Substance Painter 2017.2: Using Anchor Points | Adobe Substance 3D

In this video we take a look at the new layer and mask referencing system with Anchor Points.
Subscribe to Adobe Substance 3D: adobe.ly/3Um7q3t
Learn more about Adobe Substance 3D: adobe.ly/3NW3GSo
About Substance 3D
Adobe Substance 3D is a complete suite of smart creative apps and high-end content that gives artists everything they need to create 3D digital content. With Substance 3D, set up the perfect shot, explore the high-end 3D asset library, give life to your 3D art, build complex models, and more. Get the Adobe Substance 3D Collection.
This channel will showcase what’s possible with Substance 3D, from inspiration to in-depth tutorials. Make sure to subscribe to the channel for videos on all things Substance 3D related, including content around Designer, Painter, Modeler, Stager, and Sampler.
Connect with Adobe Substance 3D:
Twitter: / substance3d
Facebook: / adobesubstance3d
Instagram: / substance3dart
LinkedIn: / substance3d
Discord: / discord
#Adobe #AdobeSubstance3D #AdobeKZbin
Substance Painter 2017.2: Using Anchor Points | Adobe Substance 3D
• Substance Painter 2017...

[@rauschundluxus]

talked about this feature with a fellow colleague yesterday, without knowing, that it would be published overnight faster than lightning! it´s just incredible how allegorithmic keeps developing substance tools. thanks guys, you are awesome!!

[@gadorian3562]

hey, that happened to me a few times too, I was thinking about how it would be cool if they did this or that, and in a few days time an update would come with those features added. It's as if Allegorithmic is reading user's suggestions and feedbacks, and adjusts their course accordingly, it's quite refreshing, these days. Cheers.

[@Substance3D]

Thanks very much! We greatly appreciate it.

[@EttoreB93]

A time saver in an already time saver program, this is awesome, I'm new to it but I'm loving this software the more I learn it!

[@architect333]

Ive been waiting for something like this, to be able to link multiple masks together without having to go into photo shop. which was the only reason I still use photoshop. I hope that's what these anchor points do, have to watch the video later. great works guys

[@Zilushy]

Wanted this feature and its finally here!! Thanks!

[@erikm9768]

You are the best!! no more rebaking , reimporting workflow. Allegorithmic really feels like a company that LISTENS to the community! Super impressive!!!! Huge thanks!

[@Substance3D]

Thanks for your support! We are so glad you liked the toolset

[@erikm9768]

No, thank you! :)

[@bohdanbilous9]

I think the way how you explaining this stuff is stunning, it's perfect!

[@Substance3D]

Thank you much!

[@Marcu2103]

incredibly useful tool, especially when you want to edit an asset after it was textured, or if you want to add some more details to older assets, really really neat!

[@Substance3D]

Thanks!

[@warkarma]

Love what you do. Keep up the good work!

[@SVisionary]

I would love a tutorial for that fire effect at the end. Would be a great study!

[@waynehawkins654]

Yes same. This looks amazing but we need a start to end creating this effect

[@RonMarshallrone]

Brilliant stuff and thank you! Can't wait to try this!

[@Agent4054]

I was very happy with the first part of the video. I was blown away by the last part. VERY cool.

[@Substance3D]

Thanks very much!

[@realarchanger]

AWESOME!! feature of the year

[@multimediahelp1]

I was wondering about this and it is actually possible! Thanks!

[@sudharsansuresh170]

OH OH OH, I was expecting this feature for a long time, The awsome life is more awsome again! Super thanks for the anchoring Stuff, Celebrate with beer! this i was waiting for soo long! ty again

[@Substance3D]

Thanks! Great to hear.

[@cemtezcan]

Amazing improvement!

[@AlexTsekot]

Great stuff, can't wait :)

[@WeltschmerzvonGavagai]

真是太好了：） SPLENDIDE ! MERCI ~

[@justingooligan7059]

im new to SP. still on 4th day on Trial as of today of 2018.2. but i think i will be an addict to this software. Absolutely marvelous simple easy and ( logic parallel UI ) to other software. the magic is powerful and i FEEL like a magician painting my simple model - to make it look like million dollars. SP is utilizing the dry theory of CGI to create SOULFUL product. Absolute ,must for an artist - ie deadline / quality / concept / sell. 10 out of 10 today.

[@Substance3D]

Awesome! Welcome to Substance. Let us know if you have any questions

[@nicolasgorszczyk9291]

This is wonderful !!

[@davidgold2822]

you guys are the gods of texturing process! simply amazing, i have been waiting for this kind of feature since version 1.0 :D

[@Substance3D]

Thank you so much!

[@KatySkarlet]

wow this explains it so well ! thank you very much for this tutorial !:D

[@Substance3D]

Great to hear the video was helpful

[@BigfootU]

Thanks so much! This is super helpful!

[@skakruk6525]

I am amazed of that ship damaged part effect, though i am still a bit confused on how it set it up haha, hopefully i can see a detailed video explaining more on creating the multi-layered Anchor points

[@MAJmufin]

that would be great

[@Substance3D]

Thanks! I can make a detailed video on this : )

[@Sth3ll]

Pretty please make a detailed video on this :D

[@manollobango]

​@@Substance3D Was the entire interior manufactured in Substance or is this a specific modelling technique and how is this technique called?

[@well.done.]

That's incredible!

[@ArtemM3D]

Extremely helpful! Thanks a lot!

[@Substance3D]

Thanks! Great to hear that

[@ddankhazi]

Great new features. Great presentation Wes. :)

[@Substance3D]

Thanks very much Denes!

[@YuuJer]

no more rebaking and reimporting! yay!

[@gadorian3562]

Indeed, that workflow always felt clunky, and it felt like I was doing the work twice.

[@Substance3D]

The anchor system really helps with this : )

[@JayAnAm]

Anchor system is a great improvement! But wouldn't it be cool to have a simple button somewhere to just rebake the normal map after changing the normals?

[@eugene4950]

yeah or like "Cache layers below" (like in Mari) , Anchors are cool but we need something to lighten up resource usage

[@pawnswizard1]

Exporting the channels and re-importing normal/height/AO details is faster than this workflow (by a lot...) . All smart materials update automatically and there are no buttons. Each individual smart material can have anywhere from 2 to 10 masks in it. The only way to make Substance Painter faster for this is to just make the process a single button at the top that auto-detects height/normal values and applies them to every single smart mask in the project. One click solution. Until that happens, exporting is a momentary hassle that only takes a couple minutes and is still faster. That said, I still LOVE your software. =D You guys make it happen. Thank you for your innovations.

[@Substance3D]

Thanks very much! The Anchors is not meant to be the full solution for getting painted details to the bakes. The Anchor system is very open so you can do anything you want. Because of this, it can be complex at this stage. This video just used the example of getting details into the generators to showcase how the Anchor system works with referencing.

[@pawnswizard1]

Ah, well explained. I've been messing with it. It doesn't seem like a tool I'd use often, but maybe I have to experiment more to unlock its potential.

[@pawnswizard1]

After reading Zhelong Xu’s article and doing some experimenting, I'm starting to realize how extremely useful this feature is. Anchor points (imo) aren't meant to retrieve stamped height detail from the layers. They're meant to retrieve subtle effects from the materials as they are layered over each other, using passthrough. I'm probably going to use this feature in every single project hereon. This is very awesome. I withdraw my retort! :)

[@zeriolinx5755]

Substance painter is so awesome! Can't wait to try it when I start the studies for 3D & Animation school :D

[@Substance3D]

Thanks! We can't wait to see what you create with Substance : )

[@MarkBTomlinson]

Impressive and useful addition well done guys!

[@Substance3D]

Thanks Mark!

[@arrw]

Well that makes sense why it's called an anchor now. Keep it at the bottom.

[@Maarten2142]

Really nice!

[@zethFPV]

Finally!

[@Michael-yf6pj]

光叔厉害，加油！

[@RobotJeeg]

When the surfaces of the ship get damaged it was awesome! Can you explain in the future how to set up that damaged surface with fire and cables ans smoke? I understand the anchor part but I'm interested in that specific substances.

[@actioN1337]

Yeah this is really cool and I would love to see it as well.

[@Ken-us3xf]

Oh yes please. A tutorial on how that was all setup would be AWESOME!

[@mohaimndraz]

Yes, please.

[@Substance3D]

Thanks very much for the feedback. I can create a detailed tutorial on this. It's actually pretty simple setup which is really nice.

[@ledf2012]

That complex effect was so freaking awesome! Definitely needs an indepth video on that one,

[@romulocastilho6506]

Perfect textures

[@alexsoundwave]

Someone at Allegorithmic has excellent taste. Music is "Commix - Japanese Electronics (Instra:mental Remix)"

[@Substance3D]

Thanks!

[@igromad]

god, this is incredibly useful

[@Substance3D]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Ernesto_Alvarez]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!! finally!!!

[@koriecull]

So good!

[@cyrillimoges9372]

Amazing !

[@briantriesart]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Anchor points rules! Thanks a lot!

[@TheIcemanModdeler]

Awesome.

[@BrianLife]

To tese us at the end is so bad. lol. Please go into more depth on this effect stack and masking set up at the end, this is incredible!!

[@StealerSlain]

simply pogchamp

[@JagsP95]

Will there ever be a tutorial on the damaged hull effect? I can't find a tutorial or an example of how to do this anywhere.

[@BrianLife]

totally!!!

[@markiemarkchannel]

This. Is. Amazing. That is all.

[@mcroman-superfeat]

Another Brain Intensive TUT - IS Smoke My Brain... ;) THX , Wes... Is like NEVER ending learning... ::: Who Say's LIFE was Easy !

[@wes.mcdermott]

Haha! So glad you like the videos. There's always something new to learn each day.

[@ShaufelDog]

Great?! Awesome!

[@H0w3r]

Is the scene for that final anchor point layering showcase available to download? I'd like to know how the multiple anchor point effects are made to create these advanced effects with depth

[@TriQuad]

[@feridaghon]

If there was a collapse option for when we are done with all materials (layers) in certain Textureset List would be brilliant as for animation meshes with many polygoun (double turboesmooth) requires a high performance and it lags and destroys pc. regards

[@MrJasonSnell]

This technique of layer masking by black white and shades should be integrated into video game engines to modify model skins on demand in multi layer stacks. I remember seeing the damage on a character in Kingpin for PC and thinking that was amazing.

[@Substance3D]

This is used very often in games. A while back we released the material layering shader to help artist using workflows like this to visualize the materials they are painting masks for. share.allegorithmic.com/libraries/2125

[@TryptychUK]

I can't find the image inputs on the destination layer. What am I doing wrong?

[@famoustartracks9757]

Hi could you show a detailed video on how you make that cool destructive,emissive effect which shows the inner wiring such and such

[@Substance3D]

Yes, will do this : )

[@teamEP789]

what kind of sorcery is this?

[@alexilaiho1st]

it's witchcraft, or in this case it's holycrap :ooo

[@1981danielmn]

Would it be possible to use this to make a pain table window effect

[@mattgrimaldi13]

wowwww....

[@myxsys]

Is there a step-by-step tutorial on creating damage levels as you've demonstrated?

[@Substance3D]

We don't have a step by step on this effect. Thanks for the suggestion for this video

[@albanjmt7602]

Really great feature once again :D ! I was wondering, when I see your example of the hull damage. I understand how is it done (in a very clean way by the way). The masks driven by the Paintable Mask layer, is what we can see in a game also if you wanna drive damage features or something like that in a game in a more realistic way but, is it possible to expose these mask parameter in a final material like in UE4 or Unity? And by exposing it, making it fully driven in real time by interaction of the player? Or do you need to recreate those effects in your game engine?

[@Substance3D]

It's not possible to expose the parameters. You could export the mask and then in UE4 material editor manually set up a way to drive the levels of the image to produce an effect.

[@albanjmt7602]

Ok, that's what I thought ^^. Thank you for your answer :)

[@petermgruhn]

It's all pretty cool, but I wonder if it's more of a kludge to avoid exposing a node based compositor.

[@Substance3D]

We have a node based editor, Substance Designer, that integrates well with Painter. Some people just don't want to use nodes, that's why we provide anchor points instead.

[@mrBurlaka1]

Is it possible to draw details of normal maps by curves on the surface of the model? You draw on the surface a vector - any shape (a straight line or a curve). And along this line, the selected pattern of normals is drawn. For example the normal of the hole. The result of the hole along the curve of the line.

[@Substance3D]

We don't have this functionality yet, but are wanting to add curve support in the future.

[@mrBurlaka1]

Thank you so much!

[@mrBurlaka1]

Thank you so much!

[@Kdaouiji]

Is it possible to give multiple layers the same anchor? Lets say I have multiple hard surface layers and I want to effect all of them by one edge dirt layer. Because so i have to do like tausends of anchors and fills and also if I want to change one thing for all this is a pain. Thanks for the nice video and this great tool!

[@Kdaouiji]

Okay I found the answer for my problem: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnTYlWSma9Gheas

[@user-ki6ec9qz1s]

Thanks for the update. But then how does the anchor between the layers, at the end of the video is not clear, crumpled, want a more detailed consideration of the issue.

[@Substance3D]

I will make a detailed tutorial on how this was done.

[@user-ki6ec9qz1s]

Thank you so much!

[@michailisaakidis]

How do you get your AO from these anchor points? What if you would want to add dust where the AO would naturally sit when adding your stamps. Do you still need to bake out an AO and curvature from your newly added details to make it work?

[@Substance3D]

The AO can be generated from the height or normal details that you paint when using generators. This can be set in the micro details. We also have a filter for generating horizon based ambient occlusion on the later you are painting.

[@boycie18]

@@Substance3D does this work with procedurally generated layers too? I've just tried it and it doesn't seem to work...

[@MajoCJ67]

Its great! but how to implement micro details window to MGs which doesn't have one (MGs from Smart masks and smart materials mostly)? or it works only on MGs which I make from scratch?

[@Substance3D]

All of the mask generators in 2017.1 have been updated to use the miro detail. If you don't need to create your own generator.

[@ryh7800]

coooooooooooooooooool~~~~

[@3dimentionalben139]

Thank you so much for this detailed tutorial. would you mind explaining how to convert zbrush alphas to Substance painter? I noticed substance painter is missing an option for editing alpha, options that zbrush gives you which saves you lots of time re-adjusting in photoshop.

[@Substance3D]

You can use the grab doc feature in zbrush to capture an alpha. You can then export that as a texture that can be used in Painter.

[@3dimentionalben139]

Allegorithmic thank you so much. I love substance painter I hope it adds more control for alpha!

[@hanumaanek]

can we see making of - last model with glow?

[@Zeriel00]

They're dealing with forces you can't possibly hope to comprehend! D:

[@massivetree7937]

Really cool but it does seem a bit convoluted to set up? Any chance of improving that workflow in the future? Also, didn't you add something to the just prior version (fx filter I think) that pretty much does the same thing?

[@massivetree7937]

As far as suggestion on workflow, would be cool if maybe we could add the anchor to a layer and then just pull up the generators or other layers we want to reference in one go from the anchor properties. Just watched the video once so maybe I'm thinking too simply.

[@Substance3D]

Yes, the filter we added before does something similar, but it's more of a workaround using a substance filter. It also overlays a material in the stack. What was demonstrated in the video was not the sole purpose for Anchors. Add damage to painted data such as the normal channel was shown as it's a basic way to showcase how to setup and Anchor.

[@Substance3D]

Thanks very much for your feedback : )

[@carlobarley1985]

is it okay to stamp rotated normal maps on top of another normal map? won't there be problems lighting it? anchor points look beast!

[@Substance3D]

Yes! We are actually recomputed the normal vectors so that the vectors are correct when rotated. This works for any normal map you import as well.

[@markbradshaw9438]

At the beginning of the video you mentioned that you licensed some alphas and converted them to normal maps. How was that done?

[@Substance3D]

We did the conversion in Substance Designer. You can create a normal from a height map using the normal node.

[@gower1973]

How do i add multiple references to the same layer like near the end of the video, I have an edge wear layer, but 3 separate detail layers and i want them all to take on the edge wear detail

[@Substance3D]

In this case, you could create a layer above the 3 detail layers. Set the blending mode for the layer to passthrough for the channel you painted the details on. Then you can anchor this layer. The passthrough mode will bring the data from the layers below it. It's like merging layers to one layer.

[@MrTravisDCook]

anchors I can trust

[@Govi627]

Having a problem where I can't paint the hull damage because the parent folder for details is turned off, but it works in the video above. using 2018.2.3

[@Govi627]

Figured it out, you need to add an emissive channel to make hull damage work

[@neoqueto]

Try the hull damage smart material in conjunction with the laser impact particle brush and you will not get back to work very soon

[@mrBurlaka1]

Did you have an isolated view for detail like in Maya?

[@Substance3D]

You can isolate based on mateiral ID (Texture Set) Is the circle Icon in the Texture Sets.

[@mrBurlaka1]

Thank you so much!

[@bensong8518]

Can someone explain how the instructor controlled the 3 referenced layers for the anchor point at ~9:00? Is there a gradient set up where certain value ranges will reveal 1 of the 3 layers? How does SP know that it'll reveal panels first, wires second, then fire based on the amount of brush clicks?

[@Substance3D]

It doesn't actually know when to reveal layers. The gradual blend comes from lowering the opacity setting on the brush

[@bensong8518]

Thanks for the response. I might be misunderstanding it or misphrased it, but at 7:58, 1 brush stroke in the anchor layer produced 3 different results in the various referenced layers' masks (i.imgur.com/zbgFQFP.png) Shouldn't they all be identical to the anchorpoint layer's mask and just show the top "Wirings" layer?

[@Substance3D]

All 3 layer masks are be referenced by the single painting layer. This confused me as well at first : ) They would be identical, but using lowering the opacity for the brush makes it act like a "build up" of the stroke. It help gives the illusion that each layer is being revealed at different amounts.

[@bensong8518]

oh gotcha. Thanks for clearing that up. I really need to remember this new feature and try to apply it somewhere!

[@sandrockification]

Why does it have to be such a complicated process? Substance Designer can do this same thing by adding these normal details to the chain BEFORE the edge damage node. It's straightforward and makes sense.

[@BigDaz]

I was expecting Painter to receive the skew correction that Designer had. Or has it got that already?

[@Substance3D]

We don't have a skew correction in painter at this time.

[@MrXBJonte]

Great video, would it be possible if we could get that material to try out painting with different anchor references. It is a little difficult understanding the concept just by looking at the video!

[@Substance3D]

Thanks! I can make a detailed tutorial.

[@chybsik69]

Awesome! But, i can't figure out how to achieve same result with masked fill layer

[@Substance3D]

Can you please post in this forum with some screen shots? I can help there. forum.allegorithmic.com/index.php/board,37.0.html

[@chybsik69]

ok, i will, thanks

[@riaan077]

Hey yall, does anyone know how i can do a polygon fill with just an edge wear generator to that specific polygon selection but without have to add any actual fill/color (like the default being a red fill for example). I just want the edge wear effect for that polygon selection without having to touch the material underneath it in anyway. I dont want to color id every single part that i just want a generator for.

[@Substance3D]

You can add a paint effect right above the generator. With the polygon fill in mesh fill mode, fill with white. Then in polygon fill mode set to black, choose the faces you want isolate the generator to. Finally, switch the blending mode of the paint effect to Substract.

[@matislebelfaille7510]

Can you do that with a fill layer and a greyscale info height map?

[@Substance3D]

Yes

[@buunuu.]

So im a little new to substance painter. is it possible to use this with smart masks? or just generators? or am i missing something lol

[@Substance3D]

Yes, you can use smart masks and generators with Anchor Points.

[@christiangreen3612]

I don't see the Micro Normal box within the Image Input Property. Is there something I need to turn on?

[@Substance3D]

The Micro Normal is located in Generators. These feature was added to generators so they could read the data from layers via the anchor.

[@christiangreen3612]

Got it! Thanks so much

[@SVAFnemesis]

one key take away: anchor sends data to layers ABOVE it, and won't send to layers BELOW it.

[@Bbentley81]

You mentioned that you converted alphas to normal data, how did you do that

[@Substance3D]

We did that using Substance Designer. You can take height data and convert that to normal using the normal node.

[@Yassine_Laatiri]

my fire effect didn't show up after painting with paintable mask anything wrong?

[@Substance3D]

It sounds like there is an issue with the Anchors. Make sure that the referenced anchor points are below the later trying to access them.

[@sqworkshop]

When i use Hull Damage (Metal-Rough), and draw on base color, fire dont apear, only damage. why?(

[@Substance3D]

You need to link the fire layer to the paintable mask. We will do a tutorial on this

[@nathanlaidler9606]

We are all still waiting for the damaged hull paint effect tutorial, just to let you know. You probably got really busy. I get that, I do. But PLEASE!!!! Would you just make the #@$% video! That’s all we’re asking for! Out of the kindness of your heart, please! I don’t know....I just...yeah.

[@Bokaj01]

When testing this it didn't update. I had to click the generator again, select micro normal, anchor points and re-select normal mode. It was reset to color. 7:20

[@Substance3D]

Thanks for reporting, we will look into this.

[@saqib3d]

how can we get the AO on our Painted Normal Details.

[@Substance3D]

You can use the HBAO filter and apply it to the layer stack. Set it to Normal and it will create the AO.

[@user-mj7vz1rq8q]

Амбиент наше все ))

[@Eternal_23]

Chillout тоже

[@netrarajpun]

Is this version not available to users with student license.?

[@Substance3D]

This version is available for student licenses. If you have a 2.x version, you'll need to go into your account and download the new license for 2017.

[@esparafucio]

Witchcraft!!!!

[@RyanDavidHale]

so wheres the pic (of the Ram) from your thumbnail??

[@Substance3D]

It's in our gallery from the website. www.allegorithmic.com/gallery

[@Ngomes007]

can you do a video on spec map from substance painter to the unreal engine

[@Substance3D]

Thanks for the suggestion. This would be a good topic to discuss. The spec map in UE4 only controls the reflection amount at the fresnel angle 0 degrees. The value is 4% and is hardcoded in the PBR shaders in Painter and UE4. The spec input in UE4 just lets you override this value. It supports a value between 0-1 where 1 = 8%. So if you add a value of 0.5 in UE4 spec, you are using the same 4% value that Painter and UE4 default to.

[@DHPshow]

Didn't you just release a different way to put mask effects on height and normal detail? Something with a new filter. The question is: Can we forget about that now? The anchor system seems to replace it, besides that I think it's genious.

[@Substance3D]

We did release a filter in the previous version. It can still be helpful. Showing how to use the anchor point to send paint data to the mask generator is just one simple why to use anchor points. The difference is that the anchor point solution is more robust, but the edge filter is quicker to setup. Also, the edge wear filter overlays a material in the layer where the filter is applied.

[@DHPshow]

Allegorithmic ok I think I see the use of those two now, thanks really appreciatie the response