Adobe Substance 3D Collection revamps tools in one suite

By

Adobe's new Substance 3D Collection packs lots of creative capabilities.
Adobe's new Substance 3D Collection packs lots of creative capabilities.
Photo: Adobe

Today Adobe released its new Adobe Substance 3D Collection, a suite of interoperable tools and assets that support 3D creativity. It addresses a near-future the company pictures where 3D work’s not just for blockbuster movies and games anymore, but for anyone.

The updated apps now sit in one integrated subscription package, intended as a do-it-all capture-and-create place for 3D art, sampling and virtual photography. The tools can enhance video games, e-commerce and marketing projects, and even virtual reality content.

At the Collection’s base is the Substance suite, which became part of Adobe two years ago. It played a big role in creating games like Half Life Alyx and Microsoft Flight Simulator, along with movies like Star Wars: Episode IX and Blade Runner 2049.

Adobe Substance 3D: For macOS for now, not yet mobility

The tools are designed for Mac, Windows and Linux OS, Adobe said. Despite clear usefulness for virtual reality-related applications, they’re not yet compatible with mobile device use.

The four apps are Adobe Substance Painter, Designer, Sampler and Stager. They’re updated versions of Adobe 3D apps as well as acquired products from the likes of Mixamo and Allegorithmic.

The collection includes a library of 3D assets and textures, including models, lights and materials. They could apply to a wide variety of uses. You never know when you’ll need a rusty screwdriver or the cabin wall of an airliner. It also connects with the rest of Adobe’s Creative Cloud tools.

Create textures from photos

An interesting feature of the suite is the combination of texture generation in 3D Sampler and a virtual photography studio in 3D Stager. Texture capture in Sampler can convert a photograph of something into that subject’s texture. Alternatively, it can sample other photo-based textures for fast 3D conversion. Those features came to the suite from Adobe Capture.

Adobe said the suite should be compatible with Apple’s recently announced Object Capture, which turns a series of photos into a high-resolution 3D object.

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.