Adobe’s new Substance 3D Viewer (Beta) is designed to simplify 3D asset rendering and conversion for artists across various industries. The application supports over 70 file formats, including FBX, GLTF, USD, OBJ, and many CAD formats, offering wide compatibility for artists. This universal viewer can render in both real-time and path-tracing modes and is available as a free open beta on Creative Cloud.
The Substance 3D Viewer is particularly notable for its ability to seamlessly integrate with Photoshop, adding non-destructive 3D editing capabilities directly inside PSD files. Artists can now drag and drop 3D assets into Photoshop, just as they would with standard images. These assets are treated as smart objects, allowing for further editing within the Viewer without losing original details. Any changes can be saved back into the Photoshop file for later adjustments.
Key Features of the Substance 3D Viewer include:
- Format support: Over 70 file types, including popular 3D formats like USD, OBJ, FBX, GLTF, and PLY, alongside CAD formats.
- Rendering options: Artists can choose between real-time rendering or path-tracing for a wide range of production needs.
- Conversion tools: Export your 3D assets in USD, GLB, FBX, and OBJ formats.
- 3D material editing: Users can apply or modify materials on assets directly within the Viewer.
- Photoshop integration: 3D assets can be imported and composited non-destructively within any Photoshop document.
Experimental AI-powered features also make their debut in this beta. One such feature is Text to 3D, which generates a Gaussian Splat from a text prompt. While this feature is in its early stages and not designed for exporting, it provides a glimpse into the future of generative design. Additionally, the 3D object to Image feature allows artists to create new images from 3D assets, offering a range of creative possibilities like background generation, viewport-driven composition, and asset variations.
Substance 3D Viewer’s price? Free, for now. As an open beta, Adobe has made the Viewer available without cost through the Creative Cloud app, inviting users to test it out and provide feedback for future updates.
It’s important to note that, as a first beta release, Substance 3D Viewer focuses primarily on basic 3D use cases, with more advanced workflows likely to come in future versions. Adobe encourages users to test the tool but advises caution before using it in critical production environments. For updates, discussions, or to offer feedback, users can visit Adobe’s Substance 3D Viewer support page.
For professionals working across VFX, animation, and postproduction, the Substance 3D Viewer is shaping up to be a versatile addition to the 3D production toolkit, but the beta nature of this release means ongoing testing and updates are likely as the tool evolves.
