Foundry released Modo 16.1, the latest update to the 3D modeling and rendering software. It brings over 21 feature additions and enhancements as well as core changes “that are intended to be the beginning of a new era for Modo”.
The new decal workflow allows you to easily place and layer images on the surface of a model with minimal distortion and without having to edit the UVs for the surface. The Decal MeshOps allow artists to apply images on the surface of models to produce great details. You can also render and bake decals to textures via the new Surface Probe.
What’s more, Advanced Viewport has been updated, improving transparency quality and performance.
The new release brings greater visibility with the new Viewport Curvature Shading feature. It brightens the high areas and darkens the low areas so you can better understand the forms you create.
You don’t need UVs to add textured materials to a surface anymore as Modo 16.1 introduces Triplanar Texturing, which projects textures onto a surface from multiple angles. When they overlap, Triplanar Texturing blurs and blends them, giving the impression of a single, consistent textured material over the surface.
Other changes include improved performance of planar projections, better Viewport response times using the Light Illumination Toggle, and PolyHaul, a collection of commonly used modeling tools that allow artists to seamlessly switch between a variety of operations without having to drop the tool and select a different one.
The Primitive Slice tool is also improved along with the Bezier tool and overall rendering quality and speed with Metal on macOS. There are also more intuitive Falloff tools, the option to reuse geometry based on previous operations, improvements to MeshFusion, and the Particle Clone Operator, which allows Replicators users to individually edit and modify any of the cloned items.
As for other news, Foundry announced major changes to the software, its development team, target audience, and update policy.
Modo 16.1 is available for $71/month or $719/year. Find the list of changes here and don’t forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform, our Reddit page, and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.