Abstract releases InstaMAT 2025
Originally posted on 16 July 2025, and updated for the final release.
Abstract has released InstaMAT 2025, a major update to its family of 3D texture painting and material authoring tools for games and VFX.
The release – originally known as InstaMAT 1.0, sees the software officially leave early access.
It adds complete new toolsets to InstaMAT Studio, including terrain generation; new tools for creating and manipulating textures; and support for ray tracing in viewport previews.
The software is free to indie artists with revenue under $100,000/year.
A promising alternative to the Substance 3D tools for games, motion graphics and VFX
On its early access release last year, InstaMAT got a lot of attention in the CG community, with many seeing it as an alternative to Adobe’s Substance 3D tools.
The core application, InstaMAT Studio, supports layer-based painting and node-based authoring workflows similar to Substance 3D Painter and Substance 3D Designer, and includes AI-based features similar to those in Substance 3D Sampler.
Integration plugins make it possible to edit the procedural materials it creates inside a range of DCC applications and game engines: 3ds Max, Blender, Maya, Unity and Unreal Engine.
For studios, InstaMAT Pipeline makes it possible to run tasks from the command line, or batch-process assets; while a C++ SDK makes it possible to customize the software.
You can find more technical details in our story on the original release.
According to Abstract, the technology has seen “significant usage among AAA game studios” during early access, with Bandai Namco and Blizzard Entertainment namechecked specifically.
InstaMAT 2025: new terrain generation toolset
One of the main changes in InstaMAT 2025 is a complete new terrain generation toolset.
While it doesn’t have the range of features available in specialist apps like Gaea, it provides a core set of tools for generating, texturing and dressing procedural terrain.
Workflow is node-based, with the Terrain Erosion node simulating thermal and water erosion, Terrain Water Simulation generating rivers, and Terrain Snow Simulation depositing snow.
The resulting terrain can be textured by using height data to blend materials representing different biomes.
It is also possible to scatter assets like rocks and trees across the terrain, with the option to divide objects into separate scatter layers, and support for collision detection between layers.
There are also a set of nodes for generating masks to fine-tune the results, including options to generate masks based on terrain curvature, landform type and sediment accumulation.
New Curves toolset generates spline paths
InstaMAT 2025 also introduces a new Curves toolset for creating and manipulating splines, including a set of 12 new Curves nodes, and a path editor widget.
The resulting shapes can be used in a number of ways, from creating surface details to scattering objects: it is possible to generate points or scatter images along a curve path.
Support for Layer References and Mask Filters
Changes to the existing toolsets include support for Layer References, making it possible for layers higher in the texture stack to access the properties or masks of layers below.
The workflow makes it possible to create effects that respond dynamically to changes made to the layers they reference: suggested use cases include creating wear and damage effects.
In addition, layer masks can now be modified
vwith filters, including Blur, Warp, Levels and Curves effects.
Better viewport previews of materials
The 3D viewport has also been updated to improve visual quality when previewing materials.
Key changes include support for global illumination, ray traced shadows and reflections, custom environment maps, and post effects including vignette, bloom and chromatic aberration.
The viewport also supports Sheen, Anisotropic and Clearcoat materials, making it possible to recreate real-world materials like fabrics, brushed metal and car paint more accurately.
New utility nodes, texture bakers and stock assets
Other changes include a new Stylized Filter node for creating painterly effects in materials, and five new nodes for creating grunge patterns, including moisture spots, flecks and scratches.
A new Mesh Bake Light node bakes lighting from up to three lights into a mask or color map, while a new Mesh Shadow Mask node does a similar job for shadows.
The geometry baking toolset gets a new Bevel Normals baker, which generates a normal map with bevels along hard edges, making it possible to add rounded edges to low-poly models without subdivision.
The built-in asset library gets over 140 new sci-fi-themed decals, and new stylized materials.
There are also a number of workflow improvements, including better drag-and-drop behavior for adding decals to materials. You can find a full list in the online release notes.
Integrates with Polyverse, Abstract’s new online asset-management platform
Outside of the core application, InstaMAT Studio also integrates with Polyverse, Abstract’s cloud-based asset management and data processing platform, now available in early access.
Users can upload materials, node graphs or projects to Polyverse from InstaMAT Studio.
Polyverse can then be used to track and review changes to assets, revert to previous versions, or sync changes to everyone within a team.
By uploading entire InstaMAT projects to Polyverse, users can also create custom ‘polytrons’ that can be executed as microservices in the cloud.
Polyverse is priced separately to InstaMAT, but also has a free starter plan.
Free Pioneer license no longer requires you to share your user data
In addition, since the original early access release, Abstract has removed data collection from its Pioneer licenses.
The renewable one-year licenses let indie artists use InstaMAT Studio for free, including on commercial projects, so long as they credit Abstract: either by including the InstaMAT logo on the splash screen of a game, or by linking to the InstaMAT website from online content.
In the initial release, you also had to agree to share your user data with Abstract when installing the software, but this requirement has now been removed.
Price, system requirements and release date
InstaMAT Studio 2025 is compatible with Windows 7+, Windows Server 2016+ and macOS 13.0+. Integration plugins are available for 3ds Max, Blender, Maya, Unity and Unreal Engine.
The Pioneer edition of the software is available free to artists and studios with revenue under $100,000/year, and can be used on commercial projects.
For users with revenue under $250,000/year, perpetual Indie licenses cost $489.99, while rental costs $9.99/month or $99.99/year.
For users with revenue over $250,000/year, perpetual Pro licenses cost $949.99, while rental costs $299.40/year.
Abstract also offers studio-wide Game and Enterprise licenses. See full pricing here.
Read a full list of new features in InstaMAT 2025 in the online release notes
Visit the InstaMAT product website
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