Author
Updated
2/8/2018Released
8/25/2017Instructor Joel Bradley begins with an overview of a prebuilt substance graph, demonstrating the strengths and nondestructive workflow of Substance Designer, and walking through basics such as navigating the Substance Designer interface, adjusting important preferences, importing meshes and maps, and using the 2D, 3D, and Graph views. He then moves onto the large array of essential "atomic" nodes in Substance Designer, including the Blend, Curve, Slope Blur, Normal, Gradient, and Water Level nodes. These nodes comprise the heart of the Substance Designer workflow. Then learn how to create a custom panorama from scratch, and explore more advanced topics such as MDL materials, functions, and FX maps. Finally, Joel closes out the course by putting a substance to use. Learn about the advantages of using a published substance file (SBSAR) over hard-coded bitmaps for in-game materials, and see how to import a substance package into a game engine such as Unreal.
- Choosing a graph template
- Importing meshes and maps
- Navigating the Explorer and Library
- Working with the Graph view
- Using 3D and 2D views
- Using the atomic nodes
- Creating and combining normals
- Blending shapes together
- Creating MDL materials
- Building an FX map
- Publishing a substance
- Using a substance in a game engine like Unreal
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
Views
- [Joel] Hello and welcome, my name is Joel Bradley, and I am very much looking forward to working through this Substance Designer 6 course with you. A course in which we will take an in depth look at the tools found in this powerful, procedurally-based texturing application. At the beginning of the course, we will use a quick start project to serve as an overview of the types of things that can be done in Substance Designer. Hopefully wetting our appetite for the larger course ahead. Once we get going on that, we will discuss important preference options that can help improve our work flow, as well as consider fundamental concepts, such as what substance package is and substance graphs are.
Working templates, graph properties, and even custom 3D meshes will also feature in the early stages. Understanding how the Substance Designer UI works, such as the 2D and 3D views, will be important to us. As will the all-important graph area, the part of the application where we construct our textures. Given that lights and cameras play a big role in how we perceive the materials that we create, we will want to take a look at how to control those elements as well. About midway through the course, we will dive into what I consider to be the heart of the Substance Designer work flow, by taking a look at some of the most used atomic nodes that the program has to offer, such as blend, curve, slope blur, normal, gradient, as well as the very powerful water level node, to name just a few.
We will even take a look at creating a panorama from scratch, that we can then use as our very own lighting and environment map. We will familiarize ourselves with the creation of MDL graphs and materials, making use of the tool set to create a custom anisotropic metal that could then be used with the array renderer in Substance Designer, or inside another DCC application, such as 3ds Max. In the closing chapters, we will discuss the use of functions, seeing how we can unlock their power, should we be brave enough to make use of that tool set.
Finally, we will take a look at using our substance inside the UE4 game engine. Now to do this, we will cover exporting, both .sbsar and bitmap files for use inside UE4. And then, take a look at how we can import our substance package into the game engine, and make it look even better by adding a displacement effect to it. As we work through this course together, you will hopefully get to see just how quick, powerful, and easy to use Substance Designer 6 is.
As we have lots of ground to cover here, and as I am sure you are eager to get to the texturing process, let's get going and dive right in.
Q: This course was updated on 02/08/2018. What changed?
A: New videos were added that cover Substance Designer 2017.1 to 2.1 updates.
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Introduction
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Welcome2m 47s
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What you should know1m 11s
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Using the exercise files1m 45s
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1. 2017.1 to 2.1 Updates
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Welcome54s
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Updated exercise files4m 5s
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UI: Baker interface3m 34s
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UI: Baker reset resource2m 59s
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Patterns: Arc Pavement3m 48s
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Patterns: Cube 3D2m 39s
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Patterns: Shape Mapper2m 43s
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Patterns: Star2m 13s
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Effects: Flood Fill2m 19s
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2. Quick Start Substance Overview
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Using shapes5m 16s
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Using custom inputs5m 16s
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Transformation 2D nodes3m 7s
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Inner-panel masking4m 48s
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Creating edge detailing4m 15s
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Edge masking2m 32s
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Rivet generation3m 28s
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Normal map creation3m 18s
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Diffuse creation3m 19s
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Ambient occlusion4m 18s
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3. Substance Designer Setup
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The Welcome dialogue2m 56s
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What is a substance graph?2m 59s
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Setting our graph properties3m 53s
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Mesh setup prior to export3m 59s
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4. UI and Tool Locations
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Adjust the UI layout3m 23s
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Menu items and options3m 11s
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The Explorer section5m 42s
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What is the Library?3m 30s
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The parameters section3m 1s
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5. Using Designers Graph View
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Utilizing the preview size3m 29s
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6. 3D and 2D Views
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Using the 3D View3m 20s
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Geometry and Materials menu5m 14s
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Display and render options6m 44s
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Navigating the 2D View3m 8s
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2D View essential Controls2m 42s
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7. Using Atomic Nodes
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Adding bitmap nodes3m 53s
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Using blend nodes4m 23s
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Utilizing the Curve node4m 29s
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The Warp node3m 22s
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Using shape nodes5m 3s
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Creating normals3m 21s
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Combining normals3m 34s
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Creating height maps4m 22s
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Using the text tool4m 31s
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8. Creating Custom Environment Panoramas
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Blending shapes together3m 17s
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9. MDL Materials
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What is MDL?1m 28s
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Creating the MDL graph3m 19s
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The basics of an MDL shader4m 19s
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10. Functions and FX Maps
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What are functions?2m 25s
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Adding the FX map4m 41s
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Building an FX map, part 16m 54s
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Building an FX map, part 25m 52s
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Finalizing the functions2m 46s
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11. Exporting and Using a Substance Package
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Exporting bitmaps3m 38s
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Publishing a substance3m 28s
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Adding finishing touches4m 56s
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Conclusion
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Next steps1m 19s
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Video: Welcome