Home/ 3D Modeling Software/ Modo/ Reviews
Updated on: February 6, 2025
83% SW Score The SW Score ranks the products within a particular category on a variety of parameters, to provide a definite ranking system. Read more
A new and creative tool for 3D Modelling.
66.3%
27.9%
1.2%
0%
4.7%
Intuitive UI/UX, Powerful Modeling Tools, High-Quality Renderer, Fast Rendering
Animation Tool Limitations, Performance Issues with Complex Scenes, Steep Learning Curve for Some Features, Limited Plugin Ecosystem
User reviews of Modo highlight its strengths in modeling, particularly its intuitive interface, powerful tools like Mesh Fusion, and fast preview rendering. Modo is praised for its ease of use, especially for beginners and those familiar with Photoshop's layered workflow. However, some users express concerns regarding performance, especially with large scenes, and limitations in animation tools. While Modo excels in modeling and rendering, its animation capabilities are considered less robust compared to industry standards.
AI-Generated from the text of User Reviews
The best part about Modo is how easy it is to get a great render. In other 3D programs you need to set up the lighting, and everything. Beauty is not the standard. But in Modo, all o did was import my object and click render, and everything was well lit, and crisp.
There is a bit if a learning curve at times if you are from a different program like Lightwave but that is to be expected with such a strong and robust program.
Getting cleaner renders has helped me with my video compositing. I no longer have to fight with my 3D program to get realistic renders for me to be able to composite.
I love how advanced and detailed the quality of the built-in render engine is. I am not extremely knowledgeable about 3D modeling yet, but I believe that it is a great tool for footwear and fashion accessory use. I use the software to 3D model handbags and footwear.
I dislike the learning curve that modo has. It does take a bit to understand your surroundings in the software and the interface is a little bit advanced. I wish it was a little easier to learn and understand.
Modo helps achieve realistic product renders for my fashion accessory models. It helps me create a realistic idea of what the product will look like without wasting time and money on too many prototype samples.
The capabilities and the very helpful community of users.
It is overly complex. The constantly change menus are difficult to navigate at times
Start slow, learn the lingo. For me at least, I had to learn what things were called before I could ask a question that helped me. The community of users has some serious technical and artistic talent and are very helpful. This goes a long way to offsetting the complexity of MODO at the outset.
I do explainer animations for technology companies. MODO provides ways to demonstrate complex processes.
Has everything - best modeling workflow from any program, procedurals, awesome built in render engine -shader tree
Sometimes performance slows - restarting fixes this but would like to see this improved
Focus on learning how it was designed to be used - hot keys make a massive difference in speed
Product and archviz workflow is faster and its flexibility allows me to move between both very easily - could not work without it-
I like the UI related in workflow and flexibilities in the tools which I can feel Modo developers have though and studied deeply.
Crashes... I am a user who enjoy customizing in many ways ,but it occurs crashes frequently . It hurts!
Please beat Blender!
I am an art director and concept artist. I am using Modo so that I can reach better quality of concept art and 3d concept in the beginning. I love it. its lighting and modeling output is very satisfied with me.
Ever since version 701 when I started using Modo, the tool has been my 3D/4D generalist workhorse, and to this day I still rely on Modo as my catch-all visualization package.
In my opinion, Modo has the best navigation and modeling *user experience* of any major CG package. This may seem trivial, but the underlying logic of Modo's modeling interface, navigation, and toggling hotkeys altogether make for a smooth work experience.
Modeling is very fast and setting up materials and rendering is also seamless. I also use Rhinoceros (a CAD software) a lot, and then use Modo for taking those CAD items and rendering them or doing basic product or brand animations. Modo plays well with CAD software (such as Rhino).
While I also use Cinema4D sometimes (for motion graphics) and Blender (for Grease Pencil storyboarding), Modo remains as my default visualization tool.
Modo has a great community of people willing to help with troubleshooting as well.
I wish Modo would do something brave with their license options and provide some kind of free fully-functional license for _at least_ non-commercial artists. I think Modo's biggest problem is how niche it is and how (as far as I can tell) small its user community is compared to Cinema4D or Blender. Industry animation friends of mine in LA (who use primarily C4D and Houdini) didn't even know what Modo was when I mentioned it a few years ago. If Modo is going to become the most innovative and comprehensive 3D/4D package out there, it simply needs a bigger user community; Modo needs more people using it.
Apparently concept artists love Modo (like Eytan Zana), for reasons I can understand; it's great for basically blocking in a "grisaille" underpainting in which lighting and form and composition is mostly established using Modo's fantastic render engine. But a free (or totally affordable) license option for indie-freelance artists would really make Modo's brand innovative and inviting. And of course with greater popularity would come more support for faster development of new features.
That said, I hope Modo continues to aspire for industry-standard animation tools, but as of now Modo is always one step behind the pack with its animation functionality. I hope the development team doesn't relegate Modo's animation tab as it's a very useful aspect of Modo. Again, thinking of concept artists: if Modo added its own version of Blender's "Grease Pencil" toolset into the animation tab, that would be a very attractive feature for artists and 2.5D animators.
Lastly, Modo's sculpting tools are good enough for supplemental detail, but unfortunately can't hold a candle to ZBrush (nor can C4D for that matter). Maybe someday Modo will update their sculpting tools to be top-flight: it would be great to eventually see organic-form sculptors using Modo for their character concepts, but as of now that's dominated by ZBrush.
If you're considering Modo, take a moment to articulate to yourself what your project's requirements are, and then look for a tutorial online that shows how you might go about executing your project using Modo. Chances are you'll find what you need and will be pleased by the results!
"Pre-viz" might be an overstatement for my use of Modo, but that's often what it's fastest at. I also draw and storyboard by hand, but sometimes doing a quick mockup in 3D and then animating it in Modo is quicker than storyboarding by hand.
Modo is an excellent platform with the freedom to meet engineering targets with the flexibility of organic design principles. Modo allows transferring different 3D formats between software. Modo can export and import complex and basic geometries created with other technologies. The speed and the easy 3D manipulation is the real benefit for any creative designer.
Not every feature is easy to find. Modo needs a designer with excellent training, and it is required everyday practice. There are not traditional parametric CAD methodology, every new geometry requires some additional work that can be reduced by a parametric solution.
Design components with organic shapes are highly complicated with traditional CAD technology. Modo is a great and flexible solution that can move format 3D file format between different software. I can go back and forward with a rapid methodology. I can also explore quick ideas that can take many hours in a traditional CAD 3D environment. Flexibility and practicality are the major attributes of the MODO platform.
The moveable work plane for complex models
It takes a while to learn and adjust to the space bar drop tool
I can make models to the mm and snap to the grid so I know they are square and sized correctly.
The combination hard modeling, procedual, SDS, and fusion on a single modeling platform with real time previews.
fusion modeling tends to crash, It would be good to get a prompt with more sugestions on how to solve the issue or have some AI on the back end.
Modo is a complete 3D modeling solution.
Toy design with real-time previews.
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I use Modo since its birth and the thing that always stroke me was the beauty of building your own workflow inside the app. The power to combine, define and re-define the tools to achieve unique modeling features is just sublime. The organic interface adaptable to virtually any demand with a beautiful viewport experience makes it a joy to use. When I first approached Modo, what I found was a tremendous similarity to the concept of layers in an image editing environment, with geometry treated in a unique way, giving you endless possibilities to optimize your scenes. It is crazy that you can animate absolutely anything!
The only thing it was missing in my opinion was a nodal environment to create complex interactions between objects, but that is all there now and it just gets better and better, so well, I really can´t find anything I dislike. Well, it still not making any coffee for me.
I would highly recommend any new user of Modo to spend some time exploring the power of falloffs on several contexts within the app, replicators and also the layering rendering system. These are unique workflows that can grant you a universe of possibilities. They saved me many times.
My work depends on extremely dense geometry and complex scenes with precise topology layouts. My clients demands are high and I cannot leave any polygon by mistake on a project. The speed and versatility of Modo to address complex modeling operations and quickly visualize its impact on the shaded surfaces is tremendously helpful.