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Step-by-Step

The 'step-by-step' section is a collection of MODO workflows whichl achieve a particular outcome. Some of them you may not have done for a while, so they're here just to jog your memory so you know what step comes next :)

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How to create condensation

Description

In November 2014, I had the privilege of organising and attending the SWEDEN LOVES MODO event in Gothenburg. I learnt a lot that day, but the one thing I took away and wanted to be able to reproduce when I got back home was an example from a presentation by Paulo Madeira on how to quickly create condensation / water droplets on the outside of an object, like say, on a can of coke. 

Now, if you have tried this exercise yourself before (or using a preset from the Asset Share site), you'll probably recall that it took a lot of resources, and your render times probably went through the roof. Paulo's method takes all those headaches away with a few clever tricks he's come up with. 

Step-by-Step
 

In Paulo's example, he used the Chameleon preset that comes with MODO. So for the purpose of this exercise, we will too and assume you have setup your environment and lighting. 

  • Drag in the Chameleon mesh preset.
  • In the Shader tree, delete the preset textures that came in with the mesh, but keep just the 'Chameleon on Branch' folder.
  • [dcs_emptyspace h="20"][dcs_emptyspace h="10"]Create a new material and set it to a vibrant colour.
  • Right-click and duplicate the Chameleon Item Mesh and rename it Droplets.
  • Apply a white material to the Droplets mesh and call it Condensation.

As there are now two meshes located in exactly the same space, turn off the original Chameleon. You will then see just the droplets material.

  • Inside the Condensation material, go to Add Layer and insert the Pebbles texture (under Enhance:MODO Textures, Noise, Pebbles). The white areas will be where the droplets will appear on the mesh.
  • [dcs_emptyspace h="20"]“Pebbles-Texture"</span></li><li style=" width="“294"
  • " height="“352"
  • " />[dcs_emptyspace h="20"]To resize the droplets, go to the Texture Location tab under properties, and change Size X, Y, Z to 15 mm each.
  • Under the Condensation Material change the Displacement Distance to 2 mm.
  • Change the effect of the Pebble texture from Diffuse Color to Displacement.
The Pebble texture covers the entire mesh, however, you only want the droplets themselves to be visible, so you will need to make those parts that are not actual bubbles, invisible (i.e. the areas which lie flat against the skin).
  • Duplicate the Pebbles texture, Invert it, and then change the Effect from Displacement to Stencil.
  • With the Pebbles/Stencil effect texture selected, under the Texture Layers tab, increase the Bias to 100% to make the transition of the edges of each droplet sharper so that they touch the skin surface.
  • Turn on the Chameleon mesh to view the results so far.
  • To make the droplets transparent, apply a Water preset material (i.e. remove any displacement or bump layers) to the Condensation material. Drag it below the two pebbles textures.
  • Change the Displacement Distance to 2 mm
To make the Chameleon metallic like Paulo did, change the material to 0% Diffuse, check Conserve Energy, Specular 20%, reflections 80%, check Blurry reflections.
URL  https://youtu.be/aOoUJP94QEo
Source (Sergio) Paulo Madeira (Madeira3D)
8.0/107votes
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Kicking up dust

Description Using the new particle system, create the effect of dust being kicked up as a hover biker travels across open terrain.
Origin Supplied by Luxology as part of the Spotlight video series that came with the release of 701 SP1
 modo Version 701 SP1
Description

With the supplied hoverbike, rider and terrain, this series shows how you can create dust particles and get them to kick-up when the hover bike flies by. 

 
URL 701Spotlight_Video_01.mp4 (Download from your Luxology account)
Presenter Andy Brown
7.0/103votes
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Depth of Field and how to manipulate it in Photoshop

This is by far my most favorite modo tip ever, by the illustrious illustrator, Warner McGee, where he shows you no matter what Depth of Field you may have set in modo, you can always change, or fix it in post, in Photoshop. Read more
10.0/108votes
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Focusing your camera using Autofocus and Depth of Field

Description

If you're a photographer, when it comes to setting up your cameras for rendering in modo, you'll no doubt understand aperture sizes, what 'depth of field' is, and what F-stops are. But some of us who don't have a feel for these numbers need to eyeball things in order to get them how we want. In this Lux TV video from some time back, Brad shows how to access the advanced feature in the modo toolpipe allowing you to display extra handles to position the camera when using depth of field. He also shows how you can click on a point anywhere within a scene and have the camera focus there automatically.

Step-by-Step
    Advanced camera handles
    • In the Perspective viewport, select your camera and activate the transform tool (W)
    • Then in the Toolpipe, right-click the '=' sign in the 'V' column and select Advanced
    Activate Tool Handles
    • You'll see some extra handles appear on the camera that will allow you to drag and focus
 
    Autofocus under mouse
    • In the Render viewport, position your mouse on the spot where you want your camera to focus
    • Click Ctrl-F and the camera will fire the 'camera.autofocusUnderMouse' command
Source  You can watch a video that details the process here
Author  Brad Peebler
10.0/104votes
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Modelling a quick trellis

Description

Creating background assets that aren't the primary focus in a game, can be pretty time-consuming for something that no-one really looks at, but they do add to the atmosphere of the game. Here's a quick way of creating a simple item that could be used as metal scaffolding, a tower or even a simple bridge in less than 5 minutes, using basic polygon modelling tools.

Step-by-Step

As shown in the image above;

    • Create a cube. Select one poly face and under the Polygon tools tab, select Sketch Extrude and drag out from the blue dot for the required length, making multiple, even stops along the way.
    • (Alternatively, simply drag out a cube that is say, 1x1x10)
    • In poly-mode, double-click on the item to select all polygons.
    • Under the Polygon tab, click on the Spikey tool, then click on the object. Each face will be sub-divided into 4 tris.
    • Whilst still selected, click on Bevel (B) (make sure Group Polygons is unchecked), and then drag the red-handle in slightly.
    • Press backspace or Delete to remove the inside polygons.
    • That's it!
    • If you want to add some thickness, whilst still selected, click on the Thicken tool and drag slightly.
Source  You can watch a video that details the process here
Author  Ellery Connell - video2brain.com
8.6/105votes
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