Realistic Textures in Substance Painter

Install Substance Painter and prepare the 3D model by ensuring it is properly UV unwrapped. Import the model into Substance Painter.

Create a base layer for the texture. Apply base color and any necessary foundational materials that will be built upon in later steps.

Add detailed materials and fine-tune the texture using Substance Painter's various brushes, alphas, and particle systems to create realistic surface effects.

Utilize Substance Painter's smart materials to automatically add context-sensitive details to the texture, such as wear, tear, and dirt accumulation.

Customize the texture by creating and importing your own materials and by tweaking the existing ones to match your specific artistic direction and realism requirements.

Bake texture maps such as normal, ambient occlusion, and curvature from your high poly model if required. Adjust settings to ensure the maps are accurate and high-quality.

Export the finished textures from Substance Painter. Ensure to use the correct file format and settings that match the requirements of the rendering or game engine you will be using.

Ensure that the 3D model is competently UV unwrapped before importing, as the quality of UV mapping significantly affects the texture outcome.

Substance Painter has a learning curve, so utilizing tutorials, forums, and the Substance 3D community can be beneficial for troubleshooting and learning advanced techniques.

Running Substance Painter requires a computer with adequate system specifications, so ensure your hardware meets the software's system requirements for a smooth texturing process.

Regularly save your work to prevent loss of progress due to software crashes or other unforeseen issues.