Do not buy this program

[stan_41]

This program is dead there has been no updates they are putting all there efforst into some kinda graphics program the forums are dead. The last bug update was in 2010 and nothing sence. You dont have to beleave me just go to the forums and you can see for yourself. in fact i am going to ask why Stream is selling a dead program its not fair to there members.

[Terramis]

FYI: the forums seem to be alive and well. I think you were just looking at the archived forums from before they moved to the new location. Here's the link. http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=175&utm_source=Silo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=SiloNevercenter

[Torgul]

It has been awhile since the last update .... but Silo is very stable and and xcellent modeling package. Well worth the price. I used it quite abit a cpl years ago.

[March]

Originally posted by Terramis:

FYI: the forums seem to be alive and well. I think you were just looking at the archived forums from before they moved to the new location. Here's the link. http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=175&utm_source=Silo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=SiloNevercenter

From the forums

"SILO really does look like it'll meet my needs perfectly but if it can't make a simple polygon without crashing then I'm forked from the outset.

With ZERO support I guess I'll just have to go elsewhere.


Why won't these guys just make it open source or at least start developing it again.


FRUSTRATING AS HELL!"

Sorry. Lost a sale. I see dozens of complaints and no resolutions.

[Shit on the Mirror Ball]

A lot of forums for graphics software tend to have limelight for a very short time.
Silo 2 has been under the radar for a few years now but I was still considering this back when it was over two hundred.

I think it's still about $150 on the developers site.
Just one thing that kind of bothers me - I'm assuming this is the same version as the demo that has been avaialble for three years now and the software tested unstable through that demo however it may have had something to do with my system specs at that time:

AMD Atholon XP 2400+ (Single Core)
1 Gig Ram DDR
7300 GT 512mbj DDR AGP

Nowadays I'm running

Intel Pentium G840 2.90 (Dual Core) Sandy Bridge
4 Gigs Ram
HD 6670 2Gig DDR3

Can anyone using better equipment (than what I had) confirm they are still experiencing bugs and crashes?

[DMann3D]

I use it at work, in spite of the constant crashes (ie, sometimes when I use the Cut tool it crashes, other times it's fine). Even then, it is still pretty decent software. I'm weening myself off of it though, as the developers haven't given any indication of support in over 2 years, to the point that they couldn't even be bothered to maintain their own forums ("official" forum is now a special topic on another website entirely) or give ANY response to community bug reports.

It could use some updates, like better poly limits (try retopo'ing over even a VERY decimated ZBrush sculpt and see what I mean), more stable UV editing tools (sometimes UVs bug out, kill the viewports, then crash the program if you aren't careful, requiring re-saving the OBJ in a new scene file and re-mapping your UVs all over again). For $50 this program is okay, but I'd personally steer clear of it at this point-- check out Voidworld/Nvil or Wings3D for supported, and free, alternatives. Basically, go to a software package whose developers are still actively supporting it. Or at least actually vocal-- Nevercenter never talks to any of their Silo customer base, it's incredibly frustrating.

Forgot to add system specs:

Dual Intel Xeon X5660 @ 2.8GHz each
12GB DDR3 RAM
Samsung SCSI SSD, 240GB
Nvidia Geforce GTX 580, 1.5GB DDR5 RAM

[stan_41]

Originally posted by Terramis:

FYI: the forums seem to be alive and well. I think you were just looking at the archived forums from before they moved to the new location. Here's the link. http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=175&utm_source=Silo&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=SiloNevercenter

I stand by my statement it hasnt been updated in at least 2 YEARS of them 2 years the forum questions remained unanswered. The fact remain bugs are not being fixed at all.

[defqon]

yes doint buy this

olso no ide how this made it on steam ?

[Eos]

Don't buy, this was a while ago, it's still like that today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9nKqOZjPjk&feature=player_embedded

[DMann3D]

Yup-- I remember when you posted that-- it was your recommendation and your Pcount thread that turned me onto Voidworld :D

[Carm3D]

I just finished a project with Silo. It didn't crash once on me. It has in the past, but overall it's fairly stable. Using the UV tools seems to set it off more than anything. Just save often. Good advice for any program.

[HK-47]

Guys, like with any other program that uses 3D acceleration, how it works depends heavily on the combination of operating system, hotfixes, and especially (and I can't stress this enough) video driver version you are using.

Furthermore, video card hardware and its features (which can have bugs in silicon uncorrectable on a driver level) can also contribute to the instability or issues with just about any application using 3D acceleration for drawing.

What I am saying is that very often, it is your system hardware/software setup at fault when you have issues which other people don't have. Bear that in mind before throwing stones on applications.

I am not saying Silo is perfect, nor that it is not crashing, but for this price you won't find anything like it.

[defqon]

but you can have one for free blender.org

[mxdirector]

Why is this on steam? Baffles me. Yes its a nice program, but they are hardly ready to support this software so why release it here.

[Carm3D]

If it's been abandoned, that doesn't mean it's not good. I use it all the time and it's great.

[DasWulf]

3D artist here. I also recommend potential artist avoid this program. There are far better alternatives at this point, a few even free. Despite what some say about "still using" Silo, they are the minority and quite frankly I wouldnt be surprised if they are just too stubborn to learn anything new, so they end up sticking with software abandoned by its developers (who have 0 respect for their customers).

Save your money and move on.