MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — February 29, 2012 — Luxology® LLC today announced the immediate availability of modo® 601, a landmark release of its award-winning, artist-friendly 3D content creation software. modo 601 includes character animation, built-in dynamics, volumetric rendering, and enhanced retopology modeling tools along with a host of other new capabilities.  modo is now a full pipeline solution for professionals working in media and entertainment, advertising, engineering and architectural design visualization.

“modo 601 is our most significant release ever,” said Brad Peebler, president and co-founder of Luxology. “With new feature and workflow enhancements, modo now offers an end-to-end production solution that is both powerful and highly usable by artists and designers.”

modo 601’s new feature and workflow improvements include:

Character Animation: modo offers a range of character animation functionality from easy-to-use posing tools to the creation of fully articulated character rigs that can be manipulated through a full-body inverse kinematics solver and a general purpose system of layered deformers. 

Dynamics: Rigid and soft body dynamics, based on Version 2.79 of the Bullet Physics engine, are now a standard part of modo and provide realistic simulations of mechanical and organic motion.

Retopology Modeling: Focused tools and a new dedicated retopology modeling layout simplify the rapid creation of clean models on top of imported geometry.

Rendering and Shading: New photorealistic rendering capabilities include volumetric rendering, render booleans, hair and skin shaders, and rounded edge control for hard surface models. Cel, contour and halftone shaders offer enhanced non-photorealistic rendering opportunities.

3D Paint: The multi-purpose paint system in modo 601 is extended to paint, scale, erase and smooth vertex (weight) maps on meshes.

Rendering Workflow: The Preview Renderer can now be used for final image production as it will progressively render an image to the desired resolution at full quality. A comprehensive render pass system, plus new interactive image processing and comparison tools, speed image refinement.

Modeling: modo's Pixar Subdivision surface modeling now includes the ability to crease individual vertices and control display resolution while rendering at full quality. Soft and lazy selection options enable rapid, yet precise isolation of model components while modeling.

“Throughout my 18 years in the 3D business, I've never seen a 3D software application become so powerful, so fast,” said Dan Ablan, President - AGA Digital Studios, Inc. “The additions to modo 601 are mind blowing, and the render boolean function, blobs, and new deformer tools are absolutely invaluable!”

"This is character animation done right,” said Greg Brown, beta tester and Sr. CGI Artist at Alter. “We've all been holding our breath for this one and it was definitely worth the wait.”

Pricing and Availability
modo 601 is available immediately for both Mac OS X and Windows at $1,195 with an upgrade price of $495. Existing modo owners can upgrade for $395 for the next two weeks.  Also, for a limited time, users of Maya, 3ds Max, SoftImage, Houdini, CINEMA 4D, and LightWave 3D are offered a crossgrade to modo for just $795. modo 601 is available from Luxology and its network of authorized Luxology resellers around the globe.

To see the full list of modo 601’s new features please visit: http://www.luxology.com          

About modo
modo is an innovative 3D modeling, painting, rendering, and animation software designed to accelerate the creation of world-class designs and ultra high-quality renderings. modo’s modern workflow and advanced toolset easily deliver enhanced productivity for design visualization, game development, film/broadcast, package design, and graphic arts. A favorite tool among many designers and artists, modo's flexible toolset offers one of the fastest paths to content creation on the PC and Mac.

About Luxology
Based in Mountain View, Calif., Luxology® LLC is an independent technology company developing next-generation 3D content creation software that enhances productivity via artist-friendly tools powered by a modern underlying architecture called Nexus®. Founded in 2002, by Allen Hastings, Stuart Ferguson and Brad Peebler, Luxology is home to some of the top 3D engineering expertise in the industry. More information on the company, its licensable Nexus technology, its flagship product modo® and a gallery of images from the active modo community is available online at www.luxology.com.

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© Copyright 2012 Luxology LLC. modo and Nexus are registered trademarks of Luxology LLC., in the USA and/or other countries. All products or brand names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

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