Substance 3D Painter 8.3 introduces a brand new baking mode, the support of the import and export of USD files and the support of physical size in UV projections.

Check out our latest related video tutorial:
Note: On linux we raised our minimum supported version to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

Added:

• [Baking Mode] New baking mode dedicated to baking process
  
• [Baking Mode] Set shortcut to switch to baking mode to F8
  
• [Baking Mode] Add Start and Cancel baking button in the viewport
  
• [Baking Mode] Add baking selection in Texture Set list
  
• [Baking Mode] Add new Mesh Map Bakers window to select bakers
  
• [Baking Mode] Add new Mesh Map Settings window to edit baking settings
  
• [Baking Mode] Add new Baking Log window to follow baking process
  
• [Baking Mode] Add baking parameters and undo actions to history window
  
• [Baking Mode] Add breadcrumbs in Mesh Map Settings
  
• [Baking Mode] Add mesh maps thumbnails in the Mesh Map Bakers window
  
• [Baking Mode] Add visualization settings collapsible menu in 3D viewport
  
• [Baking Mode] Add visualization setting to show/hide the high-poly mesh
  
• [Baking Mode] Add visualization setting to show/hide the cage mesh and wireframe
  
• [Baking Mode] Add visualization setting to show/hide the low-poly mesh
  
• [Baking Mode] Add visualization setting to show hard edges without UV seams as errors
  
• [Baking Mode] Inform in viewport about mesh and bake errors if Baking Log is not visible
  
• [Baking Mode] Add action to synchronize baker settings across all Texture Sets
  
• [Baking Mode] Add actions to copy and paste baker settings
  
• [Baking Mode] Add button in Baking Log to jump from error to the right settings
  
• [Baking Mode] Add menus to manage Texture Sets and Baker selections
  
• [Baking Mode] Split baker selection list per Texture Set
  
• [Baking Mode] Split common settings per Texture Set
  
• [Baking mode] Load high-poly and cage meshes without freezing the interface
  
• [Baking Mode] Use the viewport progress bar to show mesh loading
  
• [Baking Mode] Add mesh loading state in Baking Log
  
• [Baking Mode] Allow to turn around mesh in viewport during baking
  
• [Baking Mode] Set baking order based on current mesh viewport visibility
  
• [Baking Mode] Display implicit baking cage in viewport
  
• [Baking Mode] Show matching list of mesh names for Matching By Name in Baking Log
  
• [Baking Mode] Use neutral material to display 3D model in viewport
  
• [Baking Mode] Disable engine computation while in baking mode
  
• [Baking Mode] Display a warning when quitting the app while a bake is in progress
  
• [Bakers] Update anti-aliasing setting labels
  
• [Bakers] Update bakers to version 2.5.7.
  
• [USD] Import and export Universal Scene Description (USD) files
  
• [USD] Add USD options to the New Project window when selecting a USD file
  
• [USD] Add new Scope and Variants selection window
  
• [USD] Add subdivision levels option
  
• [USD] Import USD skinned meshes at specific frame
  
• [USD][Export] Add an option to export USD files
  
• [USD][Export] Add USD file format to mesh export
  
• [USD] Rename the existing "USD PBR Metal Roughness" export preset to be more explicit
  
• [Auto Unwrap] Add Lock orientation for packing
  
• [Physical Size] Add setting to automatically use Physical Size in fill effect/layer
  
• [Physical Size] Expose physical size for UV projection
  
• [Scripting][Python] Allow to query the application version
  
• [Scripting][JavaScript] Update API to match new baking parameters
  
• [Scripting][Python] Baking module: edit baking parameters
  
• [Scripting][Python] Baking module: launch/cancel baking
  
• [Scripting][Python] Baking module: select curvature method
  
• [Scripting][Python] Baking module: selection of bakers/uv tiles
  
• [Scripting][Python] Baking module: synchronize baker settings across all Texture Sets
  
• [SVT] Enable sparse hardware support on AMD GPUs
  
• [Projection] Rename Cylindrical projection parameters
  
• [Project] Save application version in project and retrieve it via scripting
  
• [Import] Improve general import time of 3D models

Fixed:

• [Crash] Changing channels on filter with specific stack
  
• [Mac][M1] Crash when creating a fill layer and leaving the layer stack
  
• [Scripting][Python] Crash when using ui.add_dock_widget() with wrong type
  
• [Baking] Incomplete error message in log when a bake fails
  
• [Baking] Memory is not freed when baking is finished
  
• [Engine] Texture cache doesn't update when changing effect visibility
  
• [Export] 2DView exports randomly uniform map
  
• [Project] Memory allocation error when saving project with big mesh
  
• [Viewport] TAA causes artifacts when painting in some cases

Known Issues:

• [Color Management] HDR color space conversions with ACE on Linux produce clamped colors
  
• [Layer Stack] Input source not saved per layer
  
• [Export] 2D View exports randomly uniform map

Added:
[Onboarding] What's new panel to improve new features discoverability
[Onboarding] Rename old Welcome to "Home screen"
[UI] Resolve scaling issues for high-DPI screens
[UI] Avoid persistent error messages in the UI
[UI] Rework save menu
[UI] Save and Export/Share UI layouts
Add copy/paste actions for blending modes/opacity of a layer
Apply blending mode/opacity to all channels of a layer
Reload mesh with a keyboard shortcut (CTRL+SHIFT+R)
Reset Substance parameters to default
Reset paint brush to default
Right click to reset individual Substance parameters to default
[Assets panel] "Pin" favorite assets to appear on top of asset panel
[Assets panel] Delete, reload and rename assets
[Color Selection] Add blending modes to Color Selection effect
[Layer Stack] Add blending mode and opacity on filters
[Layer stack] Allow tiling values bigger than 128 for fill layer/effects
[Layer stack] Cylinder caps for cylindrical projection in fill layer/effect
[Log] Show an error message if mesh part are in negative space when trying to create a UV Tile project
[Project] Indicate version in error message "data too recent" when opening a project
[Viewport] Allow to light the mesh from underneath
[Viewport] View R, G, B and Alpha in viewport (solo display mode)
[Shader] Allow to set User channels as RGBA in Material Layering shaders
[Export] Allow to export textures as SBSAR
[Export] Expose 16bit option for EXR file format
[Python] Add event to know when Texture Sets are modified
[Python] Allow to get and set Mesh Map resources in Texture Set settings
[Plugins] Remove option to get other JS plugins
[Content] Add new Roblox template and export preset
Update Substance Engine to last version (8.6.3)
Optimized build for Apple Silicon chipset (Apple M1 / M2)

Fixed:
Crash when using 16k exr
[Crash] Ctrl Z After deleting a shader instance
[Iray] IoR is blocked to 1 for some shaders
[Win][Baking] Some high poly fail to load
[Color Management] Incorrect color space name in UI with filters
[Python] Resource objects returned by import function don't have a type

Known issues:
[Color Management] HDR color space conversions with ACE on Linux produce clamped colors
[Layer Stack] Input source not saved per layer
[Painting] Temporal anti aliasing causes artifacts when painting in some cases
[Export] 2DView exports randomly uniform map

Added:
Update to Iray SDK 1.6

Fixed:
[Shader] Crash with old faulty shader
[Material Layering] Materials can disappear when reopening a project

Known Issues:
[Color Management] HDR color space conversions with ACE on Linux produce clamped colors
[Layer Stack] Input source not saved per layer
[Crash] Ctrl Z After deleting a shader instance
[Iray] IoR is blocked to 1 for some shaderss

Added:
[Auto Unwrap] New option "Optimize for organic meshes" to select the segmentation algorithm
[Physical Size] Expose unit options in New Project and Project Configuration
[Color Management] Use monitor Display by default when using ACE
[Color Management][Python] Take into account ACE env-var preset file when creating project
[Color Management] Reset Color Management settings in New Project window when the configuration changes
[Color Management] Disable OCIO settings access when env-var is present
[Color Management] Safely update ACE settings when a parameter does not exist anymore
Update Substance Engine to version 8.6.0
[Export] Add new GLTF export preset with Displacement support
[Scripting][Python] Retrieve resource information (including custom metadata)
[Scripting][Python] Add function to query list of mesh names per Texture Set
[Content] Add new Blender template and export preset


Fixed:
[MacOS] Crash when launching Iray in some cases
[Thumbnails] Shelf thumbnails do not load properly
Multiple UV channels are ignored
[Auto Unwrap] Unnecessary computation when splitting long islands
[Auto Unwrap] Option avoid elongated islands not taken into account
[Auto Unwrap] Loss of extra data (vertex colors) when repacking UVs
[UI] Horizontal scrollbar in properties window when Color Management is enabled
[Color Management] OCIO configs are missing substance_3d_painter_standard_srgb role
[Generator] Wrong usage of User data "disabled"
[Color Management] Color Space "Not Compatible" dropdown should not be clickable
[Color Management][Shader] sRGB override define doesn't work anymore
[Generator] Wrong usage of User data "disable"
[Layer stack] Broken previews with UV Tiles projects
[Shader] API documentation is not fully up to date with Bent Normals
[Export][Interoperability] Cannot send to Stager with special characters
[Content] Some brush presets thumbnails are empty or too dark


Known Issues:
[Color Management] HDR color space conversions with ACE on Linux produce clamped colors
[Layer Stack] Input source are not saved per layer
[Crash] Ctrl Z After deleting a shader instance
[Iray] IoR is blocked to 1 for some shaders
[Shader] Crash with old faulty shader

Added:
[Layer Stack] Alt click on mask does not deselect effects anymore

Fixed:
[Crash] Opening old project saved in solo view mode
[Crash] Delete a Generator in properties
[Texture Set Settings] Normal/Ambient Occlusion mixing and height to normal methods are broken
[Export] Export textures using diffusion padding renders black maps

Known issues:
[Linux][Steam] Application does not start, can be solved by using "check file integrity"
[MacOS] Crash when launching Iray on Monterey
[Preview Thumbnail] Simplified thumbnails are not updated when an anchor is used
[Color Management] HDR color space conversions with ACE on Linux produce clamped colors

Added:
[Color Management] Add support for ICC profiles with Adobe Color Engine (ACE)
[Color Management] Add support for "Adobe 98 RGB" as working color space for ICC
[Color Management] Allow to configure ACE/ICC settings via a configuration file
[Color Management] Allow to input linear color values in Color Picker with Legacy mode
[Color Management] Allow to specify the color profile used for picking color outside the UI
[Color Management] Remember the last Display value chosen in the viewport
[Color Management][Substance] Make generators/filters work properly with Color Management
[Color Management][Substance] Add new colorspace override keywords $working and $standardsrgb
[Physical Size][Engine] Extract physical size info from mesh
[Physical Size][Engine] Physical size computation
[Physical Size] Expose options to use physical size in the UI
[Physical Size] Add visual helpers in the viewport
[Baking] Add Height baker
[Baking] Add Bent Normals baker
[Baking] Add Opacity baker
[Eye Dropper] New color eye dropper preview next to the mouse and color managed
[Eye Dropper] Color picker panel reappears at its last position when reopened
[Eye Dropper] A new icon for the Material Picker
[Eye Dropper] Color manage the channel preview of the color picker
[Eye Dropper] Add click-to-select functionality to the eyedropper
[Eye Dropper] Material picker no longer activates non-active channels
[Eye dropper] Allow to use eyedropper with a shortcut
[Eye dropper] Eyedropper picks up the relevant channel, when applicable
[Eye dropper] Entering the color picker mode deactivates all shortcuts
[Eye dropper] Remove auto selection of the hex field
[Eye dropper] Don't close the panel when using the material picker
[Eye dropper] New disabled state when channel is unavailable to pick
[Export] Add tangent attribute to glTF export
Update Substance Engine to v8.4
Update Auto Unwrap to 0.9.0
Update to Qt 5.15.8
Update to Python 3.9
[Shader] Add support for Bent Normals shading
[MacOS] Support of 3DConnexion SpaceMouse
[Python] Document the Python version used in the API
[Content] Add 6 new 3D noises with 105 presets
[Content] 20 new grunge maps and 2 cloth folds patterns
[Content] Update "Mesh maps" export preset to use new bakers
[Content] Blur Slope and warp filter depends on texture set resolution
[Content] Update sample projects to use the 3 new bakers

Fixed:
[glTF] Cannot open glTF with special character
[Engine] Artefacts with anisotropy and SVT disabled
[MacOS][M1] Smart materials are not displayed correctly
[Mesh Processing] Cannot import meshes from Modeler
[UI] Horizontal scrollbar in new project window with Color Management enabled
[Color Management] Working space value missing in color picker with some OCIO configs
[Color Management] Brush preview in the viewport is not color managed
[SpaceMouse] Pivot is not updated immediately with focus change and sometimes out of the model
[Export][USD] Exported USD files have a wrong structure
[USD] Ambient Occlusion issue when exporting
[Content] Update thumbnail's mesh to match Preview Sphere sample project


Known Issues:
[Linux][Steam] Application does not start, can be solved by using "check file integrity"
Export textures using diffusion padding renders black maps
Normal/Ambient Occlusion mixing is broken
[MacOS] Crash when launching Iray in some rare cases
[Preview Thumbnail] Simplified thumbnails aren't updated when an anchor is used
[Color Management] HDR color space conversions with ACE on Linux produce clamped colors

Bugfix with support of 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse in 2D Viewport

Added:
[SpaceMouse] Support of 3DConnexion SpaceMouse in 2D Viewport

Fixed:
[Color Picker] Cannot write in hexadecimal field
[Color Management] Resources used in projection mode are not color managed in the overlay
[Color Management] Errors are not reported in log
[SpaceMouse] Remove generic error message if user does not have a SpaceMouse
[SpaceMouse] When loading a project, pivot point is always hidden
[Bakers] "Average normals" setting has no effect in UV Tile projects
[UV Tile] Inactive uv tiles overlays disappear when reloading mesh with different tiles
[Scripting][Python] Remote scripting is broken
[Scripting][Python] Several channels cannot be queried from API and it raises an error
[Scripting][Python] Crash when using ProjectEditionEntered event
[Scripting][Python] Crash when calling get_active_stack()

Known Issues:
3Dconnexion SpaceMouse not supported on MacOS
[UI] Horizontal scroll bar with color management appearing in some cases in new project window
[Mac M1] Smart materials are not displayed correctly

This latest update to Substance 3D Painter adds support for the SpaceMouse from 3DConnexion, improves OCIO color management and fixes a bunch of things!

Added

• [SpaceMouse][Windows] Support of the 3DConnexion SpaceMouse in the 3D Viewport for navigation
  
• [SpaceMouse][Windows] Basic shortcuts/keys for Pro and Enterprise SpaceMouse models in the 3D Viewport
  
• [SpaceMouse][Windows] Dedicated rotation center icon in the 3D Viewport
  
• [Color Management] Use roles from OCIO configuration to change default settings
  
• [Color Management] Color manage the properties window for color widgets
  
• [Color Management] Color manage the properties window for material preview
  
• [Color Management] Color manage swatches in color picker
  
• [Color Management] Add a setting to define the standard sRGB color space
  
• [Color Management] Add the Standard sRGB color space from OCIO config in color picker Display selector list
  
• [Color Management] Improvements for color space override menu
  
• [Color Management] Allow to override the environment map color space in Display Settings
  
• [Color Management] Draw color picker gradients based on current Display
  
• [Color Management] Clamp HDR values by default in color editor
  
• [Color Management] Use passthrough (no color space) for filters in Legacy mode
  
• [Color Management] Limit gradients display in color editor to match [0-1] range
  
• [Color Management] Hide Display selector in color picker in Legacy mode
  
• [Color Management] Make color picker hexadecimal field always in sRGB color space
  
• [Color Management] Disable color picker Display dropdown for data channels
  
• [Optimization] Warp grid recomputes only covered UV tiles
  
• [Export] Allow to export UV Tile projects for Sketchfab, USD and glTF
  
• [Scripting][Python] Allow to change tonemapping function

Fixed

• [Sketchfab] Updating existing model ends up creating new model
  
• [Sketchfab] Crash when searching for previously updated model
  
• Crash when exporting to USD
  
• Crash when creating a new shader instance in Geometry Mask or when geometry is hidden
  
• [Import Asset Window] Crash when changing the type of imported resources
  
• Normal mesh maps are inverted when used in layer stack
  
• [Substance] User data blending mode is not taken into account
  
• [Color Management] Bitmaps with color space in filename are imported as UV Tile sequences
  
• [Color Management] Color managed outputs of Substance graph are in wrong color space
  
• [Color Management] Polygon Fill tool displays the wrong color
  
• [Color Management] ACES tonemapper is applied to channels in solo mode
  
• [Color Management] Tool preview sphere lighting is not color managed
  
• [Color management][Export] Converted maps applies an incorrect conversion
  
• [Scripting][Python][Color Management] Projects created with template & OCIO environment variable are in Legacy mode
  
• [Scripting][Python] Cannot use the JavaScript evaluate function on startup
  
• [3D Adobe Offer] Can not launch Painter when using regional settings with languages not supported by default

Known issues

• 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse not supported on MacOS
  
• [UI] Horizontal scroll bar with color management appearing in some cases in new project window
  
• [Bakers] "Average normals" setting has no effect in UV Tile projects
  
• [Mac M1] Smart materials are not displayed correctly
  
• [Color Management] Resources used in projection mode are not color managed in the overlay

A new update is available for Painter. Improvements on the color management includes an ACES tonemapper in legacy mode to match game engines tonemapping, and the ability to export UDIM projects to Stager as texture sets through the Substance 3D Stager export preset.

Added:

• Color Management] Use data role in exported filenames
  
• [Color Management] Expand the section Color Management, by default, when OCIO is selected in new project and project settings windows
  
• [Color Management] Add ACES tonemapper in legacy mode
  
• [Color Management] Adjust default configuration settings
  
• [Color Management][Export] Fill $colorSpace in filenames for data channels
  
• [Interoperability] Allow to export a UV Tile project to Stager
  
• [Interoperability] Allow to send a UV Tile project to Stager (Adobe version only)

Fixed:

• [MacOS][Crash] Painter does not start with Catalina
  
• [Color Management][Crash] Random crash when playing with data type/color management on user channel
  
• [Color management] Resources used as grayscale in mask display color space new menu
  
• [Color Management] User channel is darker in the viewport in legacy mode + solo view
  
• [Color Management] Env map is always linear when used in iRay
  
• [Color Management] Color picker does not pick the right value for data channel in legacy mode
  
• [Color management] Color picker is broken inside of a Substance in legacy mode
  
• [Color management] Switching between solo channel views in the viewport does display with the right color space when using the dropdown menu
  
• [Color Management] Export applies the wrong conversion on color managed user channels in legacy mode
  
• Strokes made in solo view mask are not shown when switching back to material view
  
• [Export] Converted maps are not exported as color managed channels
  
• [Texture Set] Tooltip with original name is missing on renamed user channels
  
• [Steam] Files missing when checking file integrity with Steam

Known Issues:

• [Mac M1] Smart materials are not displayed correctly