Abstract, the Stuttgart-based developer behind InstaMAT, has released the September 2025 update for its texturing software. The update focuses on two things production artists tend to care about most: performance and precision.

InstaMAT now supports sheen and clearcoat shading models. These enable artists to simulate realistic fabrics and layered car paint directly in the viewport. Shading models are automatically matched to active channels, and a status bar readout makes it easier to see which mode is currently applied.

The company claims performance gains in its GPU-driven layering and painting engine. A structural change prevents newly added channels from being retroactively enabled across all layers, avoiding unnecessary processing of texture data not in use.

Terrain Generation With Actual Erosion

The Paint Projector, a common tool for projection painting, has been overhauled. It now supports W, E, and R hotkeys for translate, rotate, and scale: the same shortcuts used in DCC software like Maya. A reset option restores projection alignment instantly, and new toggles clamp or tile the source image during projection. These refinements target VFX workflows such as digital double creation, where matching reference images to geometry demands precise projection control.

InstaMAT’s GPU-accelerated terrain erosion now outputs more consistent results across resolutions. Artists can work at lower resolutions for iteration speed, then export higher resolution terrains for final use. Combined with the Element Graph, which merges images and meshes in a single node graph, erosion tools allow environment artists to generate and texture natural landscapes inside one project.

Transparency Without Guesswork

Viewport transparency has been refined. Glass, water, and other translucent surfaces display more accurately with improved rendering quality. Partial translucency is now better handled, which should make material look-development closer to final renders. Two new tonemap operators have been added: AgX and PBR Neutral. These options align viewport colour with pipelines that depend on specific tone-mapping, such as Unreal Engine or custom render setups.

Masking Gets a Submesh Upgrade

The new Mesh Submesh Mask provides an alternative to the older Mesh Mask. Instead of requiring pre-split geometry, it identifies sub-components within a combined mesh using polygon adjacency. This allows artists to isolate areas of a model for texturing without breaking it apart first, reducing roundtrips to modelling software.

New Grunge, Same Grit

The update adds two grunge maps, Plastered and Rampage 3, as well as a Clouds Spots noise function. Plastered is tailored to architectural surfaces, Rampage 3 extends the Rampage family with more micro details, and Clouds Spots can be combined with the Iterate node to generate spot-based surface variation.

Performance at Scale

According to Abstract, the combination of GPU optimisations, smarter projection, and shading refinements makes large-scale production more efficient. Artists should be able to build lighter, faster projects without compromising fidelity. To coincide with the release, Abstract is offering a 30% discount on InstaMAT seat subscriptions from 10–15 September 2025. The discount applies at checkout on subscription plans.

Test Before Production

As always, testing new software versions before integrating them into active production pipelines isadvisable. Features may work differently across studios depending on GPU hardware, project scale, and existing workflow dependencies.

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The post InstaMAT Gets Smarter: September 2025 Update Sharpens Shading, Painting, and Performance first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.