Adobe releases Substance 3D Stager 1.3
Adobe has released Substance 3D Stager 1.3, the latest version of its scene layout and rendering tool.
The update adds support for triplanar texture projection, the option to export materials in MDL format, and a readymade Material showcase scene for generating presentation renders of materials like the one above.
An intuitive way for less specialist 3D artists to create virtual product photographs
Launched last year, Substance 3D Stager is the first application in the Substance product line not designed primarily for material authoring, and supersedes Adobe’s older Dimension software.
Like its precursor, it is aimed at designers as well as specialist 3D artists, and is intended to provide an intuitive workflow for creating photorealistic brand visualisations and product mockups.
It enables users to lay out scenes using physics-based tools to place 3D primitives or imported models, and comes with libraries of readymade materials and ‘environment stages’ mimicking real-world studio lighting.
For rendering, Stager uses Adobe’s Mercury Rendering Engine, a new hybrid CPU and GPU renderer.
Stager can now use keywords to assign folders of texture maps to the channels of a material.
New in version 1.3: triplanar projection, new Material showcase scene and workflow improvements
New features in Substance 3D Stager 1.3 include support for triplanar texture projection, making it possible to texture 3D models inside the software without the need for them to be UV unwrapped first.
The update also adds a new Material showcase scene, intended for generating renders of materials created in other Substance 3D applications, as previews or presentation material.
Workflow improvements include the option import texture maps in batches and have Stager automatically assign them the channels of a material based on their filenames, using user-specified keywords.
It is also now possible to toggle the software’s interface on and off, to use Stager in presentation mode.
Users can also now export materials from Stager in .mdl format, supported in many other DCC applications.
Pricing and system requirements
Substance 3D Stager 1.3 is available for Windows 10 and macOS 10.14+. Perpetual licences cost $149.99.
The software is also available as part of Adobe’s Substance 3D Collection subscriptions, which cost $49.99/month or $549.88/year for individuals; $1,198.88/year for studios.
Read a full list of new features in Substance 3D Stager 1.3 in the online release notes