Review: Modo 902

Modo adds a new camera matching and matte painting workflow in the latest point release.

While not a unique feature, the native ability to match a Modo camera to that of a photographic still is hugely useful. It's straightforward to bring in a photo, set the scene to the dimensions within the photo – either manually or Modo will read the photo's EXIF data. Once the camera matching and scale indicators are lined up, the fun can begin.

Modo adds a new projection shader and texture; the Projection Shader is useful for simple setups, but the Projection Texture is hugely useful as it works with any material across any attribute, such as diffuse or luminous colour. Combined with the new projection painting options, it allows the creation of geometry, which is textured with the scene.

Coupled with Modo's great UV tools, we've used Modo 902 and Photoshop CC to create arch-viz clean plates in less than half the time and with better quality than is possible with Photoshop retouching alone. Modo 902 also allows the use of stacked images at seperate depths, creating a new way of placing your models within a photograph.

Modo 902 is free for all 901 users and gives non users another reason to consider this ever-improving application, which is catching up with the major players.