Creating unique textures for 3d models in Substance Painter

FlippedNormals 2019-02-18 10:20 tutorial > Making of > texturing

In this Substance Painter video tutorial, we talk about what most beginners get wrong. Instead of crafting carefully made materials, they will rely far too much on smart materials and smart masks, disregarding reference and the story of the model.

Procedural masks and smart materials are tempting shortcuts for texturing objects, but these features are often overused by beginners. They result in a model that does not have a story and looks far too generic. In this tutorial by FlippedNormals you will see how to add a bit of a soul to your models with paint layers used in conjunction with procedurally generated masks.

Author: FlippedNormals

Tags:

Chaos releases Corona 16 for 3ds Max and Cinema 4D with Gaussian Splat relighting and Parallax Interiors

Corona 16 adds GPU-accelerated Gaussian Splat relighting and a new Parallax Interiors system that renders furnished rooms behind windows using flat geometry, cutting memory overhead for multifamily and tower facades. New AI Assistant beta helps with mood matching and scattering.

Oruva brings 3ds Max scenes to Blender, Cinema 4D and others - with materials converted for each renderer

A new Windows tool reads native .max files and rebuilds V-Ray and Corona materials for target renderers, letting multi-software studios skip re-setup work.

Quixel Megascans is free again - and this time it's permanent

Epic Games has made the full 23,000-asset Megascans library free on Fab indefinitely as of November 5, 2026, with refunds for 2025 purchases and new AI training rights. The Fab Standard License covers any game engine or tool without renderer lock-in.

Claude Opus 5.5 cuts AI-assisted Blender workflows 40% cheaper and 30% faster

Claude Opus 5.5, released September 22, cuts API costs by 40% and speeds output by 30%, making AI-driven scene assembly in Blender more practical for solo artists. The model excels at staging, lighting and rig fixes but not production mesh generation.

V-Ray 7 Update 5 embeds AI guidance, asset generation, and MCP agents across the V-Ray Collection

Chaos shipped V-Ray 7 Update 5 on November 5-6 with 30+ features including an embedded AI Assistant, Cosmos AI asset generation, and MCP server connections to ChatGPT and Claude. 3ds Max users face delays while Rhino and SketchUp gain immediate native AI access.

Arnold 7.5.4: Render Pausing, Faster Viewport, and Shader Compositing

Arnold 7.5.4 adds true render pausing, expands viewport acceleration to 3ds Max and Cinema 4D, and introduces a Shader Imager for pixel-level compositing without full rerenders. GPU instance performance jumps 3x for large scene updates.

V-Ray 7, Update 5: AI Scene Building and AMD GPUs Meet Real-Time Ray Tracing

Chaos embeds AI assistants, MCP server integration with Claude and ChatGPT, 2D-to-3D asset generation, and AMD GPU support into V-Ray 7, Update 5. The update also bundles Vantage real-time ray tracing access for Collection license holders, targeting faster workflows without compromising offline render quality.

Mach9 brings aerial LiDAR and photogrammetry into web-based CAD workflow

Mach9's web-based CAD software now processes drone and helicopter point clouds with automated feature extraction, cutting survey-to-model time by 40%. Export goes to DXF, DWG, LandXML and GIS formats.

Quixel Megascans is free again - and this time it's permanent

Evermotion: More Than an Asset Library

How Evermotion became a full-scale production partner for archviz, automotive and synthetic data.

Making Of: Interior Scene – Archmodels vol. 306 Table Sets

In this walkthrough, we guide you through the process of building a polished 3D interior scene inspired by the cover of Archmodels vol. 306 – Table Sets.