-1-01-One-Click-Batch-FBX-Exports

Forget about MODO Indie
Blender has Better Render/No limititation/Its Free/ITs almost same

I've been using MODO Indie for over 80 hours now for some private projects I'm doing at the moment and I have to say that I am very impressed with it. For a low budget software solution for game development, it has been great. So far I've only had it crash once randomly. And with what features are there, I certainly recommend it to indies and small studios.

Modo has many things going for it, some of trhe modelling tools are nice.

It also has many things not going for it, namely lag when using sDivs. Even Selecting and deselecting objects can take 10 seconds where it ramps the cup up to 25% ( single thread ) and the first stroke in sclulpting aways lags.

I used it on two PC's and same issue.

I wanted to use it to sculpt/paint and then retopo. But its not working out that way.

As a long-term 3D Studio user going way back to the days of MS-DOS and up to 3DSMax 2011, I have a good grasp of the 3D toolset I use.

When I went Independent last year I needed a way to continue my 3D services but without (if possible) the heavyweight costs involved in keeping up with all the current software versions. I also use a Mac Pro as my main machine so that was important too.

So, I decided to give MODO Indy subscription a try and bought a months subscription. Straight off, the switch from Max to Modo was a bit strange, especially in how you use materials as that’s rather odd but following the starter tutorials I got up and running to a point where I could produce something of worth.

My first animation was a sample for a prospective client (who declined two other studios work), I used Modo to do it and was pleasantly surprised at how nice the rendering engine is. Applying post effects in the render window and sending that back to the 3D scene was such a time saving process. Blurry reflections are always a bit of a pain when producing animation as you can get render artifacts / noise but a few hours of tinkering and I managed to reduce it to acceptable levels while still rendering out to my budget time, the cycle of tweak re-render was quite quick and something that reduced my dev time right down. The client was very pleased with the first set of renders and it landed me the contract so my first commercial experience with Modo Indy paid off.

Looking forwards to getting my teeth into more of the tools I haven’t even looked at yet. I will miss scripting though as used that heavily in Max so after a couple more jobs it looks like I will be getting full Modo 901, and look forwards to that time.

Great program, but its terribly buggy. This feel likes beta software. In eleven hours of usage it has crashed far more than eleven times. Particularly while saving, needless to say its extremely frustrating.

They went to such great lengths to remove important functionality, instead of simply creating a limited commercial licensing structure. That it renders the software into nothing more then a toy.

I would wait for The Foundry to sort there stuff out before purchasing.

UPDATE :
After a lot more usage I found the issue has to do with copy and pasting geometry between meshes. It seems to be completely unusable. Using this feature destroyed all the retopology I had done and forced me to start over and build the entire mesh Even cutting polygons out of an imported mesh seemed to be extremely unstable.

For personal use I would recommend Modo, as its a big step above the rest, however if you have deadlines for your work I would not trust Modo Indie.

When it comes to modeling there's just nothing that beats MODO. At least nothing that I've tried. Plus this is basically a complete package for any indie developer. I highly recommend it.

Well I am writing this to help anyone who is confused at what 3d program to put there money on. Look no more. This program has it all....You can model,animate,rig,texture and much much more....It is like having the full version just with small limits. Modo indie destroyes maya lt *which I think is a joke*...

So buy this and become a pro :) Hope this helps...

This is a great product at a perfect price. Flexible and cheap rental as well. Limitations are understandable, and I think The Foundry haven't overly crippled it (hear that Autodesk Maya LT!). Although I think limiting poly export is a bit silly. Although I haven't fully explored Modo Indie, as a professional 3D Artist, this is the software I would recommend to any Indies or freelancers.

By far, my favourite modelling software. I've previously tried 3ds Max, Maya, and Blender, and out of all of them, this one has the best workflow and tools. Well worth the low cost! If you're still undecided, be sure to visit the Foundry website and grab the 30 day demo (also comes with free access to DigitalTutors.com) then head back here to get the Indie version once you're convinced.

I've only just started learning how to use it. This is the first 3D modelling program I've purchased but I have used others for short periods of time over the years. It's a nice to use uncluttered interface and its going to take me many months to explore all its functionality. There are a lot of good quality tutorials available including those on digital tutors. For me it was a large purchase at this lower Indie price. MODO are actively supporting it with a recent patch release and added functionality. If you are looking for a good quality, and stable 3D modelling program I'd recommend this. Its the nicest modelling programme I've used. Just buy it, the bigger the community the more Modo will support it. Modo do offer a 30 day free trial of the full featured version if you need to try it.

For modelling this blows Maya LT out of the water. It combines the speed of Blender with the stability of a professional application. It has a few issues (lack of scripting support being my primary one) but overall it works very well.

Check out this Tor Frick's work if you need an example of what can be done in Modo:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Askguden/videos

I don't write any reviews publicly, but this product has forced me to do an exception. :-) Short version of review is: Go for it, it is amazing.

Longer version of review is:

If you are interested in 3D modelling and you have some experience in it, go for it as it provides nice interface and functionalities (for example great selection modes), good UV editing, sample material assets for making your prototype look nicely, and many more. It will adjust your workflow significantly.

I have had problems with saving and exporting in the beginning as the application crashed during SAVE or EXPORT. But don't be afraid -> I know the cause and the solution. :-) The cause was that I am using Intel HD 4000 graphics, so you have to set the in the Display->OpenGL->Performance VDO mode instead of Automatical to Off. And it works like a charm.

Although I am using it on notebook, it has equal or slightly better performance as/than Blender 3D. Be careful, if you are used to Blender style editing, this is a little bit different, but you'll get used to it pretty fast.

I believe I got a free upgrade from Modo SE to Indie. When I saw that the new MODO had come out I looked in my library and already had it. I downloaded it but whenever I try to start it up my Anti-Virus software detects the .exe as an Unknown virus. Im just wondering if anyone else has had issues with this as well?

The nicest xmas gift for us! It's a great leap forward to invite the individual developers and/or hobbist into the 3d modelling and animation world. As a lightwave user i was prepared to buy MODO as the right low poly and subpatch modelling tool, because LW's modeler wasn't (really) upgraded for ages... And now there's the chance to rent it or buy the indie version for a very correct price. With some limitations, but nothing unfair.
So if you are indie developer or 3d enthusiast amateur, this is your 3d package.
Clear ui, very good and modern modelling tools (hey Newtek, time to wake up!!!), good renderer, and plenty amount of good categorized learning stuffs/tutorials, and content.

As a user of MODO SE since near its release early this year, I think that MODO indie was a much needed upgrade and with good timing at that. Many aspects of MODO have been improved, although not without a larger price tag (The Foundry also offers a subscription-based deal, similar to MAY LT, which may prove to be better for some people). MODO indie is the successor to MODO SE (which is no longer supported, although still usable), and a worthy one too. With it, MODO indie brings some very sought-after features that were missing or lack-luster in MODO SE.

First and foremost, the import/export polygon (yes, POLYGON, not triangle!) limitation has been hightened exceptionally to a grand number of 100k polygons (200k triangles), from the previously measly 7k that it used to be. In addition, the commercial restrictions that made MODO SE previously only a Steam Workshop-oriented tool has been lifted, so you can sell your creations fullstop. AS well, it can be used for any range of game engines that supports the file formats that MODO indie exports to (restricted to .obj and .fbx). Speaking of the Steam Workshop, MODO indie does not include the feature that was present in MODO SE (of exporting directly to Dota 2). But this is, if anything, is a minute inconvenience since Dota 2 supports .FBX files just fine, and TF2 and CS:GO both handle .OBJs, if you follow some simple tutorials around the web (those who still have MODO SE can still use the previous method of exporting directly to Dota 2).

Now, with the new commercial restrictions lifted, another restriction was created in its place. It shouldn't affect people too much, but it may prove troublesome to those who are a team of developers who want to share their files between seperate instances of MODO indie. A new file encryption was implemented to the save file formats to restrict any files to a particular Steam ID/Steam account. Since I am a solo developer, this does not concern me. But it may prove to be an issue for people who would want to otherwise share their work. The proprietary file format MODO indie introduces (.lxf) is also not compatible with the full verison of MODO if one chose to upgrade and continue their work on that version.

Despite this, other key aspects of MODO (the full version) have made their way into MODO indie, which were also quite sought-after by users of MODO SE. These being animation (rigging as well), dynamics, and better rendering capabilities.

With all that said, if you haven't already bought MODO SE, you may want to wait for MODO indie to go on sale. It's definitely more expensive, but also has more going for it. The choice is yours!

I owned Modo SE and got a free upgrade to Indie, so I am feeling good about Modo. I purchased Modo SE on sale based on a .FBX export option upgrade rumored to be in the pipeline. Within six months I was pleasantly suprised. I'm impressed with the new features added for use with Modo Indie. This version offers more freedom of use in other game engines that import .fbx files like Leadwerks (available on Steam). I should state I have not used the Modo Indie version and have some more learning to do to make a more comprehensive review of the product. Ahh, still basking in the warm glow of a free upgrade of this magnitude.

My review up till now is more of a testament to The Foundry and their commitment to the software and thriving community.

The Modo Indie version is closer to the Modo full version, which I have been eyeballing for a year or two. Due to its price I put purchasing full version on the back burner. Most of my experience with 3d modeling is with Blender and so far I find Modo better, but the control is much different. The help guides are great and got me acclimated to the interface quickly. Modo is not going to make models for you. There is possibly going to be a steep learning curve, based on your own experience with the processes involved to get your desired results.

Modo is a proven product and I would have purchased Modo Indie even with some of the limitations compared to the full versions. Now I'm looking into MARI Indie for purchase.