Substance painter is full of great features like 3d painting, texturing, designing. This makes it one of the top tools in the market. That's why Adobe included it in their system and made it subscription based. In this article I will walk you through what this substance painter really is, how you can get it, and even some other alternatives too.
If you are into 3d painting, game designing, 3d texturing, you have probably heard of Substance Painter, and one of the questions that came to your mind, “is substance painter free or not?”. No, it is not free entirely. However, students, trial users and those who want to buy and just want to test before paying for it, can use this. Anyone looking for alternatives can also use this trial version.
Substance painter is one of the most powerful tools available for 3d painting, texturing, developed by Adobe. It is mainly used for game development, visual effects, animations, and 3d designs. It has features like:
Simply, it means it is like photoshop but for 3d prints and models. Instead of painting in a static canvas, you are doing that in a dynamic canvas. And while doing you can undo, redo, do experiments with and in it.
Many of the professionals use this especially in gaming and film industries.
If you are a student and looking forward to using 3d models, Substance painter is the best option for you. As Adobe offers students educational access, they get substance painter for free through Adobe's Creative Cloud for Education program.
Adobes student program gives students access to their whole collection of Substance 3D collections. This collection includes Substance Painter, Designer, Sampler and 3D Assets Library. So, valid students get this for free for upto 12 months.
Only valid students and teachers can get this for free. To qualify for the Substance Painter you need to have(as a student):
N.B: If you are a teacher in a higher educational institution, you can also use Substance Painter for free.
The best part is if your aim is not learning 3d arts, paints, you can still enroll in it as long as you have a valid student institution proof.
Now that you have your proof, you can apply for the Substance Painter. Here's how to do it:
Why You Need Substance Painter?
If you are a 3d artist, I definitely can say that after every output you feel like something is missing. Later found out that those 3d models were missing realistic textures.
So many people use Substance Painter not only for adding color but also for its easy and powerful capability in bringing 3d arts into life. It’s so powerful that it can even print realistically on rusty old designs, worn-out metals or any dusty old-bricks. The best parts are:
Substance painter can automatically update the painting process with multiple texture maps.
With Substance painter you can easily export your realistic textures straight to unreal engine, unity or other tools similar to this.
You can real-time preview your work while rendering your models. It’s not just that you can export beautiful 3d arts, it's more than that. You can create high-detailed, immersive arts with it. Whether you are a pro artist or a student you can stand out by creating models with Substance Painter.
Whether you are a total beginner or a pro 3d artist, this tool is for you. With the help of this software you can not only make your workflow faster but also cleaner and more professional. Still you are not sure if this software is for you or not? You need this if you are:
You might have seen the new GTA 5/6 trailer and said “wow!. That’s so realistic!”. Most of the game nowadays use painters like Substance Painter which allows them for texturing game assets and that makes those gaming scenes visually appealing.
Those new anime trailers, saw those? The Demon Slayer Trailer? Yes, those are made by animation studios. They use detailed textures and materials for animated characters and environments.
Fashion designers also need these kinds of texturing tools for texturing their garments. It helps them to get a real life view of the designs.
This software can also be used to create product designs. They can view the products real-time and tweak according to that.
Substance painter is also used by many other artists like visual artists, 3d modelers. So it has a huge use case and people use it for its flexibility. Who might not need it? If you are working with 2d animation, if your models are 2d models and not thinking of using 3d, then this is not for you.
If you are on a budget and thinking of trying alternatives of Substance Painter, you can look for open-source apps. There are plenty of open-source apps that can help you. Of course they are not the exact clones and they don't have the exact features, still they are reliable.
Some of the best open-source alternatives are:
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Though Blender is not Substance Painter, it can be very powerful if different add-ons are added. It has key features like 3d modeling, animation, rigging, and video editing.
ArmorPaint is one of the most popular and open-source alternatives of Substance painter. It had only one purpose and that is to make real-time 3d texture painting. Its core features are node-based material editor, variety of painting tools and UV layout view.
ZBrush is an alternative to Substance Painter which offers digital sculpting and painting programs. Its core features are mesh editing, micropoly, dynamic subdivision. Moreover, with its user-friendly interface, users can easily navigate here to there.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be seen that the substance painter is not free but there are other alternatives to use. However, with a valid id card, students can enroll in the education plan, even teachers can enroll for the education plan too.
K-12 and self-taught users, students and teachers from restricted countries are not eligible for the free trial of Substance Painter. Moreover, students and teachers in higher educational institutions can get this.
This free license is valid for 12 months and after that one can reapply or purchase the app.
Yes, Adobe bought Substance Painter back in January 2019 when they purchased Allegorithmic. Allegorithmic was the company that developed Substance Painter.
Substance is free as an add-on for Blender. So it is free to download and use.
There are two methods of subscription: one time purchase and a subscription. After free access, one has to pay in either one system
