Luxology demos NPR Kit and XfrogPlants for modo
Luxology is to show off two new add-ons for modo at Siggraph 2012 this week.
XfrogPlants for modo is a collection of ready-built trees, flowers, shrubs and other plants, intended for use by architects, illustrators and landscape designers.
There are no details about the size or pricing of the library yet.
Xfrog itself currently offers a library of over 1,800 2,900 individual plants for use in its vegetation-simulation software, available for Cinema 4D, Maya and as a standalone edition.
New NPR Kit for modo
Luxology will also show off its upcoming NPR Kit for modo. The add-on will support a variety of non-photorealistic rendering styles, including toon shading, stippling, halftones and edge rendering.
According to the press blurb, the “unique new SketchTone shader can use hand-sketched hatching examples to reproduce an artist’s original drawing style on any 3D surface”.
If the images on the Luxology website accurately reflect the kit’s output, the results are impressive. The toon-shaded and stylised renders are pretty much what you’d expect from any modern 3D package, but the sketch rendering looks really good: fluid and organic and convincingly hand-drawn.
Again, there are no release or pricing details just yet.
Updated 30 August: the NPR Kit is now shipping for modo 601 on Windows and OS X. The RRP is $199, but if you’re quick, you can get it for the launch price of $149. Read the news release, or buy it from Luxology’s store.
Note: it’s worth checking out the media images for the kit. They’re all interesting, but this one is especially good. If you came to it cold, you’d be hard pushed to tell it wasn’t a traditional illustration.
Visit Luxology’s Siggraph website
(Includes details of both the NPR Kit and XfrogPlants for modo)