Adobe releases Substance 3D Sampler 5.0
Adobe has released Substance 3D Sampler 5.0, the latest version of its material authoring and 3D capture software.
The update introduces a new path tracing viewport renderer, and – for users with Enterprise and Teams subscriptions – native support for HP’s Z Captis material scanner.
An ‘all-in-one-digitization software’ for real-world objects
Originally known as Substance Alchemist, Substance 3D Sampler started out as tool for creating 3D materials from real-world sources: primarily reference photos.
Subsequent updates added toolsets for creating HDRI-based lighting setups and 3D models, the latter via an AI-assisted photogrammetry toolset.
Adobe now describes it as all-in-one tool for creating “digital twins” of physical assets.
Scans can be exported in Substance 3D .sbs and .sbsar formats, in the case of materials and environment lights, as bitmap textures, or in a range of 3D formats, including USD.
Substance 3D Sampler 5.0: path tracing in the 3D viewport
Substance 3D Sampler 5.0 introduces support for path tracing when previewing assets within the software, as an alternative to the existing real-time rendering system.
The new “advanced rasterizer and path tracer” makes it possible to preview materials more accurately, supporting properties including coating, sheen, translucency and SSS.
Integrates with HP’s Z Captis material scanner
The other major change is support for the Z Captis, HP’s material scanner.
Substance 3D Sampler now integrates directly with the scanner to preview and launch a capture, automatically process the PBR channels, and export a digital material.
The feature is only available to businesses with Teams or Enterprise subscriptions, and with non-commercial Educational plans, not to individual users.
Workflow, performance and pipeline integration changes
There are also quality-of-life improvements, including Quick Actions, a new set of presets that automatically populate the layer stack with the layers required for common workflows.
The software homepage has been redesigned, and provides quick access to learning content, sample projects, and the Quick Actions themselves.
The 3D View gets new options to display shadows and reflections in the ground plane, and a grid to show the scene origin, plus the option to save render snapshots.
Other changes include support for the Adobe Standard Material shader when exporting USD files, performance improvements when opening projects, and updates to the plugin UI.
Price and system requirements
Substance 3D Sampler is compatible with Windows 10+, RHEL 8.6/9.4+ Linux and macOS 12.0+. The software is available subscription-only.
The Windows and macOS editions are available via Adobe’s Substance 3D Texturing subscriptions, which currently cost $19.99/month or $219.88/year; or Substance 3D Collection subscriptions, which currently cost $49.99/month or $549.88/year.
The Linux edition is available via Creative Cloud for Teams, priced at $1,199.88/yr.
Read a full list of new features in Substance 3D Sampler 5.0 in the online release notes
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