Matt Silverman, Creative Director at Bonfire Labs, has a secret weapon. “Nobody seems to know about ProModeler,” he says. “Every time we bring in a new hire they’ve never heard about it and they’re always amazed at what it does.”
Matt typically uses Maya for his 3D work but uses ProModeler to create the title and logo models that go into Maya. “Anything fancy in Maya that’s a cool bevel becomes a hard modeling job. Anytime we hire a Maya modeling pro to do something custom it just never works out and we always end up going back to ProModeler. Holes in the geometry, kinks in the polys, stuff like that is typical when Maya tries to bevel things.”
Matt discovered Zaxwerks’ first product, the EPS Invigorator, when he was working with a different 3D program. “We got our first copy in a hand-made gift box and quickly began to rely on it for most of our motion graphics projects. After moving to Maya I was happy to see Zax turn Invigorator into the standalone app, ProModeler, so we could continue using it with Maya.”
Matt has used ProModeler in thousands of projects since then. Adobe, Apple, Symantec, Electronic Arts, and HBO are all clients who have hired Matt for his creative wizardry.
“We’re not the sort of 3D guys who want to spend oodles of time grinding through a modeling problem. We want to figure out how to get stuff done as absolutely fast as possible. There are a hundred other things I can find to waste my time on besides 3D modeling,” he laughs.
“So Matt,” we asked, “what’s the one thing that really keeps you using ProModeler?”
“The control,” Matt replies. “Pro Modeler’s feature set is streamlined and powerful, allowing us to focus on the details of our models without having to think about the technicalities of how to build them. The ability to control where the bevel is occurring is crucial. Most 3D applications bevel outside the profile, which tends to tighten the letter spacing. Of course this is not a good thing when you have a client’s logo in your hands. ProModeler allows us to quickly control where the bevel is formed, giving us the ability to maintain accurate letter spacing in logos and typography. We also love the tons of preset bevels and the ability to quickly try them out in a procedural, non-destructive UI.”
“The quality of the geometry and the control we get over everything from bevels to pair-kerning are unprecedented in any other app. It’s so fast and the quality’s so good why would you do it any other way?”
Check out Matt’s reel that showcases models created from ProModeler!
I agree,
ProAnimator and ProModeler are excellent in creating cutting age 3d graphics directly from After Effects or Apple Motion. The software does magnificent job in no time. No complicated setting up of the UV’s and maps as it is in Maya. All of those things are so easy to do in either of the Zaxwerks products I mentioned above.
I used to model exclusively in Maya and Studio and also Electric Image Modeler. But now, my modeling skills have actually suffered because I try and usually do model every piece of my 3D logos in ProModeler. I can’t live without it now. Why would I? It just works. Or should I say werks!
How about giving me some examples or a trial of ProModeler? What is it?
Be sure to click on the image in the blog to check out Matt Silverman’s reel that features models that he created in ProModeler.
ProModeler is a standalone application that allows you to extrude logos that you create in Illustrator, or using the built in 3D Text or 3D Primitive tools. ProModeler then allows you to export out high quality images, or export the models out in different formats such as Maya, Lightwave, Cinema 4D, etc.
To download ProModeler as a trial, please visit our “Support > Download Software” page. Fill in the information, then in the Product drop-down menu, select ProModeler.
Best,
Edward