For most creative people, 3D has always been overlooked due to its steep learning curve, complex interfaces and technical concepts that require years of training to master. Thanks to Adobe Substance 3D, we are on the verge of a new era in creativity.
For most creative people, 3D has always been overlooked due to its steep learning curve, complex interfaces and technical concepts that require years of training to master. Thanks to Adobe, we are on the verge of a new era in creativity and the next generation of creators are in for a treat.
Adobe has just dropped Adobe Substance 3D, a collection of powerful 3D tools for both professionals and young artists. The new applications have incredibly efficient workflows powered by advanced machine learning. This is all designed to help simplify and speed up the entire creative 3D process. To make things even more exciting, Adobe has released a 3D Asset Library with 2,000+ production quality models, materials and lighting setups that makes this a massive announcement from the tech giant.
We are so pumped about this release that we have created a Adobe Substance 3D - Virtual Photography contest. Show us what you can create with Stager 3D and win some crazy prizes.
OK, let's jump in and take a closer look at this incredible new suite of applications.
For those of you that are familiar with Adobe Creative Cloud, a few things have changed, and some applications like Adobe Dimension have been removed completely. This is what the new 3D landscape looks like now, and we're pumped!
Painter has all the tools you need to seamlessly texture your 3D assets, from advanced brushes to Smart Materials that automatically adapt to your model. Painter is the best-in-class authoring app that enables creative pros to paint 3D textures on models and meshes in real-time.
An intuitive rendering and layout tool that enables users to create both stylized and photorealistic renders by compositing assets into a 3D scene for creative professionals.
An intuitive authoring tool to create materials and lighting for 3D, by leveraging real life images.
The industry standard parametric authoring tool, giving users unparalleled artistic control over the creation of materials, image filters, and dynamic geometry.
3D Assets: 2000+ high-end models content tailored for professional work.
Adobe has removed the barriers for all designers and creatives. Everyone now has access to a powerful 3D rendering tool that allows you to create rich 3D visuals. What's makes this all so crazy is that is so damn easy to use! Check out this incredible gallery of images published today.
A long time ago! The only reason you didn't realise it is because Photoshop has been taking over the world, along with their entire Adobe Creative Cloud of tools that all harness the power of 3D technology. Here are some of the most notable investments that have helped them get to this massive launch day today.
Purchased Mixamo, a 3D computer graphics technology company. It started out as a cloud-based service offering animations and automatic character rigging.
Purchased Allegorithmic, the French company behind the Substance tools for creating textures that are widely used by AAA game creators, as well as visual effects artists, animators and designers.
Purchased Oculus Medium, a virtual reality sculpting tool originally revealed by the Facebook-owned VR company in 2015. With Medium you can intuitively create organic shapes, complex characters, abstract art and anything in between.
Throw into the mix some clever decisions to hire people like Guido Quaroni, and Adobe is shaping up to be an absolute powerhouse in the 3D industry.
The Rookies has one goal - to help help young artists turn their passion for creativity into lucrative jobs of the future.
As an artist, you want to create. You want to experiment with colours, shapes and ideas. Unfortunately, the world of 3D is seriously complicated. Just try and read a paper from SIGGRAPH without reaching for some pain killers. What this means is that it's incredibly hard for young artists to start learning.
Applications like Adobe Substance 3D don't come along often. Sure software companies always release new features, but this suite of tools has truly opened the doors of creativity to a younger audience. An audience that were previously restricted by high software costs and harsh learning curves.
Anyone with the most basic of computer skills can now bring to life their ideas in 3D, and I couldn't be more excited that it's happening now, all thanks to a company that most people think is only interested in playing in the 2D world.
Get yourself over to https://www.substance3d.com/ and grab yourself either a free trial or buy a license for $39.99/mo.
Already got a license and need to switch to Adobe Substance 3D?
Like all good product launches, there is plenty of impressive training available to help get you up to speed right away! Here is a list of our favourite content:
In this introductory video series, you'll learn the basics of Substance 3D Designer. First you'll be guided through the interface and a few standard techniques and nodes. Then core techniques are introduced, showing you how to create and modify shapes. Finally, the full power of the Substance 3D ecosystem is unveiled by exposing parameters and creating a full, PBR material.
In these set of three introductory videos, you'll learn how to take your first steps with Substance 3D Sampler. You'll be guided through creating a fabric material from a scan or photograph, you learn to use a 360 degree Photograph to capture and use lighting shot on location and you'll see how Sampler can take illustrations and turn them into embroidered and woven patches.
In this introductory video series for Substance 3D Painter, you'll learn how to take your first steps with the application. We'll guide you through setting up a project, adding materials and masking them, painting dirt and stitches, as well as creating and adding your own custom materials.
In this introductory video, you'll learn how to take your first steps with Substance 3D Stager. We'll import a model, set up materials and decals, add lights and do our final rendering. All files used in the video are available for download below.
If all that isn't enough, or if you want to dig in a little deeper, you can go direct to the Adobe Substance 3D documentation.
We are so excited about the potential of this new suite of tools that we had to create the first contest to use it!
Andrew McDonald
You are required to build an interior environment, and create a photorealistic render using only the default 3D models, materials, lighting and renderer provided in Adobe Substance 3D Stager.
For your entry, you will need to share your progress regularly on the contest platform. For your final submission to the judging panel, please upload 1-5 of your most photorealistic renders created with Stager.
