Wednesday, March 22nd, 2023 Posted by Jim Thacker

Adobe releases Substance 3D Modeler 1.2


Part of the demo for Substance 3D Modeler from its new Steam product page. The VR modelling software, version 1.2 of which has just been released, is now available via perpetual licences as well as subscriptions.


Adobe has released Substance 3D Modeler 1.2, the latest version of the VR sculpting software.

The update introduces new options to set the polygon density of exported meshes, support for the STL, IGS, JT and STEP file formats, and support for Pico and Quest Pro virtual reality headsets.

The software is also now available as a $149.99 perpetual licence, as well as on subscription.

Sculpt organic and hard-surface models in VR using a virtual clay workflow
Released last year, Substance 3D Modeler lets users sculpt both organic and hard-surface models in virtual reality, or in desktop mode using a mouse and keyboard.

Like its precursor, Medium, which Adobe acquired in 2019, it uses Signed Distance Fields to represent 3D space, rather than treating 3D geometry as a polygonal mesh.

As a result, workflow combines elements of digital sculpting and Boolean modelling, with users able to build up forms with virtual clay, then join them or cut into them with Boolean operations.

You can find more details about its key toolsets in this story on Substance 3D Modeler 1.0.



New in version 1.2: better import and export of 3D models
Substance 3D Modeler 1.2 features a number of changes to improve the import and export of 3D models.

Although users could already set a target polygon count for exported meshes, the update introduces a new Adaptive Factor slider to control how much mesh density increases in areas of high detail.

In addition, imported meshes are now included in exported files without needing to be converted to clay first, to speed up kitbashing workflows, and work on larger scenes that include external content.

Conversion to clay is also now supported on meshes with non-manifold geometry.

Artists working with imported CAD data or preparing models for 3D printing can now import and export files in STL, IGS, JT and STEP format.

Support for new VR headsets and workflow improvements
Following Adobe’s switch to the OpenXR standard in Substance 3D Modeler 1.1, the software also now supports Pico’s VR headsets, along with Meta’s new Quest Pro.

Workflow improvements include a new Keep Upright setting to reduce motion sickness in VR, the option to switch to desktop mode manually, and an automatic prompt to save work on closing the application.

Now available as $149.99 perpetual licences via Steam
Since we last wrote about Substance 3D Modeler, Adobe has introduced perpetual licences for the software, which was previously only available on subscription.

As with the other Substance 3D tools, perpetual licences are available via Steam, and include one year’s free updates: the current Steam release, Substance 3D Modeler 2023, will be updated until the end of 2023.

Price and system requirements
Substance 3D Modeler 1.2 is available for Windows 10+. See a list of supported VR headsets here.

The software is available through Adobe’s Substance 3D Collection subscriptions, which cost $49.99/month or $549.88/year. Perpetual licences are available via Steam, and cost $149.99.


Read a full list of new features in Substance 3D Modeler 1.2 in the online documentation