Adobe recently updated its Substance plugin for Maya, introducing significant enhancements and new features in version 2.0.1. The plugin has been completely rewritten to offer improved performance and flexibility.
One of the most notable updates is the support for higher resolution textures. The new version can now output textures up to 8K resolution when using the GPU engine and up to 4K for the CPU engine. Additionally, the caching of output to disk has been improved, with the option to specify either LDR or HDR types. These cached outputs can also be automatically integrated back into the shader network via a Maya file node, streamlining the workflow.
Furthermore, the plugin now supports floating-point outputs using EXR format, providing greater precision and flexibility.
Another key improvement is the ability for a Substance to output numerical values that can be directly used with Maya nodes and materials. This allows a Substance to control various aspects of a shader network more effectively, especially where using numbers makes more sense than textures, such as for controlling the Index of Refraction (IOR).
The update also streamlines the import of Substance files, allowing for batch imports and drag-and-drop functionality within the Hypershade editor. To enhance user experience, a new Substance shelf has been added, providing quick access to common commands for working with Substance files.
Finally, the update includes one-click setup solutions for creating complete shader networks compatible with popular renderers like Arnold, Vray Next, Renderman, Redshift, and Maxwell. Users are also given the flexibility to create and customize their own workflows, providing greater control over the rendering process.
