Create with Primitives | Substance 3D Modeler

The Primitives workflow offers a non-destructive way to create complex geometry by combining simple shapes.

What are primitives?

The name "primitive" comes from the concept of geometric primitives, which are the simplest geometric shapes for a computer to create. In Modeler the word primitive refers to an individual primitive object, which looks like a shape that exists in your scene. 

The primitives workflow is a method of creating complex geometry from basic shapes, known as primitives. When you create a single primitive, you can select a primitive shape, such as a cube or cylinder, and you can modify the shape parameters to customize it. When you create a second primitive, you can use combine modes and blending to change how the two primitives interact with each other. For example, with combine modes, the second primitive can carve away from the first, or you can use blending to create smooth geometry between the primitives. By continuing to add primitives, you can create more and more complex geometry. 

Primitives and clay

Primitives are similar to clay in that they use Signed Distance Fields (SDFs). However, while clay uses your brush strokes to create shapes, primitives use mathematical functions to create shapes. As a result, some functionality in Modeler only works for either clay or primitives, but not both. For example, the Select tool can be used while working with clay or primitives, but all of the other tools in the Tool panel, like Buildup, Erase, and Warp, only work with clay.

It's possible to convert primitives into clay, so that you can use the clay tools, however it's not possible to convert from clay into primitives. Once you convert an object to clay, the only way to go back to primitives is by undoing the conversion. 

Work with primitives

To start working with primitives, you can create a new primitive from the Actions menu or on desktop from the Quick actions bar at the bottom of the Viewport.

Creating a new primitive creates the primitive inside a primitive container. Primitives can only be combined and blended with other primitives inside the same container. 

Once you've created some primitives, see the following topics to learn more about how to combine primitives and create complex shapes:

• Primitive parameters
  • Shape parameters
  • Combine parameters
• Organize primitives
  • Manage primitive order
  • Primitive containers
  • Primitive groups
  • Repetition