What is a substance?

- So what exactly is a substance? Well from a purely technical point of view, a substance is a package or archive file using the .spfar suffix, that when imported to the host application, becomes accessible to the UI as an editable map type that can then be placed inside a material or materials, in order to give the user access to a parametrically-driven texturing system. The parameters exposed to the user can range from the straightforward and simple, as changing the map size and resolution, up to much more complicated texturing effects, such as adjustable edgeware, surface corrosion, and even the blending of multiple material types on the same piece of geometry.

From an artistic point of view, the benefits that come from using such a parametric system are huge, as any changes we make to the component parts of the material, well they are instantly incorporated and then updated. This fact alone makes substances an extremely versatile and powerful texturing system. Adding even more weight to that statement is the fact that substances can be used in a wide range of host applications that support the .spsar format. So, in 3DS Max, Maya, Modo, Unreal Engine, Unity, and more, all of which allow the use of substances in their texturing and material pipeline.

In fact, if game creation is your thing, the full PBR, or Physically-Based Rendering, Viewport, along with the ability to create your own output type template, means that Substance Designer is compatible and able to work with pretty much any game engine on the planet, even a custom in-house solution.