The French software company, Allegorithmic, has announced the second release of its “Signature Series” collection, part of an ongoing effort to give professional Substance artists carte blanche to tap their imaginations and create original materials for the rest of the Substance community.
Sci-Fi Inspired Themes
In the collection released this month are 18 unique sci-fi themed materials from one of the game world’s top artists.
Chris Hodgson, a texture and material artist at Naughty Dog, was the exclusive creator of the latest Signature Series. For this release, Hodgson—who has over two decades of experience in the game industry—looked at sci-fi films of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s for his inspiration, including Alien, Blade Runner, and The Thing.
Substance Designer and Substance Painter
Hodgson created each material using only Substance Designer and Substance Painter. Some of the new materials of a sci-fi nature take advantage of techniques only recently made available in the latest versions of Substance Designer and Substance Painter—items like subsurface scattering, which gives alien skin a translucent glow.
01 – A samble texture from Chris Hodgson. (image: Chris Hodgson, Allegorithmic / Architosh. All rights reserved.)
“I’ve been using Substance professionally for years now, and it has helped me expand my creativity in ways I wasn’t able to before,” said Hodgson. “When the opportunity arose to create this collection, it gave me the chance to delve deeply into a genre I’ve always loved, and push myself to create things I’ve only ever dreamed about. Being able to share those results with others is just an incredible feeling.”
Hodgson’s Signature Series consists of five categories of materials, beginning with “Alien Growth,” a set of organic-inspired materials meant to be both exotic and even a little disgusting. The second group, “Alien Panel,” contains structures and panels that you might associate with a frightening alien civilization, including skeletal and techno-infused hallways. The “Sci-Fi Industrial Panel” group moves from the horror of H.R. Giger to the grittiness of cyberpunk, reflecting an urban setting of metal and electrical cables. In contrast to the dystopian cyberpunk influence, “Sci-Fi Panels” offers brighter, cleaner materials with a touch of retro style. The final group, “Alien Terrain,” offers everything users will need to create their own alien landscapes.
02 – Another material sample from the new Signature Series collection by Hodgson.
Hodgson’s collection marks the second Signature Series release of 2018, with a third planned for later this year. The new collection is available now as part of a Substance Source subscription, but users can also download and test the “Alien Growth Brain Cells” material right now for free. The Substance Source library continues to grow, and with the 18 new additions from Hodgson, users have access to nearly 1,700 ready-to-use materials, with more releases coming soon.
Next month, Hodgson will host a webinar to discuss the creation of his materials, as well as giving practical tips on how to customize them. The live stream event will be available on Allegorithmic’s YouTube channel, date and time to be announced.
Pricing and Availability
Access to Substance Source is available through a monthly subscription. Subscribers receive 30 Substance Source material downloads per month, together with Substance Designer, Substance Painter, and Substance B2M for $19.90 (Indie) or $99.90 (Pro). Pros can also buy the entire Substance Source library, along with one year of updates, for $4990.
Substance software runs on Mac and Windows platforms.
Architosh Analysis and Commentary
This second series has some amazing materials in it. Just the very idea of tapping the talents of top users for the expansion of 3d materials and textures is an excellent example of how to use “community” for the betterment of products for the community.
Allegorithmic’s customers extend far beyond the gaming community. It’s key to mention big brands like IKEA, Mercedes-Benz, and AEC industry users like Foster + Partners and Gensler. You can read more about this exciting company in our feature from last year. (see: Architosh, “Getting Real with 3D Materials—How Allegorithmic’s Technology is Leading,” 25 Aug 2017)
About Allegorithmic
Allegorithmic is the industry leader in 3D texture and material creation technologies. More than 150,000 users in the domains of games and entertainment, film and VFX, architecture, and design rely on Allegorithmic’s award-winning Substance texture and material authoring software for developing the next generation of digital content. Clients include: Naughty Dog, Activision, Sony Computer Entertainment, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Double Negative, MPC, Foster + Partners, Gensler, Louis Vuitton, Mercedes-Benz and IKEA. Founded in 2003, Allegorithmic is based in France with offices in Clermont-Ferrand, Lyon and Paris, and has global offices in Los Angeles, Cleveland, Montreal, Singapore and Seoul.
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