Public Beta Release notes | Substance 3D Modeler

With the Free Public beta program, you can try out experimental features and builds of Substance 3D Modeler before they reach full release. Public beta builds are generally less stable than the current non-beta build of Modeler, so we advise that you avoid using the Public beta for time-critical work. 

Joining the Free Public beta is easy, and doesn't require an existing Creative Cloud subscription. Find out how to join the Free Public beta here.

Don't forget to join the Modeler Community to share your feedback and suggest improvements to these in-development features.

Substance 3D Modeler Beta 1.14.50 overview

Beta 1.14.50 brings some changes to VR controls, some major performance increases for primitives, and additional tools to for adding color to clay. 

Read on to see the experimental features currently available in the Substance 3D Modeler Public Beta.

Non-destructive primitives

Primitives bring a new type of object to Modeler that enables a new non-destructive workflow. Primitives let you use booleans between basic shapes to create complex geometry.

Improved painting tools

The Beta contains improvements to the Surfacing tools and Paint tool. With surfacing tools like the Raise, Buildup and Inflate tools, you can add color to clay as you sculpt. The Paint tool now also supports the use of textures, allowing for increased control of how you color your scenes.

Modeler V1.14.50 full release notes

Fixes:

• Controls changes
  • Scaling handles now resize asymmetrically by default. This affects primitives and brushes in Gizmo placement mode.
    • Hold Ctrl on desktop or ST in VR while resizing to switch to symmetric resize. 
    • You can now switch between symmetric and asymmetric resize without restarting the resize action. 
  • Made notable changes to the controls layout in VR:  
    • Using the ST (Support hand trigger) while moving, scaling, or rotating an object will duplicate it in the current position.  
    • T1 (Top button on the tool hand) is now the apply button while using the Clay tool in Gizmo mode instead of ST (support trigger).  
    • To scale symmetrically, use ST (support trigger).  
    • Use S1 (Top button on the Support hand) to angle snap during rotation. 
    • Added a shortcut for the color picker in VR – press in on SJ (Support joystick) to switch to the Color picker. Pull TT (Tool trigger) to select a color from existing clay in your scene.  
• Primitives
  • Object properties are now available in the Tool panel while the Select tool is equipped. This allows you to adjust properties for primitives and other objects while using the Outliner or other panels. The Node properties panel has been removed as part of this change.
  • Drastically improved performance of Primitives, especially in complex scenes. When calculating primitive booleans, only chunks affected by the operation now need to be calculated, so a lot of extra work is skipped.
• • If there’s only one prim in a primitive container, moving the primitive will also move the container so that repetition continues to work as expected.
  • Gizmo rotation handles are now hidden based on the camera angle.
  • Blend radius is no longer exponential, so it’s harder to accidentally use huge blend values. 
• Color
  
  • The surface tools (Buildup, Raise, Flatten, etc.) now have a new Color intensity slider that adjusts how much color is applied while using the tool.
  • The Paint tool now supports Alpha textures, and the tool's parameters have been updated to match those of other tools.
  • Added a setting to the Smooth tool to limit its influence to the color of clay, or the topology of clay. 

• General quality of life improvements:
  • The VR file browser now filters to only show SMOD files. 
  • Added a menu item to the Help menu to open the Log file folder.
  • Added a menu item to the File menu to open the folder where the currently open scene is saved. 
  • USD file loader now handles correctly exposed USD shader parameters.
  • Improved memory management to decrease the amount of memory that Modeler reserves without using. 
  • Newly created materials now have “Use vertex color as...” set to Diffuse, meaning that you can apply color without modifying the material.
  • Improvements to how export handles normals when using adaptivity. 
  • When creating a new object, the object is now automatically assigned the material of the most recently selected object that had a single material.
  • It’s now possible to change clay resolution while in Export mode.   
  • The Increase resolution button no longer closes the Actions menu when used.  
  • In Render mode, the Aspect ratio list has been sorted from square (1 : 1) to least square (32 : 9).   
  • The Steadicam has been pitched downwards 15 degrees to help avoid cutting off the bottom of your view.  
  • In VR, added a notification when in Color picker mode so that it’s clearer what the current state of the application is. 

Fixes:

• On Desktop in Gizmo placement, you can once again apply the Warp tool while moving the Gizmo. This fixes a bug that required you to start applying the tool before using the Gizmo.   
• Gizmo handles are now hidden based on camera angle.
• The Convert to Clay button in the Actions menu is now active at the correct times. 
• Fixed a bug that could make it impossible to reorder object in the Outliner.
• Hitting Esc while performing certain operations like loading a file no longer brings up an error dialogue. 
• Fixed a bug with Import as parts that could cause a loss of information on exporting imported meshes from Modeler.
• Fixed a save/load issue where some primitives could fail to survive a file-round-trip. 
• The VR file browser now says the actual name of the current directory instead of “Current directory name”.
• Hovering the name of a stamp folder now shows the full name of the folder.   
• “Advanced controls” in the Preferences has been updated to have a more useful name with a more informative tooltip.
• Fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to select a color for material base color. 
• Fixed an issue where Modeler could create and save corrupted files.
• Fixed an issue where the dialog to select an up-res method wouldn’t appear. 
• Fixed an issue with primitives where asymmetric resizing could affect the wrong side of the prim.
• Fixed a bug where deleting the only primitive in a container could cause issues. 
• Fixed a bug where changes made to duplicated primitives wouldn’t be visible.
• Default roughness for new materials is now consistently 61%, matching the default roughness of Modeler’s clay in the past.   
• Fixed a bug with the Split tool in Gizmo mode that prevented it from affecting clay in certain scenarios.  
• Fixed a bug where the visualisation for unplaced clay would be inaccurate, potentially showing the wrong material, or showing an incorrect resolution preview. 
• Fixed an issue where moving a tool off clay while applying it would result in applications with weird rotations.  
• Opening the preferences menu now closes the Welcome menu if it’s open.   
• Rotation now correctly shows whether the angle is positive or negative.