Silo seems to be back in development

[Miss B]

I've been using Blender for so long, but never could get the hang of modelling clothing with it. With Silo, and the help of one of Fugazi's tutorials, I had no problem at all.

I also like the nice clean UI, so I am happy they're continuing to work on it. I hesitated buying it after I had finished the 30-day trial a couple of years ago, mostly because it hadn't been updated for about 4 or 5 years, which is a long time between versions. Poser updates around every 2 years, and Blender, well constantly since it's open source.

I look forward to seeing what they come up with in the 2.4 version. I'm not into playing with beta software, unless I'm on the actual beta team, so I'll wait until there's a public release.

 

[Lobo3433]

I remember buying it at full price just when development dropped off but would invest in it during one of the sales that comes up often not that I need to now since I own and the clean interface is nice but the beta is still a bit buggy for those that do not know the official Silo 2 forum which is not host by Nevercenter but moved by them to CGTalk - Nevercenter Silo most of the old archive stuff is there as well as any current and latest news

 

[Miss B]

Ohhh, didn't know they had moved the forums. Good to know.

 

[Lobo3433]

Yes they moved it when the were considering dropping any further development on Silo plus hosting the forum on the cgsociety website was more cost effective alternative

 

[Lobo3433]

I do recommend that if you have Silo 2 already installed do not uninstall it to install and use the Beta they will work side by side

 

[Miss B]

That's good to know Lobo, as some software apps I've come across don't allow for that. I hate when that happens, so being able to run them separately simultaneously is a good option.

 

[Lobo3433]

Yes since this is a Beta you can install it side by side and as most Beta's anything modeled in it should not be for actual production unless your fine tuning and cleaning up the mesh in the regular version or another modeling app. I know there are still some bugs with the Collada and FBX import and export and some of the UI functions seem to cause it to freeze up so save often

 

[Miss B]

Good to know Lobo. Thanks.

 

[Pendraia]

Good to know...thanks for the info.

 

[ben]

Hi just a head up - Silo has been updated to version 2.5.0 - not a Beta update
- current users serial numbers will work and do not need to pay for the update (That isn't mentioned on their site so I thought I'd let you know)

 

[Miss B]

Thanks Ben. I just went and downloaded it.

 

[Lobo3433]

OK seems they are really trying to bring Silo back to life there is now a 2.5 Beta and you can find the release notes and information here as well as a download link Silo - Dedicated 3D Modeling and UV Unwrapping Software for Mac and PC | Nevercenter

 

[RAMWolff]

Silo 2.5 is now released, out of beta and into the wild

 

[Miss B]

Yes, downloaded it yesterday. Haven't had a free minute yet to install and play with it, but I will soon.

 

[Lobo3433]

I just got the ratification of the new release just downloaded and hoping to find some time to give it a whirl

 

[kobaltkween]

I happen to like doing my UV Mapping in Blender, no matter what software I use to model in, but the one thing Silo has, that I haven't seen anywhere else, is a 3D view of the UV Map. I found that very good last year when I was having a problem texturing a piece of clothing someone else had created, and it was in the 3D view of the Map that I realized the edging around the top of the bodice, and both sides of the shoulder straps, were turned in to give those edges a finished look. Unfortunately, the UV Map that came with it didn't show those turned in edges. If I hadn't opened it in Silo's 3D view of the Map, I never would've known what was wrong.

I'm not sure I understand? Isn't a 3D view of the UV map just the polygon/edges view you see in Blender edit (or any modeler's editing mode)? I mean the UV map is just the topology flattened into 2D space, so how _could_ the 3D view of the UV mapping be any different than the 3d object itself?

 

[Miss B]

I didn't say, or at least I didn't mean, the 3D View of the UV Map is any different than the 3D object itself, it's just that no other modeling app I've ever worked with ever had anything but a 2D View of the UV Map.

I had no problem seeing the bent in edging around the bodice, and both sides of the straps when viewing the mesh itself, the problem was, the UV Map in 2D View didn't allow me to texture the portions of the mesh that were bent in. The creator of the outfit did the UV Mapping AFTER the edges were bent in, so I couldn't tell from looking at the 2D UV Map in Blender, that those polys were not actually in the UV Map. It was the 3D View in Silo that showed me those polys weren't getting textured, and why.

I guess if I bothered to count the rows/columns of polys in the bodice and straps, I would've realized it that way as well, but the 3D UV Map View actually allowed me to straighten out those otherwise hidden polys. It didn't do as good a job as I would've liked, but I'm sure with practice I could do a better job of it because of the 3D UV Map View.

 

[Satira Capriccio]

I downloaded and installed, but didn't catch till I pressed the button it was going to install in the 2.3 folder. So, I overwrote my 2.3 install.

 

[seachnasaigh]

I downloaded and installed, but didn't catch till I pressed the button it was going to install in the 2.3 folder. So, I overwrote my 2.3 install.

The 2.3.1 build is still on the download page; download 2.3.1 and install it (again). Then run the 2.5 installer and point it to its own folder.

 

[Satira Capriccio]

True. Or I can just run the exe for 2.3.1 again. I save installers like that on my external drive.