Learn to Make Procedural Grilled Steak in Substance 3D Designer

Introduction

Hello, I am Francesco Furneri, a 3D Texture Artist from Italy. My deep enthusiasm for 3D art has led me to build a long career specializing in modeling, texturing, lighting, and rendering. Over time, I’ve collaborated on a range of commissioned projects with various studios, contributing especially to the creation of detailed 3D props for games and short videos.

I hold a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a postgraduate qualification in Virtual Reality and Multimedia. Subsequently, I moved to the UK, where I pursued and completed a Master of Science in 3D Computer Animation at the University of Kent. 

With the gathered experience, coupled with continuous learning, I have improved my skills day by day for more than 15 years.

Beyond my creative work, I have taught 3D lighting and rendering in an ultra-selective post-secondary animation school in the U.S. and have authored several articles for the artist community, which are available on my LinkedIn profile.

Currently, I am active as a 3D artist in a company in Italy and also provide freelance services internationally, crafting detailed 3D props for both games and films. Examples of my works are available on my ArtStation as well.

Substance 3D Designer

In 2021, I had the pleasure of being featured on 80 Level with an in-depth article about a 3D crocodile I created from scratch. Since then, a few things have changed in my professional career, and I am now more oriented towards props and 3D environment development.

Moreover, my ongoing passion for Substance 3D Designer has allowed me to discuss this brand new project with you today – a procedural grilled steak.

My goal was to explore a new direction, diverging from the approach used in my earlier Substance 3D Designer works.

I have experience designing cobblestones, rocks, repeating patterns, and so on, like in the following projects, whereas I had never tried to model organic stuff in a procedural way.

The reasons I chose this software are:

• to get confident with new node-based advanced techniques and procedural methods;
• to push myself to create something visually appealing with a hand-crafted look akin to traditional polygonal modeling techniques

I realized how Substance 3D Designer is also a great solution for certain types of assets, and what I really appreciate about it is its non-destructive workflow and the ability to build material variations quickly once the graph is finished.

Another valuable feature is the possibility of seamlessly integrating its textures into Substance 3D Painter with ease and continuing to work on them by adding details and so on. That means your workflow is enriched by the power of these tools working together.

The Procedural Grilled Steak Project

I’m passionate about fine food, and this is one of the reasons I wanted to focus on an appetizing dish. I often go to an excellent steakhouse in Italy where I usually order a juicy steak served with roasted potatoes – this inspired my 3D work!

As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to experiment with something new in my workflow using procedural methods. As the final step, I decided to integrate the result into a context composed of polygonal props.

Here is the software I used:

• Substance 3D Designer, utilized for generating bitmaps (albedo, roughness, normal, height, etc.) 
• Marmoset Toolbag 4, used for set dressing, lighting, and rendering
• DaVinci Resolve, employed for compositing a short clip

References

When kicking off a new project, I always collect photo references to get a good sense of the details I want to include. Creating a juicy grilled steak is a tough challenge – not just because of the amount of detail involved but also in making it look appetizing. The final result depends on several factors, such as the type of meat, cooking temperature, toppings, and the presence of bones or grease.

PureRef helped me collect the most significant photo references.

Each image has a distinct role: for instance, the initial photo (Steak Doneness Guide) was crucial for understanding the main meat patterns and creating nuanced variations to apply throughout the steak. Conversely, images of raw meat were primarily useful for studying the distribution of fat.

As a 3D artist, I am aware that details make the difference – just having a basic steak with only visible fibers can seem dull and uninteresting.

We need something more, guided by your references and personal preferences:

• toppings such as spices and salt;
• bone presence;
• grill marks, which result from cooking the steak on a hot grill;
• a small cut showing the steak’s doneness;
• some roasted potatoes as a side dish;
• a few grease areas that boost the meat’s flavor and tenderness.

A word of advice: collecting references might be time-consuming if not tackled appropriately. Begin with broad images and narrow down the list to the most relevant ones. Also, grouping them together might make sense. Moreover, enhance the quality of your selection by looking for unique details, such as different toppings or variations in steak’s doneness. In the end, you will figure out how this activity pays off.

Designing the Material

A common practice while creating the basics of your material is to start with the height map, which represents all the procedural details. As you add more features, your graph needs to be reorganized for more clarity. Comments make it more readable too.

A good habit is to group nodes into blocks when they handle a specific aspect. Finally, creating subgraphs allows isolating external elements, such as the potato subgraph, which is independent of the steak.

Primary Shape

As a general guideline, I start by focusing on the large shapes before addressing the finer details. Diving straight into details isn’t advisable because it’s crucial to establish a solid foundation first – this principle is valid in digital sculpting as well.

Starting from a paraboloid shape, I used a few noise textures to manage the main shape’s deformation. The Non-Uniform Blur node, which uses the same map for both inputs, is great for creating a smooth gradient around the shape's edge. Note that the procedural noise maps I adopted are suitable for soft deformations since they do not contain high-frequency details.

Bones

You can model two of the three bones effectively by using a Directional Warp node to deform a shape in a specific direction. The warping effect is controlled by another shape node with a crescent (circular) pattern. Getting the circular map right required multiple tests, as earlier maps failed to produce a natural bone shape. Without using too many nodes, I managed to obtain the bone shape I was looking for by simply using the Directional Warp node with an appropriate deformation map.

This basic bone shape served as the starting point. The entire graph enabled me to refine the result and achieve a more natural appearance. However, the smooth gradient from the top to the base originates from the initial shape node with its circular pattern, not from subsequent adjustments. That's why creating a strong basic shape early on is essential – there’s plenty of time to add details afterward.

Greasy Areas

Not all steaks are alike! If the steak is super tender, it may show some grease areas, as seen in the reference image. However, I chose neither to overdo it nor to keep the thickness as pronounced. Instead, I opted for a slimmer version with a more customized organic appearance, according to my taste. In this example, the grease forms four distinct sections separated from one another. Let’s apply this concept to our steak!

After several tests, I came up with a proper subdivision. Let’s see now how to replicate this in Substance 3D Designer.

A portion of this graph shows a simple but effective technique for dividing space into regions – the Voronoi Diagram, aka Dirichlet Tessellation. This mathematical method builds each region from a seed, also named generator. This approach, despite being broadly used for generating rock sediments, has been crucial in my particular case while creating meat sections.

Beginning with basic rectangular shapes, I created a fade effect that extends outward to produce random regions (Voronoi diagram). Next, I extracted the edges and applied random deformations. This step demands patience and numerous trials to achieve an effective subdivision. I employed a Directional Warp node to illustrate the pattern selected within the steak area. Additional refinements were made in other parts of the graph to remove bone areas and other details from the influence of the grease.

Achieving a convincing pattern for the grease can be challenging. The subnetwork highlighted in red is responsible for refining the aforementioned pattern and applying it to the steak’s base.

I chose to recap the grease creation process through the following video. I began with the grease mask and used the Non-Uniform Blur node to "soften" some areas, leaving only the larger sections. Next, I applied the Quantize node to introduce banding, which was then blurred and integrated into the steak. Additionally, I developed a custom procedural pattern to overlay the greasy areas, adding some variety to the surface.

Meat Texture

Along with other networks, this one plays a crucial role in defining the overall appearance of the steak. The meat texture subgraph is divided into sections.

The “Basic Shape” section begins with a cone primitive, which I used to create four distinct versions with non-uniform scaling. I then layered additional features, known as “Small nerves details,” on these versions. I employed the Tile Sampler node to craft a custom pattern and applied various “Noise” effects and deformers in the “Layering” section.

The overall result, applied on top of the steak, is distributed in a random way through variations/noise maps, which make the texture breakup even more interesting.

The cuts are created by inverting the meat pattern (to achieve brighter pixel values in the recessed areas) using the Levels node and then applying a Histogram Scan node to isolate some of these recessed cuts. The goal is twofold: first, the cuts are blended into the steak's surface to give those areas a deeper appearance. Second, they are used as a mask to apply a reddish color when generating the albedo map.

Here are the resulting cuts. Look at how I managed to isolate just a subset of them by considering a grayscale pattern blended in multiply mode. The more organic and natural the appearance, the better!

Grill Marks

Grill marks are a common feature on a juicy grilled steak, appearing as a result of the cooking process. These marks can be arranged in different ways: while some steaks show a crosshatch pattern with marks in multiple directions, others have a single orientation. Considering my personal taste, I selected the latter option.

I began by using the Tile Sampler node and blurred the marks with a Non Uniform Blur node followed by Warp nodes to alter the straight lines. To introduce variation, I multiplied the output by a procedural Perlin noise and adjusted the line orientation to an almost diagonal angle through the Transformation 2D node. For additional fine details, I utilized a Slope Blur Grayscale node before finally overlaying the processed texture onto the steak. Here is the recap of some of the nodes involved.

Customizable Cut

To introduce some unique features, I decided to add a triangular cut along the edge to display the steak’s doneness. I started by shaping a paraboloid and then employed a Quad Transform node, which is particularly useful for modifying a shape through four control points. A 2D Transformation node allowed me to move the shape as needed, while I used a Levels node to fine-tune the luminance levels in preparation for a boolean operation. Before executing that, I applied a Multi Directional Warp node to slightly distort the shape. In the final step, a Subtract node removed the triangular piece from the steak.

Keep in mind that I deliberately started with a paraboloid shape and not with a general circle because of the gradient effect at the edge: the cut doesn’t need to be sharp and vertical. However, a slight slope towards the base is preferred to add a more organic look to the steak.

A curious thing about the cut is that it is completely customizable. That means I can move it to different locations in just a few seconds or even decide to remove it from the steak. That’s the great advantage of working with a procedural approach and non-destructive networks.

Why Creating Masks Matters

When working with materials, masks play a vital role; for example, they allow you to isolate specific areas without impacting the rest. As your project expands and the number of nodes increases, it’s advisable to create a dedicated block that contains the masks you use most frequently throughout the project.

Masks are mainly black and white textures but can also be shades of gray in case you look for a soft transition. A simple method to create masks in Substance 3D Designer is by using the Histogram Scan node: by adjusting the position and contrast settings, you can easily customize your mask. Once done, it’s ready to be used with blending nodes.

Refinements and Final Touches

Once the main shape is defined, it's time to enhance the base with additional details, as well as refine the textures and surface imperfections.

Evaluate the solidity of your material at this stage. If it seems insufficient to add more details, revisit and refine your graph. When the material is robust enough, you can proceed with the next steps.

Let’s describe the additional details we want to highlight:

• Burnt spots
• Salt
• Spices
• Potatoes

Burnt spots can occur due to either the grill's heat or high cooking temperatures, which cause sugars and proteins to caramelize, leading to dark or brown patches. These spots are usually spread across the steak and are often found around the grill marks.

The spots are different in size: some are bigger than others and randomly spread.
Additionally, you can find some burnt areas along the edge of the steak.
In summary, there are no strict rules for representing these details – relying on references and careful observation are essential.

A Tile Sampler node comes in handy while scattering elements on top of each other. Apart from the input shapes representing the single spots, this node allows the connection of several maps for better control over the placement of scattered elements. By using the grill marks as a mask, we can distribute the spot accordingly.

This is the result of the spots being scattered in the grill area.

Remember to build at least 4-5 different types of spots to connect to the Tile Sampler node – the more, the better!

Also, the Tile Sampler node uses a parameter named Position Random, which shifts the spots to different positions based on your needs. I usually keep this value low to minimize overlaps, but you might consider adjusting it slightly to add a more organic look.

The process for adding salt and spices is similar to that of the spots but involves using different input maps with the Tile Sampler node. This approach allows for adjustments in rotation, scaling, distribution, and other interesting properties.

When scattering elements, you might often face the problem of a dirty overlay. This issue generally occurs when multiple objects from different layers end up in the same space, leading to blending problems that need to be fixed. A helpful guideline is to refine any poor overlay when working with layers that involve randomly scattered elements
A technique I have learned relies on two nodes: Non Uniform Blur and the Add Blending Mode, as illustrated in the following figure:

Imagine performing a safe blending mode for spices sitting on top of the steak, along with other scattered elements. We start with 2 input elements:

• Steak Surface
• Details to add (spices)

The Non Uniform Blur node softens the Steak Surface in areas where the spices overlap, flattening those sections; this result is then added to our spices input to achieve a seamless blend. Essentially, any element that sticks out from the steak surface is smoothed down to ensure the spices rest on top.

Enhancing the Steak’s Edge

While the previous techniques for scattered elements are great on the steak’s surface, elements on edge, with a relevant slope, might appear stretched if not handled correctly. Remember that we aren't working with a polygonal 3D model but rather with a 2D height map (textures), which displaces the vertices vertically when applied to a surface. If the slope is high, the burnt spots appear stretched on the steak’s edge. Let’s see it with an example:

Depending on how you have created the steak, the edge might appear thick in certain parts and thin in others. As the edge gets thinner, we have to work on details to avoid some stretching effects. I’ve illustrated this through the ambient occlusion map because of the clear details on the steak's edge, but in reality, we are working on the height map – nonetheless, the logic doesn’t change at all. In my particular case, the bone’s contour needs attention, especially in the lower part.

Therefore, there are no strict rules when dealing with details on sloped surfaces: a practical solution is to evaluate the slope in a particular area and apply a Transformation 2D node on the details, using vertical or horizontal non-uniform scaling – the steeper the slope of the edge, the more scaling of the details in one direction is required. 

Additional stretching issues, difficult to fix, can arise in areas with more pronounced steak curvatures. Another valuable solution for addressing this issue involves a node called Vector Warp Grayscale: this node helped me create a natural detail flow along the edge with the details following the curvature.

In this general example, a normal map (called Flow/Vector map), which is generated from a cube shape, deforms a Cell_1 procedural node in a way that the cells follow the cube’s contours.

Applying the same principle, the normal map outlining the steak's contour adjusts the burnt spots and details to align with the steak’s curvature. This example begins with a Cell_1 node, which serves as the foundation for further refinement. You can then minimize stretching effects, generate random shapes, and experiment with different blending modes to craft a distinctive border. This is precisely the approach I used as my starting point. On the other hand, do not hesitate to leave some details slightly stretched if they serve the overall effect.

Minimizing Edge Aliasing (Jagged Edges)

As you know, Substance 3D Designer offers several nodes for completing a series of tasks. When the project gets complex and your graph grows, you may run into aliasing issues without immediately knowing which node is responsible. Unless you want to keep the aliasing effect deliberately, it’s important to address the issue promptly to prevent it from affecting other nodes.

Let’s take the Quantize node, for instance, which creates discrete bands based on the input map: because of its nature, the transition from one area to another introduces some aliasing.

The Blur HD Grayscale node is a useful solution for removing the stair-stepping effect. In the example, I used it right after applying the Quantize node, which softened the edges considerably without overly blurring the distinct bands.

Adding Breakup

When adding details, it’s helpful to check your work bit by bit to see where you can make improvements. Staring at the steak for too long, especially when most of the details are already done, isn’t really effective. Instead, take a short break and come back to it with fresh eyes. You’ll probably find it easier to spot things that need tweaking.

What I needed was a bit of breaking up with some micro details in the meat texture. That is beneficial for two reasons:

• it gives that touch of realism through small imperfections in the meat fibers
• it improves the aspect of the roughness map for specular reflections

The procedural node BnW Spots 3 did the trick for that.

Maps

So far, we have seen the breakdown of the main details saved in the height map. This map is displaced from a flat surface and is just one of the other PBR maps.

Albedo 

The albedo map represents the color information. When I work on texturing, I typically approach this step by starting with a uniform base tint and then layer color variations on top of it. Blending modes allows mixing the layers together.

Here is my general workflow:

1. I work on “Utility Maps”, sometimes blended together, which contain the details for texturing. Apart from the height map, the curvature and AO capture all the tiny crevices, concave parts, and details in occluded areas, which are all saved as grayscale maps.

2. The Gradient Map node remaps the grayscale values to colors based on a gradient. You can either choose colors from reference images or make a custom gradient.

3. I used several blending modes to merge the color maps and create custom masks as needed.

If needed, I fine-tune my textures by adding grunge maps to introduce variations and improve the final look.

Color Variations

Choosing the right tints and mixing colors effectively is essential for achieving a realistic result.

Just like with the height map, the albedo also needs color breakup! This way, we can avoid a too-perfect look. The grunge maps are the way to go! Unlike curvature or ambient occlusion, these maps aren’t derived from the steak's features but live on their own. Here is an example of two grunge maps that improve the result.

Conversely, cuts are usually located in the recessed areas that capture the finer details of the steak. I begin with a grayscale map of the meat fibers and apply a Histogram Scan node to isolate these concave regions. Next, I use a grunge map to randomly erase some portions and then apply color using a Gradient Map node. This method ensures that reddish tones are only added where desired, avoiding unwanted areas.

A similar approach is used for the bone textures; however, instead of beginning with the height map, we start with the ambient occlusion and then build the color details based on that.

Blood Stain

Adding this feature enhances the overall organic feel and visual interest. I left out blood stain details from other PBR maps, such as normal and ambient occlusion, aiming for a flat look without soft shadows. The way I created this feature simply relies on Non Uniform Direction Warp, Histogram Scan, and Non Uniform Blur nodes as described in the image.

Potatoes

Potatoes are a side dish that fits perfectly into my project. Including them in the scene was a bonus, and they make a great combo with the steak. I applied the previous techniques, starting with an almost uniform tint and overlaying details based on utility, noise, and grunge maps for more color variation. Along with that, the inclusion of additional details such as rosemary, salt, and some burnt areas had a fundamental impact on the final render. 

Here is a quick summary of albedo layering.

Here's a tip: pay attention to the subtle color shades in your reference images, even if the surface looks uniform at first glance – like with the potatoes. It's those tiny variations that bring realism to your work.

Roughness

In order to design the roughness map, start by utilizing a few utility maps, much like how we approached the albedo.

Several factors affect the roughness of steaks, such as how well the meat is cooked, any burnt spots, areas that are more thoroughly cooked than others, or even oil applied after cooking. Essentially, there are no rigid guidelines for creating this effect – just careful observation and a lot of patience!

In this step, determine how much the factors mentioned earlier affect the roughness and adjust accordingly.

The photo reference at the top has a roughness that closely matches the render, while the photo at the bottom has reflections appearing slightly blurrier, giving the steak a drier look.

Here is the roughness map with a few considerations:

Other Maps

In Substance 3D Designer, creating the normal and AO maps is a fast and straightforward operation: all you need to do is connect the height map to two designated nodes.

Moreover, the Normal and Ambient Occlusion nodes include specific parameters for finer control over the quality and appearance of these maps. 

The metallic map is black because we don’t have any parts of that type; instead, I decided to consider an opacity map close to the edge of the steak and potatoes – some oil trails, stains, or wet areas improve the integration between the food and the contact surface. Since those areas are semi-transparent, revealing part of the chopping board underneath, we definitely need an opacity map.

I adopted two different approaches for designing wet parts.

The first one is related to the exported maps from Substance 3D Designer, meaning the albedo has a subtle, transparent brownish tint – in this case, the opacity map manages the transparency.

Nonetheless, the best approach I applied in Marmoset Toolbag 4 relies on painting directly onto the chopping board, thus giving me more control over the reflections at render time.

Lighting and Rendering

There are plenty of options available for preparing the final shots. Among them, Marmoset Toolbag 4 stands out, including a cutting-edge ray-tracing algorithm and a wide array of tools that go far beyond just rendering – in fact, Toolbag 4 has also become a great tool for texturing!

I generally use standard materials in Toolbag by loading the PBR maps exported from Substance 3D Designer. The main setup includes:

• height map used as a displacement map and applied to a simple plane with a high number of subdivisions
• normal map
• albedo map
• roughness map
• metalness map, set to black in this case (no presence)
• occlusion map
• cavity map, loaded from a copy of the ambient occlusion map. This boosts the contrast and details in sunken areas 
• transparency, providing semi-transparent details at the edge of the steak and potatoes.

Scene Setup

While the steak and potatoes are fully procedural, the rest of the scene consists of 3D poly meshes – items like the dishes, tablecloths, and chopping board have their own material setup. I then decided not to render the steak on its own because I was looking for a realistic context (like a kitchen) where the steak has been cooked and placed on a chopping board before being served.

The procedural steak, including potatoes, is essentially an extruded flat plane with details read from the height map. The plane lies on the chopping board, which is flat too. 

If you need a more complex surface to place the steak on, you could use some deformers to modify the plane and adapt it to the new shape.

This short video represents a simple setup for the steak.

Additionally, Marmoset Toolbag 4 provides us with a huge variety of materials out of the box, such as aluminum foil.

The material is provided with all the pre-configured PBR maps, and once applied to your mesh, you are almost ready to render – just a few adjustments to the roughness slider, if necessary.

The power of the foil material is that you can wrap any object with it, and thanks to the displacement map, it creates the appearance of a real underlying mesh.

This material is particularly useful for achieving an additional level of realism, and it provides depth and texture that go beyond simple surface detailing. Moreover, the material can be adapted to various objects and scenes, making it a valuable asset in both high-fidelity and real-time rendering scenarios.

Lighting Setup

Marmoset Toolbag 4 excels in lighting and rendering capabilities, offering a broad selection of HDR images and the ability to add directional lights on the HDR map interactively. For this particular setup, I utilized three custom spot lights along with one HDR image. 

The HDR image provides ambient lighting by illuminating the scene from all angles, creating a 360-degree illumination effect, while the other spotlights have specific uses:

• top light: featuring a warm tint, it enhances the vibrancy of the meat fibers and highlights the grill marks with increased specular reflections,
• top-right light: serving as a fill light, it accentuates the bones and adds interest to the out-of-focus areas,
• bottom light: acting as a fill light for the side of the steak, it reveals additional details, including the raw meat visible due to the cut.

Here is a short clip demonstrating the lighting breakdown:

Rendering

The rendered images you see were created with Marmoset Toolbag 4's ray tracing feature, which efficiently manages multiple light bounces to provide precise shadows, reflections, and caustics, resulting in exceptional global illumination. Alongside these core capabilities, various post-processing settings are vital for enhancing the final image quality.

Let’s examine the specific effects applied to the steak.

• DOF (Depth of Field): Within the lens section of the current camera, I can adjust the focus distance and manage the quality of the out-of-focus areas (Bokeh). For this setup, the out-of-focus regions are positioned in the top-right and bottom-left corners, directing attention to the meat details in the central area.

• Tone Mapping Section: This section enables adjustments to settings such as exposure, midtones, contrast, and saturation. A particularly valuable parameter for enhancing render quality is "Clarity," which boosts the definition of fine details in the scene.

• Sharpen: This feature is used to reduce blurriness by enhancing the clarity of details, making the image appear crisper and more defined.
• Bloom: This effect causes light to bleed from the edges of bright areas, creating a soft, glowing halo that blends into darker regions. It’s a subtle effect that adds a delicate glow to the image.
• Vignette: This effect darkens the edges of the image by applying a dark circular mask around the perimeter. The darkening is subtle, barely visible at the corners, and helps to focus the viewer's attention toward the center of the image.
• Grain: Adding a touch of grain can significantly enhance realism by mimicking the appearance of real cameras. Grain is most apparent in the shadows, and in this setup, I’ve introduced only a small amount to achieve a more authentic look. In digital imaging, grain primarily results from noise in the image sensor.

Conclusion

This brings us to the end of this interview where we explored the main aspects involved in the creation of my procedural steak.

Starting from references and sources of inspiration, we dived into the graph by exploring a few techniques that help build and polish your textures.

We ended up with lighting and rendering in Marmoset Toolbag 4 with special attention to post-processing effects.

This project was quite challenging and took me around 85 to 90 hours over the span of about two months. This timeline was due to balancing other commissions and projects at the same time. Also, I needed to refine every detail of the steak meticulously. Typically, I spend less time on a material in Substance 3D Designer (like for rocks, walls, etc.), but the organic aspects and new challenges involved in the project required additional time. However, I’m happy I learned a lot from this project and hope to produce other interesting materials in the future.

Regarding the primary difficulties I faced during the project, I believe that making something appear vibrant and appetizing using just nodes and functions is a significant challenge that demands extensive experimentation. I had to revise certain elements, such as the meat textures, multiple times to achieve the right look and natural effect I wanted. Furthermore, adding details in areas with slopes and curvature was challenging, but it allowed me to practice with new nodes that addressed many issues.

Never underestimate the importance of each map you create: while the height map is crucial for defining basic shapes and details, roughness is just as important as albedo. Even if you have a well-detailed color map, poor specular reflections can detract from the overall quality. Therefore, work meticulously on each map and don’t overlook details that might seem minor at first.

From this experience, I’ve learned and confirmed that Substance 3D Designer is highly effective for certain types of objects, such as organic shapes, in addition to its well-known applications for rocks, sediments, terrain, and similar items. While it may not replace poly modeling entirely, a robust and well-structured graph allows for the rapid development of different steak variations in a non-destructive workflow, letting you choose whether to include bones, cuts, or toppings. This flexibility is fantastic!

However, one downside is that Substance 3D Designer itself can be somewhat intimidating and confusing for those who are not familiar with it.

Therefore, my advice is to start learning the fundamentals of Substance 3D Designer and understand how effectively the most important nodes work through simple assignments.

Another point is that it's important not to rush and skip over basic forms in favor of diving straight into details (this approach applies in digital sculpting as well). My advice is to focus on refining your primary shapes until they are solid and well-developed before moving on to secondary and tertiary details. Consider the polishing step as crucial as the other stages since achieving a perfect result often requires some cleaning and refinement after the initial details are established. Finally, cultivate curiosity and add distinctive features to make your material engaging and visually appealing. Use your creativity and imagination to build distinctive features and don’t limit yourself to generic elements.

I want to thank 80 Level for giving me the opportunity to discuss this project with you!
If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn, and stay tuned for new projects on my ArtStation.

Francesco Furneri, Texture Artist

Interview conducted by Gloria Levine