This article is also available in:
French
Adobe has released Substance 3D Modeler as a free open beta. Substance 3D Modeler is a new 3D modeling software that can be used both in desktop mode and in VR.
Adobe explains their goal with Modeler is to “allow artists and designers to rapidly translate the ideas in their head into 3D and easily create variations of those ideas. From organic characters and objects to complex environmental scenes, we hope to create a powerful and intuitive experience with the help of you and the rest of this growing community. We are also building out features that will let you easily take your creation downstream into the other Substance apps and other tools in your professional pipeline”
Since Modeler is still in beta, professional use is not recommended by Adobe. However, stability and performance should improve with upcoming updates, when Modeler gets closer to v1.0.
Modeler beta is free, but each build will expire after 60 days: Adobe wants users to download and use the latest build “to get the most up-to-date experience”. System requirements have been published: Windows 10 is the only OS supported at the moment on desktop. Adobe recommends using a workstation with 32GB RAM or better, and a GTX 1060 or a more powerful GPU (Adobe actually recommends using a GPU with 10 GB VRAM). Oculus headsets are officially supported. You can use non-Oculus headsets thanks to Revive, but you should expects a few issues, such as lower performance and unforeseen bugs. A VR quick start guide is provided.
Adobe has also released a few tutorials that will help you get through the basics of using Substance 3D Modeler.
