Project Creation

Click on the “Select” button to specify a 3D model file to load. A list of supported file formats is available here.

Specify a template that will define the default settings of the project. A template contains the following parameters:

• Texture Set settings.
• Display settings.
• Baking settings.
• Shader resources (including attached textures).
• Environment Map file.

Note: Templates are *.spt files that are created from an existing project via the File menu and saved inside the Assets folder to be easily shared with team members.

Define the default texture resolution of the project for each Texture Set. The resolution can go up to 4K (4096x4096 pixels) when working inside the application and 8K (8192x8192 pixels) when exporting. The resolution can be changed at any time later on via the Texture Set settings. Note: 8K export requires at least 2.5GB of VRam on the GPU to be available.

Select a specific part of a USD file. By default, this is set to ‘Root’, which means the entire USD file will be used to create the Painter project. Change… opens a new window that displays the contents of the USD. If variants are detected, it is possible to select a specific variant for project creation. Scope and variants can be changed after project creation in Project configuration settings. Note that -

• Only the modeling variant selection will have any impact on the project.
• Variants nested within variants are not currently detected.

For geometry that should be subdivided, this setting allows you to specify how much you would like to subdivide your mesh for texturing in Painter. If subdivision is explicitly set to ‘none’ within the USD file, this setting is grayed out. Subdivision is applied after UV unwrapping, so this does not alter the shape of the mesh’s UVs. Subdivision levels can be changed after project creation in Project configuration settings.

For USD files where animations are detected, this setting allows you to select the frame which will be used to create your Painter project. If there is no animation in the selected USD file, this setting is grayed out. Frame can be changed after project creation in Project configuration settings.

Defines the Normal map format for the project, can be either

• DirectX (X+, Y-, Z+)
• OpenGL (X+, Y+, Z+)

Note: As a reminder:

• Unreal Engine uses DirectX by default.
• Unity uses OpenGL by default.

If enabled, the Bitangents are computed in the fragment (pixel) shader instead of the vertex shader. This parameter impacts the way the Normal map is decoded by the Shader in the viewport. Changing this settings will require to rebake the Normal map. Note: As a reminder:

• Unreal Engine needs this setting to be Enabled.
• Unity needs this setting to be Disabled (or enabled if you are using the HDRP workflow)

If checked, the imported mesh will be processed differently to allow painting outside the regular UV range (0-1). Projects using UDIM should enable this setting. The processing of the mesh may differ depending on the setting.   For more information, see the UV Tile documentation.

UV Tiles (UDIMs) are imported and grouped per material assignment on the mesh. This means a single Texture Set can contain multiple UV Tiles visible side by side in the 2D View. UV Tiles that are within the same Texture Set can be painted across seamlessly.

{width="500px"}

UV Tiles (UDIMs) are separated into individual Texture Sets and renamed, ignoring any material assignments. Each UV Tile is moved to the UV [0-1] range to be paintable.

{width="500px"}

If cameras are present in the mesh file, they will be imported into the project and accessible as presets for visualization. Note: Substance 3D Painter doesn’t support some cameras in certain conditions :

• Physical cameras from 3DS Max.
• Orthographic cameras stored in Alembic files (*.abc).

If enabled, missing UVs on the imported mesh will be generated. The processing may change depending on the settings selected via the Options button.For more information, see the Automatic UV Unwrapping documentation.

ambient_occlusion

curvature

normal_base

world_space_normals

id

position

thickness