Can I Bone, Rigg and Weight a character in Silo? Or am I asking too much for a program in this price range?
I’m basically on the hunt for a good modeling/rigging companion for Zbrush.
And is the render engine average?
Silo is strictly sub-d modelling. They don’t even have a renderer.
If you’re looking for inexpensive all around type of package try blender.
The price point is perfect.
Also checked out Modo…
Blender seems to have a steep learning curve, free app versus lost time and being stuck in a difficult UI…I think i’ll pass on that one.
Neither Silo nor Modo have bones or rigging tools…which wouldn’t be a problem but I’m mac based, so no characterFX for me. 
I’d purchase modo if I could find a nice stand alone rigging app. All I need to be able to do is set up scenes and characters for reference.
YEa! Blender 3d!!
Before buying anything learn the basics with Blender 
I payed 600.00$ a couple years ago for a software package that I dont even use anymore, they are saveing all the new features fo the next version to make more $$$$$… plus they want to charge me extra to view the instruction videos .
With Blender I have lots of Bleeding edge features my favorite is the ability to use Zbrush normal maps on my models !!
plus it is free
you can set up a Linux render farm for the cost of Hardware alone (If you are willing to learn linux )
it has lots of free instruction videos, A HUGE online comunity, and lots of IRC chatrooms for everything from using the buildt in game engine , to chatting with the actual Blender development team in the programmer forums…
Blender has some nice new features for UV mapping and modeling…
Blender even has a small Video editing utility
you can import and export in many many useful formats… some for game engines, some for other modeling applications like Zbrush, Lightwave, 3ds, XSI, and MAYA…
Be sure to get the Bleeding edge version, older versions dont have decent UNDO system, or the ability to use normal maps…
For a Modeling package I suggest Zbrush and Wings 3d, They work together very well!
i have SILO also… I suggest trying Wings before you try the Silo demo, I only use silo for the topology tool… If you do go fo Silo, Get your Free copy of Wings too :)… Wings has some verry advanced UV mapping Tools… I have Deep UV, and It is no longer installed… WIngs is faster, and easyer… If you get used to it, and assign materials as you model, the UV mapping is almost 100% automatic!
Well anyways… Blender Is a Verry nice tool for animateing… Wings is verry nice for modeling… The Price really Rocks Too!! FREE!!!
EDIT
As far as rendering, Blender has a nice buildt in one… plus you can use YAFRAY if you would like caustics and stuff… both can be accessed from the buildt in rendering buttons… M yfavorite right now is the Toon shader and the Toon Uotline Post rendering Effect… Just whip out a few cartoon looking models and you might be able to be the next Disney
There are a few Exporters too if you want to use POVray or some Renderman complient rendering system…
Any app that does those things has a steep learning curve.
the learning curve gets totaly flattened with the Video tutorials…
Be sure to see the one on the interface first :)… Blenders interface is very unique and Powerful… you can chop it up to suit your every need, adding and removeing Views and pannels…
Without the interface video (about 15 minuets) I would still be totaly lost in blender…
get them HERE:
http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Video_Tutorials.396.0.html
If windows media player dont play the videos get VLC here:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
slapping forehead
Ahh, your killing me Polaris. Ok, I’m DL-ing again…if I get stuck though and the videos can’t help me, you know who I’m looking for;)
Now in between graduate studies and work I’m gonna be stuck learning Blender, which I gather is almost completelty foreign to other 3d packages, so no extra points for past experience.
Ok, nuff kvetching, let me get to it, the sooner I start the sooner I can come back and thank you or…:mad:
kidding 
Question about YAFRAY, is it a seperate plugin / app or is part of Blender? Also is the rigging comperable to one of the expensive apps - lets say Maya since I’m familiar with it - ?
Lastly, in the galleries some of the images I notice have a “cartoonish” sort of feel in their textures even though it’s apparent they are meant to look realistic, is this the differeence between YAFRAY and Blenders default render engine?
Oh yeah (I new I had one more) what’s up with the bias that hiring companies have toward apps such as Blender - is it because it’s open source? Or because the user group isn’t as large as Maya’s or LW’s?
BTW I am sooo impressed eith the OS movement, I’m currently constructing a ecommerce site using OS, with out it I would have been out about $2000. Cooperation is a beautiful thing.
I honestly haven’t been doing a whole lot of 3d stuff lately - busy. I have been trying to keep up with what’s going on. About the only thing I could add that others haven’t about Silo is check out Nevercenter Labs and see what they’re working on for future realeases (if you haven’t already). No telling when the bones will be added or how much you’ll be able to do with it though.
-greg
Check it out, yafray just got absorbed by blender and may be in included in the next release… it is a spererate command line rendering engine right now…
To use it you must first install yafray, then tweak the blender renderor to be yafray rather than blender internal…
I guess the best things i like about yafray is the ability to use HDRI lightprobes… you get Excellent results for reflections and realistic refractions…
it makes caustics for metal,glass ,and water reflections.
Here is a render i did from My modeling application Wings 3d with very old version…
heh!
Verry old stuff… Look on google for HDRI shop, and then for just HDRI lightprobes… there are a bunch of free ones out there…
here is HDRIshop… i think it is still free 
http://www.ict.usc.edu/graphics/HDRShop/
The main thing is that you get .HDR files, they will do things for lighting and reflection
Sorry i dont have a good caustic example, check out the gallerys on
the yafray site…
looks like there is a MAC version now too in download section…I am going to have to tell my friends
The default blender render uses either HDRI or IBL for reflections too… I have not played with them yet (I use Yafray woot,woot,woot,!)
BTW look in the forums like asylum for blender jobs… there are a few out there
plus a person will learn the basics of animation, and materials and lighting which can be applied to lots of other applications…
as far as my opinion on the open source/GPL/GNU, I just Love it… The freedom is great!
because Blender and wings are under such licence allows for Lots of other groups to research, and tweak the software, and improve it…
I dunno, maby I am just Cheep…
Blender’s interface may be ‘unique’, but it’s also lacking. Take a look at the dialogue box for the positioning of objects. It’s just poorly designed from start to finish.
Heh,
You should hear what the blender comunity says about the Zbrush interface … Over here I have to defend Blender… Over there I have to defend Zbrush…
I agree with you Reactor, I dont like that part either… dont get me wrong… there are parts of Blender that drive me totaly nuts.
For the Price, Blender is pretty cool…
There is another utility called Anim8tor… I think it is still free and more of a conventional interface… I have no ideas what rendering capabilitys this has… might not work with normal maps…
www.anim8or.com
[color=Black]
Dunno… It may be better time spent doing everything in the MAYA ple… or the XSI Hobbyist/educational… There are more people Hireing for the comercial titles… I think the non comercial versions have full functions, just annoying watermarks . plus Over at Buzz3d there are a bunch of video tutorials too… (you gotta sell your soul, and E-maill address to join)
I know for my studio, Blender is just fine… I like useing it for a few reasons…
I dont have to be certified to teach Blender.
I dont have to ask my students to purchace any extra software (More money for me, Muuuahahhaha!)
The Lessons and tutorials are all ready written. (wait , it gets better!)
I can put it on a USB keyfob, or a CD and Sell it! (for price of Medium, not software)
I can share the software with all my friends.
I can “Do it” in Linux 100% Micro$0ft free, Giving Bill Gates a Virtual “Pie in the face”.
It works hand in hand with Wings and GIMP and YAFRAY. (which also suck to a certain degree, but you cant beat the price… )
Because it is Sexy!! 
small_orange_diamond
with GPL/GNU licenced software you can politely say things like "Thanks to Debian i got a free Woody, [color=Black] got My #root account up, [color=Black]was able to physicaly mount my hard disk, and loaded susan In Blender and Tweaked her shader a little bit for some smooth subdevideing…and i didn’t even have to pay for it! "…
(susan is the mascott for blender… the cute monkey mesh they included to test lighting and shaders, like teapot in other applications)
I have met up with a few people in my life that have gone out and purchased thousands of dollars worth of software and hardware, only to find out that modeling and animateing is not what they want to do.
Personally I think you get what you pay for, which is why I was very pleased (and relieved) to see this new price structure for Silo . :lol:
Just an update to this post…
I was impressed with the output possible with Blender, and I did download it and play around in the interface, but because I know I don’t have the time to dedicate to learning the foreign UI, I’ve chosen to buy a prog instead. I REEEEEALLY wanted to purchase Silo, and in the future when it has bones I will. For now, I was able to grab Carrara 4 for $89 (student discount) the interface is “different” but very intuitive imho.
Thanks for everyone’s suggestions.