File Commands

Modo provides all the standard controls necessary for opening, closing and managing files to and from disk. You can perform most options from operating system-specific dialog boxes. File management is largely accomplished through the commands in the menu bar under the File menu. Click on a menu command to perform the operation.

Menu Item

Description

New

Creates a new empty scene file and adds it to the Items List. By default, the scene is named Untitled. If other currently opened scenes are also named Untitled, Modo appends a number to the name, for example, Untitled (2). Use Save As to name the scene.

Open

Loads any previously saved Modo scene files, as well as variety of other 3D object and image file formats. Scene files are added to the Items list, as are other 3D object formats. Images are added to the Images list of the currently active scene file.

Open Recent

Directly opens a file from a list of files previously opened or saved files. Choose the appropriate file name from the list.

Note:  If you have moved the file to a different location and then you try to open it from Open Recent, an error message displays, letting you know that the file is no longer at that location. In this case, use the Open command and navigate to the file's new location.

The list of recent files are stored in the config file, MODOXXX.cfg. If you delete this file, your list of recent files also disappears.

Note:  A backup of configuration file is created at shutdown, when changes are saved. This backup file can be renamed to restore the previous state if configuration changes cause issues. When a corrupt configuration is detected, it is renamed, instead of deleted, which allows you to recover data from corrupted configuration file. Configuration files are found in the following locations:

Windows: C:\Users\<user name> \AppData\Roaming\Luxology
Mac: /Users/qa/Library/Preferences/
Linux: /home/<username>/.luxology

Import

Appends a saved file into the current scene. Items are added to the bottom of a scene in the Item List into their own subgroup with their names corresponding to the imported scene or object.

Close Window

Dismisses the current floating window viewport.

Close Scene

Closes the currently active scene. If the file was not recently saved, Modo asks you to save it. If the closed scene was the only one currently in the Item List, Modo automatically creates a new blank scene.

Close All

Closes all currently open items in Modo, including images and scene files. Modo defaults to a new empty scene. If any scene or image file has changed since the last save, a pop-up dialog prompts you to save recent changes.

Save

Saves the currently active scene. An operating system-specific dialog opens if the file has not been previously saved, requesting a file name as well as a location. You can also specify a format. The native format for Modo is .lxo. This should be used for files requiring further refinement in Modo later. For more information on other formats, see Importing and Exporting File Formats.

Save As

Opens a dialog, allowing you to specify a file name, format and location for the currently active scene file. The native format for Modo is .lxo. This should be used for files requiring further refinement in Modo later.

Save All

Saves all currently opened scene and image files in one step. For scenes not previously saved, a dialog pops up where you can specify a file name, format and path.

Save Incremental

Saves a version of the file with a numeric value appended to the end of the file name. You can save iterations of a scene's progress this way. Each iteration is saved as a new file with the numerical value incremented by one. Once saved, the file becomes the active file and all future Save commands save to this increment.

Export As

Allows you to save your work in different formats. The options include LightWave .lwo, .x3d, Collada .dae, .dxf, .obj or .fbx file formats. This is different than using Save As because it doesn't change the current setting of the file as it is inside Modo. This means that when you save a model in a particular format, Modo remembers it for future saves. Export simply allows you to quickly export in different formats without changing the internal file.

Revert

Removes the currently active scene from memory and loads in the last saved version, abandoning all subsequent changes made since the last time the file was saved. A dialog prompts you to confirm this procedure, because it can't be undone. Selecting Yes loads in the previous version, and selecting No cancels the procedure.

Reset

Closes any currently open scene, prompting you to save if necessary, and then restores the user interface to the same state as when Modo was previously opened. Since exiting Modo prompts the application to write any changes in memory to the user configuration file, this command is useful for when a number of undesired changes have been inadvertently applied to the interface and you wish to clear them from memory.

Consolidate Scene

Saves a copy of the current scene in its current location, and copies all associated linked files, such as imported images and .mdd files to a sub-folder of the save location. The duplicate file has the text _bundled added to its file name. Consolidate Scene also adjusts the internal file link locations to relative paths. This aids you in transferring files between workstations, ensuring that all the associated files are transferred with the base scene. To share your scene, compress the bundled file and the imported_images folder.

Edit Commands

You can undo and redo changes, cut, copy, paste and delete elements in the Edit menu.

Undo/Redo

Undo steps back one step at a time through the sequence of previous revertible operations. All commands that change model state can be undone, except for special exceptions which make changes too large to be undone. Model commands that cannot be undone display a warning, which must be dismissed. Commands that change only the user interface state cannot be undone. You can view a list of irrevertible commands in the Command History viewport.

To Undo a step, press Ctrl/Cmd+Z, or in the menu bat, select Edit > Undo.

To Redo a step, press Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Z) or in the menu bat, select Edit > Redo.

Note:  The maximum number of revertible steps can be specified in the Preferences.

Cut, Copy, and Paste

To cut, copy, or paste an element, make a selection and then in the menu bar, click the appropriate command under Edit, or use the associated keyboard shortcut:

• Cut: (Ctrl/Cmd+X) Removes the selected element and stores it in the clipboard.

• Copy: (Ctrl/Cmd+C) Copies the selected element, leaving the original in place and stores it in the clipboard.

• Paste: (Ctrl/Cmd+V) Inserts the contents of the clipboard into the target layer or field.

Tip:  When managing large scene files, or files with multiple layers, the Import option may be more easier to transfer multiple layers simultaneously.

Delete/Remove

Delete (Del) applies to any type of selected data. For geometric data this is exactly like Cut, removing the data except that it is not moved to the clipboard. Deletion of vertices removes the vertices, but leaves any remaining vertices or polygons. If all the vertices of a polygon are deleted, then the polygon itself is removed. Deletion of polygons also deletes the associated vertices if they are not needed for any other polygons that stays behind. Deleting an edge removes any adjoining polygons leaving a hole. When in Items mode, deleting an item removes the layer, including all geometry contained within from the Items list.

Remove (Backspace) is effectively the same function as Delete, but when working with edges, removing them eliminates the edge itself, but leaves the neighboring polygons in place, resulting in a polygon merge, joining the neighboring polygons.