The main feature of Substance 3D Painter 11.0 is the new automatic update system, which allows external resources used in a project, such as textures and 3D models, to be automatically updated. Painter now automatically checks for changes and reloads the updated resources. The process can be triggered manually or set to run at user-defined intervals, and this functionality is available via Python, allowing technical specialists to customize the workflow.
This release also updates the contour tools introduced in Substance 3D Painter 9.0, adding a new fill contour tool (shown above) for creating filled areas on the surface of 3D models. The fills can cross gaps and object boundaries, supporting both mirror and radial symmetry, allowing for the quick creation of geometric patterns.
Workflow updates for other contour creation tools include a preview of the viewport when drawing the contour, automatic contour closure, and the ability to copy and paste contour positions from materials to masks.
Additionally, new path snapping options have been introduced, including the ability to snap path segments at an angle and to snap path points to mesh vertices. A complete list of changes can be found in the online release notes.
The update also adds several image manipulation filters that Adobe released last year in Substance 3D Designer 14.0, the latest major version of the material creation software. These include the Quantize filter for image posterization, Stylization for creating painting effects, and Anisotropic Kuwahara and Directional Distance for brushstroke blurring. The new Bevel Smooth filter replaces the existing Bevel filter. Additionally, there are three new texture generators – Triangle Grid, Tile Random, and an improved Scratch Generator – as well as Voronoi and Voronoi Fractal functions, which can be used for both 2D and 3D noise.
Other changes include an experimental option that allows Substance 3D Painter to automatically generate the optimal baking cage shape when baking textures from a 3D model, instead of using a custom mesh or a fixed distance from the model's surface. A number of smaller workflow improvements have also been added, particularly when working with UV Tiles, copying and pasting layers and paths, and sending assets to other programs.
For Mac users, Substance 3D Painter 11.0 now uses Apple's Metal graphics API for rendering instead of OpenGL, which Apple officially deprecated in 2018 with macOS 10.14. The update also discontinues support for older Intel Macs, as Apple began transitioning to its own Apple Silicon processors in 2020, which are now used in all modern Mac computers.
In other news, Substance 3D Painter is now available through Adobe's new subscription plan for Substance 3D Indie. Available via Steam, it includes Substance 3D Painter, Substance 3D Designer, the virtual reality modeling app Substance 3D Modeler, and a library of 1000 3D assets, priced at $24.99 per month.
It appears to be a more game-focused alternative to the existing Substance 3D Texturing plan, which includes Substance 3D Painter, Substance 3D Designer, and the data gathering app Substance 3D Sampler. The Substance 3D Texturing subscription includes unlimited access to the Substance 3D asset library and costs $19.99 per month, although this price will also increase to $24.99 per month next week.