Do I want to integrate SD/SP into my workflow?

CodeferBlue

Hey, as the title suggests, I have a few questions about integrating SD/SP into my workflow.

Firstly, I have no idea about this, so bear with me here. Is SD a full program for texturing? By this, I mean, what correlation does it have with UV's. Normally, I would import my UV layout along with some textures I wanted into Photoshop and start working from there, can I do that with SD? Or is SD only for creating materials? I want to be able to fully create and apply textures onto models I create.

It would help if I knew how substance worked, but I'm not sure on if I should invest my time in trying to learn Substance unless I know it's for me.

Thanks.

Wesley

Hey man, you should check out the thirty day trials to really decide whether it's for you or not. Also, if you check their YouTube channel they have pretty in-depth tutorials you can watch for free. 

slosh

Substance designer is mostly for making materials while substance painter is for straight painting materials onto your models.  Both will take UVed items though.  Designer is really great for procedurally building tiling textures.

ZacD

You can also use Designer to apply those procedural textures to a model by using masks/filters with baked textures. You just wont be painting those details by hand in designer. And the layer system in Painter is much more like Photoshop or DDO (but better IMO). Applying those materials through designer seems to me, more ideal for workflows where you need to texture a ton of assets using those base substances/textures. If you set it up, you can bake and texture an asset procedurally in a minute or two within Designer. 


Designer is great for doing procedural tiling textures, and procedurally assigning materials to an asset. And creating substances for painter or creating procedural textures for UE4, Unity, etc.
Painter is great for a Photoshop and DDO replacement. Painting unique details, adding normal details, baking, etc. 

CodeferBlue

Hey, yeah I know, I have been checking them out but I still can't seem to make my mind.

CodeferBlue

Hey, I knew that part, but, it's just that painting directly onto a 3d model is just so different for me, I best get used to this stuff huh.

ZacD

With Painter, you don't even have to paint on the model at all. You can treat it like Photoshop and tweak and control layers and masks, or you can even paint on the flat UVs. 

CodeferBlue

I see, so, for example, if I had created a wall model, I wanted to add a handpainted wood texture to it, I could do that? By this, I wouldn't really want to paint the wood on the model directly, rather paint the wood on 2D image and apply it to the model. Could I also get textures from the internet and apply them to different parts of my model, without having to paint them on? See, because this is where my UV work comes in handy. I feel like I'm falling behind, everybody is using this cool stuff and I'm stuck with photoshop, tbh, my workflow is very slow, so I want to increase my capabilities and speed up my workflow.

CodeferBlue

Oh, okay. Million dollar question, as I do in photoshop, say if I find a good texture on the net, could I move it around my flat UV layout like I can do it photoshop? I don't really see how I can apply pre-made textures to specific areas on a UV unless painter lets me do this.

Froyok

We don't have a "Transform" tool like in Photoshop in Substance Painter, but you can however use a fill layer to add a bitmap and translate, scale and rotate it which should cover most of your needs.

CodeferBlue

ah, I see, okay thanks. I am pretty convinced, I will try out SD/SP.