In November 2017, we launched the beta version of the Substance in 3ds Max plugin. Today, with the release of Autodesk 3ds Max 2019, we are releasing the first official build of Substance in 3ds Max.
Substance in 3ds Max is now ready with features you explored in the beta version as well as substantial improvements to further improve your workflow.
The plugin can be used with industry standard renderers such as V-Ray, Corona, Arnold and Octane. With the help of user feedback, the setup of materials has been streamlined and automated to give you a seamless, one-click experience.
Likewise, we have made noticeable improvements on other features present in the beta version, such as a user-friendly interface, performance gains and preset management. We have also continued to refine the integration to greatly improve stability and workflow.
Our goal for this new 3ds max Substance plugin has been to bring a true synergy between 3ds Max and Substance. The features are now rock solid and thoroughly tested, but this would not be an official release if it didn’t bring new improvements and features!
We added full support for Corona and Octane 3.06. Both of these renderers support the one-click setup with options found in the Substance menu along with Arnold and V-Ray.
Automated workflows for Arnold and V-Ray have been greatly improved since beta. With V-Ray, we are now getting the correct results and additional channel types are being used in the automated workflow such as opacity.
Issues with interactive rendering have been fixed. You can update your Substance material with interactive/progressive renderers such as Corona and V-Ray and the results will now include the changes without restarting the render.
Substance presets (.sbsprs) created using the plugin are now compatible with all of our other tools and integrations. This will give you greater flexibility to share Substance content and settings between applications.
Saving and Loading has been greatly improved to give you stability you can rely on.
For added convenience, you can now add and organize Substance materials using 3ds Max Material Libraries: create custom material libraries using Substance.
Important note for those upgrading from the beta: due to substantial updates and changes in the official release, Substance materials that were created using the beta release will not compatible with the official release. This issue will not occur with future releases of the plugin.
For the time being, the original version of the max plugin is still natively integrated and available for legacy support. The new plugin, under General>Maps in the Slate Editor, is called Substance2.
Your help is invaluable to keep improving on our tools and integrations. Let us know what you think of Substance in 3ds Max here.
As always – we can’t wait to see what you will create!
