Substance 3D Painter: what it is and what it is for

Adobe Substance 3D Painter is the reference texturing application for professionals and enthusiasts.

From AAA game developers to small and independent indie companies, from feature-length animation to visual effects studios, the entire industry uses Painter to bring their creations to life.

Read on to learn more!

Substance 3D Painter system requirements

Let's start with the most important.

The system requirements.

They are as follows for the latest version.

Minimum

• OS: Windows 10
  
• Processor: Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3
  
• RAM: 16 GB
  
• Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 - Nvidia Quadro P2200 - AMD Radeon RX 580
  
• Hard drive space: 10 GB
  

Recommended

• OS: Windows 11
  
• Processor: Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7
  
• RAM: 32 GB
  
• Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce GTX 2080 - Nvidia Quadro RTX 4000 - AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
  
• Hard drive space: 10 GB
  

Well, the system requirements are pretty reasonable. An average PC will do for basic work, but for something more advanced you will need to build a bigger rig.

Substance 3D Painter key features

Let's go through the coolest features of this utility. The ones that make people want to use it.

Real-time visualizing

By visualizing the 3D model in the viewport, Painter can draw and add accents directly on the mesh.
This is a great option for stylizing. It's hard to imagine anything better. It's always good to see your mistakes right away so you can fix them and not get stuck.

The ability to create custom PBR textures

In this utility you can create PBR textures. But not normal ones, but on the basis of so-called Smart Materials. These are ready-made templates that combine layers and masks.

By the way, you can also download PBR textures from our hub - link. It's free and you don't even have to register.

A wide range of textures for terrain creation and subsurface work

If you open the Textures category in the program, you will find a huge number of elements that can be used to supplement existing normal maps.

And again, if necessary, you can find the necessary textures and materials on our website - link. Not only PBR textures, but any other textures as well.

Huge number of plugins

The scripting API of this program gives you the opportunity to create your own extensions to the existing functions. Plugins can be found or purchased on various thematic resources.

There are a lot of them.

As an liquid option - something like Artstation.

But you can also find them on our Other Plugins tab. If you don't find what you need, you can write us about it to our mail. We will definitely add the necessary plugin.

Seamless 2D, quality shadows

Substance features a 2D mode with dynamic shadows, a freely rotatable canvas, and seamless 2D painting. In this way, Substance Painter combines the integrity of 3D with the convenience of a flexible 2D mode.

Maximum integration and flexible interaction with other applications

In Substance Painter, you can use materials created in other applications. First and foremost, of course, these are other applications from Adobe's Substance 3D suite.

But no one said you couldn't use stuff from any Zbrush. In fact, in many cases it will be objectively better, because Zbrush has stuff you can't get anywhere else.

A crazy set of brushes.

We hope that we have at least shed some light on Substance Painter and let you know that it is definitely worth your time. Give it a try!