Adobe Substance Painter

Precautions
Non-Medical

Not for Medical Care
The author uses several software packages and programming languages to develop FPnotebook content
For convenience, a dozen pages in FPNotebook are dedicated to quick notes on content creation

Technique
Hot Keys and Mouse

Navigation (similar to Maya)
1. Rotate (Alt-LMB)
2. Pan (Alt-MMB)
3. Zoom (Alt-RMB)
Window Panes
1. F1: Two Pane (left perspective, right UV)
2. F2: Single Pane - Perspective
3. F3: Single Pane - UV
Texture Sets
1. Select Texture Set (Ctrl-Alt-RMB Click on the object in the perspective)
2. Isolate the current Texture Set (Alt-Q)
Lighting
1. Move the light source (Shift-RMB-Drag)
Colors
1. Color Picker (P)
Channels
1. Toggle on Channel and toggle off other channels (alt-LMB click channel)
Brush
1. Brush Heads-Up-Display (RMB Click)
2. Select Brush Tool (1)
3. Resize Brush (Ctrl-RMB-DragLR)
4. Change Brush Hardness (Ctrl-RMB-DragUD)
5. Change Brush Flow/Opacity (Ctrl-LMB-DragLR)
6. Change Brush Rotation (Ctrl-LMB-DragUD)
7. Symmetry (L)
8. Lazy Mouse - Clean, Smooth Lines (D)

Technique
Layers

Blend Modes
1. May be performed at a layer level (e.g. a single fill layer) or at a channel level (e.g. color channel for a layer)
Paint Layer
1. Allows for hand painting on layer
Fill Layer
1. Allows for stacked layers of color, textures
2. Maps (triplanar)
  1. Maps may be moved over the surface with Gizmo (e.g. move or rotate seams)
    1. However, avoid using both sliders and gizmo - change in only one

Technique
Smart Materials

Saving Smart Material
1. Select layers and Ctrl-G to group, then give the containing folder a meaningful name
2. Right-click the containing folder/group and choose save SmartMaterial

Technique
Mesh Painting

UV Selection Method
1. Create a folder for material
2. Add black mask to folder
3. Select polygon fill from tool palette
4. In properties, choose UV (far right icon) and drag color slider to white
5. Click each part of the object in the document window and associated UV will be white (unmasked)

Technique
Stylized Texturing

Basic Stylized Material
1. Folder: Stylized Base
2. Lowest Layer: Base (Fill Layer)
  1. Color: Light
  2. Roughness: 1
3. Middle Layer: Edge Highlight (Fill Layer, Linear Dodge)
  1. Color Channel Only
  2. Add Generator - Mask Editor (color channel only, Global Blur 2.5, curvature prn)
4. Top Layer: Gradient (Fill Layer, Overlay)
  1. Color Channel Only
  2. Color: Darker version of base layer
  3. Add Black Mask
  4. Add Generator - Mask Editor
    1. Global Invert
    2. Increase world space normal opacity
Stone
1. Layer 1: Base Color (Fill Layer)
  1. Color light gray
  2. Filter > Baked Lighting Stylized (modify sun color, ground color and sky intensity)
2. Layer 2: Curvature - Base Gradient (Fill Layer)
  1. Black Mask, generator > mask editor > invert, adjust position gradient to 1
  2. Set color
3. Layer 3: Dampening/Curvature (Fill Layer)
  1. Adjust Base Color and Roughness
  2. Black Mask, Generator > MaskEditor, Invert False, Curvature=1
  3. Levels > Invert, decrease bottom black slider to ~0.5, increase the mid-slider to 8-9
4. Layer 4: Grunge (fill layer)
  1. Only color, and adjust to darker color
  2. Black Mask, Generator > MaskEditor, balance <0.3, adjust colors, increase Ambient Occlusion and curvature
    1. Add grunge map (e.g. grunge leaks), avoiding mostly black or mostly white masks
5. Layer 5: Shadows (Fill Layer)
  1. Color only, set to deep, dark, rich color
  2. Black Mask, Generator > Dirt or Ambient Occlusion (invert)
Stylized Wood (simple)
1. Base Color (color medium brown, increased roughness)
2. Wood Grain Light (color light brown, black mask > fill > grunge map 1 with directional blur filter)
3. Wood Grain Dark (color dark brown, black mask > fill > grunge map 2 with directional blur filter)
4. Curvature Edges - Light (color lighter brown, black mask > generator > mask editor)
5. Curvature Edges - Dark (color darker brown, black mask > generator > mask editor)
6. Ambient Occlusion Shadows (color red brown, black mask > generator > Ambient Occlusion)
7. Ambient Occlusion Dirt (color dark brown, black mask > generator >dirt)
8. Gradient (color dark, black mask > generator > position, adjust balance/invert so that lighter part is intended to catch eye)
9. Baked Lighting (filter > baked lighting stylized, adjust sun parameters including color and intensity, soft light, 50-60% )
Stylized Wood (complicated)
1. Create a containing folder: Wood
2. Layer 1: Base (Fill-Layer, Color: Light Brown)
3. Layer 2: Wood Grain (Fill-Layer, color brighter brown than base color, black mask, add fill with grunge map)
4. Layer 3: Gradient Fill with lighter color (Fill Layer, color saturated and bright, opacity 50%, black mask, generator>position, change global balance)
5. Layer 4: Gradient Fill with darker color (Fill Layer, color deeper and darker, opacity 100%, black mask, generator>position, invert, change global balance)
6. Layer 5: Shadows with Ambient Occlusion (Fill Layer, color dark brown, black mask > generator > AO > invert, global balance)
7. Layer 7: Edges - Curvature Mask (Fill Layer, lighter, desaturated brown, black mask > generator > mask editor > global balance)
8. Layer 8: Light Grain (Fill Layer, light/bright brown, black mask with fill > spotty grunge + triplanar + adjust scale, filter > blur directional angle for grain)
9. Layer 9: Dark Grain (Duplicate layer 8, darker brown, adjust grunge, blur, add filter > sharpen)
10. Layer 10: Baked Lighting (Fill Layer, blend mode soft light, Filter > Baked Lighting Stylized, diffuse output only, adjust sun intensity)
Resources
1. Stylized Station (Thomas Smith)
  1. https://stylizedstation.com/
2. Intro to Substance Painter (Flipped Normals)
  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ-hRk0WHJ8