Version 1.5 overview

This update brings major improvements to all of the Surfacing tools - Buildup, Smooth, and Crease have all been reworked from the ground up to be faster and provide better results. Buildup now has the option to use custom alphas, and Crease has been promoted to the main Toolbar. A new surfacing tool, the Flatten tool, has also been added.

Surfacing is just the beginning though, this update also brings customizable materials, a new Export mode, IBLs, and a VR file browser.

Read on to find out more about all the new features.

Major features

Surfacing improvements

Surfacing tools have been redesigned from the ground up to work faster, produce better results, and allow for more functionality going forward. 

Flatten tool

The 1.5 release comes with a new tool - the Flatten tool. As the name suggests, use this tool to flatten surfaces. Flatten is particularly useful for hard surface and stylized projects.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on the new Flatten tool and what you feel can be improved on, let us know through the Substance 3D social channels.

Buildup tool

The Buildup tool has been improved significantly both in speed and quality. You are now also able to import and use custom Alphas as a brush for the Buildup tool. This opens up a ton of possibilities for quickly adding detail to your scene, especially when Single is toggled on. With single applications, you're able to control rotation and scale of individual stamps as you apply them.

Smooth tool

Like the other surfacing tools, Smooth is now faster and produces better results. Smooth now has the option to use either movement based or rate based smoothing, which gives you finer control over how you smooth. 

We've temporarily removed the options to only smooth peaks or valleys with this update, but we're working on returning these features in future.

Crease tool

The Crease tool has been promoted! It no longer exists under the Buildup tool, but now has it's own space on the Toolbar. Crease is now faster and produces better results.

Materials

Modeler now has basic support for PBR materials. Assigning unique materials to objects in your scene will appear as individual material IDs when imported into Painter. You can still paint surface colors just like before, but metallic and roughness values will be set based on the material assignment.

Materials are visible in both Model and Capture modes, and can be assigned on a per layer basis.

The Scene Materials panel is available on the right of the Top bar on desktop, or opposite the Palette on the support hand controller in VR. 

Export

Export now has presets available for some software and use cases. Custom presets are planned for a future update, but for the time being let us know if you think the default presets should be adjusted or if additional presets should be added.

Lighting

This release brings Image Based Lighting (IBL) to Modeler. IBL lets you use images to create a full environment and helps create highly realistic reflections and lighting. The Environment panel now has an IBL tab where you can select and adjust IBL stages. IBL can be combined with lights to create highly customized lighting setups.

Import of custom HDR images is planned for a future update.

And more...

VR file management, a new Fill color button in the Color picker, and improvements to reference images, read on for more details about this release.

Substance 3D Modeler v1.5 release notes

Features and Improvements:

• Improved Surfacing tools:
  • Added the Flatten tool.
  • Buildup tool: 
    • Buildup tool behavior has been improved significantly. We’re continuing to tune the feel of this tool so looking forward to your feedback.
    • You can now also use built in alphas or import your own.
    • To import alphas, use File > Import buildup textures...
    • In single-apply mode, you can apply the alpha on the clay surface while controlling rotation and scale 
  • Smooth tool.
    • Smooth is both faster and gives better quality results than it did previously.
    • Added a mode dropdown to change between Rate based or Movement based smoothing.
    • Removed the valleys and peaks options from the Smooth tool. We are working on returning these in a future update. 
  • Crease tool:
    • Crease is now faster and gives better results
• Materials:
  • Basic PBR materials are now supported in Modeler and these assignments will export as Material IDs to Painter.  Material assignment is by layer. 
  • Access the Material panel:
    • Available on the right of the top bar on desktop
    • In VR, the Material panel is available next to the support hand controller, opposite the Palette, while the Palette is open.
  • The Material panel shows current materials in your scene. 
  • Hover over a material to access and edit the material properties, delete the material, or apply it to your selection.
  • Materials have roughness and metallic sliders available and can be set as emissive.
• Export:
  • Export Presets:  You can now use presets to quickly set export settings for different situations (real time engines, 3d printing, etc) 
    
  • Let us know if the default presets work for your needs, or if you think additional presets should be created for common software.
  • The ability to create your own presets is planned for a future update.
• Lazy and Steady stroke intensity: 
  • Adjust the responsiveness of lazy and steady stroke with a new slider.
  • Right click Lazy or Steady to show the slider where you can adjust sensitivity.
• Environment lighting:
  
  • Added support for IBLs (spherical environment lighting) 
    
  • The Environment panel now has an IBL tab where you can select and adjust an IBL.
    
  • IBLs will combine with other environment lights unless you toggle it off.
• VR File management is here! You can now open files in VR.
  
  • Text entry for “Save as” is coming soon. 
    
• Added a Paint bucket function to the Color picker.
  
  • Use the Paint bucket to fill the current layer or selection with the currently selected color in the Color picker.
    
• Some longer operations can now be cancelled by hitting Esc while they are running.
  
  • Merge. 
    
  • Mesh-to-clay.
    
  • Increase or Decrease resolution.
    
• You can now change the brush size with “[“ and “]” shortcuts.
  
• New welcome screen image. 
  
• HSV sliders in the Environment panel have been replaced with a color picker.
  
• Improved performance of quad exports.
  
• Improved appearance of checkboxes.
  
• Improved visuals of the Environment panel. 
  
• Grab dampening added when manipulating the scene in VR
  
• A lot of modal dialogs now appear in VR.  We’re working on porting the rest.
  
• Additional improvements to Ref Images based on community feedbac

Fixes:

• Ctrl + K opens preferences.
  
• The export progress bar no longer jumps back and forth for more complex models.
  
• Fixed a bug where colors wouldn’t be exported on mirrored parts. 
  
• Fixed a bug when pasting linked objects that no longer exists.
  
• Fixed an issue where exports with UDIMs could have issues with UVs.
  
• Updated some text and added some missing tooltips.
  
• Zoom now works properly on drawing tablets. 
  
• Button presses in VR should now all activate on press, and not release
  

V1.5.1 Release notes

Fixes:

• Added sound and Haptics to the Flatten tool.
• Fixed normal issue on export of raw mesh to FBX.
• Zooming in in VR no longer causes controller icons to break.
• Added missing tooltips to Inflate and Buildup tools.
• Updated localization strings.
• Warp tool progress bar reflects progress correctly for longer warps now.
• Fixed an issue with 16 bit alphas in the Buildup tool.