A first look at Adobe Substance 3D and its update

Adobe has long been a pioneer in the graphics industry and its products are the de facto standard in so many areas. No longer just focused on 2D, Adobe has been investing in 3D technology for a while now, including with its acquisition of Allegorithmic in 2019, which resulted in the Substance 3D product line.
Adobe Substance 3D is a collection of powerful and easy-to-use applications for creating and rendering 3D content. You can utilize its extensive library or create your own realistic materials and texture assets. One of the things that sets the software apart from its competitors is how it enables users to connect their workflow to Adobe Creative Cloud apps and other applications.
What is in the new release? A 3D material software development kit (SDK), powerful new plug-ins, performance improvements and native Apple M-series chip support. Intended to make designing easier and more realistic, this update will be useful for all sorts of projects from graphic design to video game design.
The introduction of the SDK is nothing to yawn at. This allows Substance materials and model engines to be used in other applications. In addition, a new plug-in for Photoshop (joining the existing Illustrator plug-in) and an update to the Unity plug-in means that you can easily utilize your textures and materials in these applications. Adobe is positioning Substance as a main texture and material hub so that you can use these resources in your application of choice—the best tool for the job.
Each product in the portfolio also has its own updates—for example, the integration of the Adobe Color Engine for color management (ICC) within Substance 3D Painter.
Noteworthy is the upcoming Substance 3D Modeler update, which promises “an intuitive approach to 3D modeling that frees users from previously complex and technical constraints.” While the application is currently in beta, it will be interesting to see how Adobe competes with well-established applications like Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, Rhino and SketchUp. With the continued expansion of applications, access to Substance assets … why use any other 3D modeler?
Perhaps the most exciting news in the recent announcement by Adobe is the new artificial reality (AR) and 3D shopping tools. Adobe is promising an instant “AR experience,” meaning that users won’t have to wait as it loads and buffers. We should see this technology in Adobe Aero later this year.
“Smart brands are getting ‘Metaverse-ready’ by growing their 3D and immersive content creation capabilities. That means that creative artists with expertise in 3D have a wealth of opportunities,” said Scott Belsky, chief product officer and executive vice president of Adobe Creative Cloud, speaking at a customer event in Paris. “These innovations provide new superpowers to the rapidly growing number of creative people using Substance 3D.”
The new 3D shopping tools are the integration of Adobe Substance (and other tools) with the Adobe Commerce platform. The online marketplace makes sense. Adobe Commerce is a solid platform for B2B interactions, which Adobe can leverage to improve the customer experience, which ultimately helps businesses sell more. Think about a customer being able to scan a product (from a mobile device) and get instant shopping insights, including price comparisons, reviews, product details … and an interactive realistic 3D model.
The Substance 3D suite is available for Mac, PC and Linux as an extension of Adobe Creative Cloud. Additionally, Adobe announced that all teachers and students (worldwide) will be able to use the Substance 3D programs for free.
Current Substance 3D should note that Adobe is ending access to Substance3D.com accounts on September 30, 2022. Existing account holders should be aware that after this date they will no longer have access to content hosted on the website.