Documentation : Changelog and Requests

[Froyok]

We have an official documentation regarding Substance Painter 1 and 2. You can access it here : https://support.allegorithmic.com/documentation/display/SPDOC/Substance+Painter
We also have an official section for Frequently Asked Questions : https://support.allegorithmic.com/documentation/display/SPDOC/FAQ

If you think something is undocumented and/or poorly explained, please post a suggestion in this thread. The goal is to take feedback into account and improve our documentation.
Please note this thread if for the documentation only, if you have any issues or troubles understanding a feature, try opening a new support thread first.

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Changelog :

2017-03-15
- Add new page about Color Profiles

2016-10-06
- Updated command line installation page with shelf setups
- New FAQ page for empty previews in the shelf
- New FAQ page to find where global settings are stored and how to change them
- New FAQ page to list known conflicts with other software
- Improved FAQ page about network path (and why we don't support them)
- New page listing the Technical Requirements of the application
- Improved explanations on the page about the level effect

2016-09-06
- Updated effect pages (additional map and specific channels) for listing usages and identifiers

2016-07-12
- Updated export page to mention 8K resolution and its requirements

2016-07-01
- Improved FAQ page about incompatible software from Dell/Alienware
- Added mention of the quick shortcuts on the paint tool page

2016-06-23
- Improved 3D View page
- Improved Fill layers page
- Updated Texture Set page
- Updated General page page of the preferences window
- Improved Mask page (added new shortcuts)
- Added new FAQ page about color space setting for normal maps

2016-06-22
- Added new menus (plugins and mode)
- Added page explaining UDIMs
- Updated various pages to add mention of Linux (like the shelf path)
- Added new FAQ page regarding the "no disk error" on Windows
- Updated the About page
- Improved UDIM page
- Updated the User data page (for effects) about the "disable" tag

2016-06-21
- Improved documentation regarding normal map painting
- Added tutorial to setup a project and paint over a baked normal map
- Fixed typos about stencil on Paint brush page
- Documented new shortcuts available since Substance Painter 2.1

2016-06-20
- Fixed typos on Smudge Tool
- Improved documentation and fixed typos on Clone Tool
- Added examples on each painting tool page

2016-06-17
- Improved documentation regarding specific channel for substance effects
- Documented new naming convention for normal channel/normal baked in substance effects

[Froyok]

[Reserved for changelog]

[Froyok]

[Reserved for changelog]

[blenddizzy]

The baking section in the documentation needs to be updated for Substance Painter. None of it seems to correspond to v 2.0 and the pictures of the baker looks nothing like the baker I have in 2.0. Thanks 
Sorry, I think it was because I was using the "Export Textures" Function instead of the "Bake Textures". Disregard post.

[Bit Barrel Media]

Is this documentation still up to date with SP 2.4?
https://support.allegorithmic.com/documentation/display/SPDOC/Adding+content+to+the+shelf

In particular, is it still possible to import textures onto the shelf by placing them into the shelf folder in Windows Explorer directly?

[Froyok]

The baking section in the documentation needs to be updated for Substance Painter. None of it seems to correspond to v 2.0 and the pictures of the baker looks nothing like the baker I have in 2.0. Thanks 
Sorry, I think it was because I was using the "Export Textures" Function instead of the "Bake Textures". Disregard post.

The documentation is progressively updated to match Substance painter 2.x.

Is this documentation still up to date with SP 2.4?
https://support.allegorithmic.com/documentation/display/SPDOC/Adding+content+to+the+shelf

In particular, is it still possible to import textures onto the shelf by placing them into the shelf folder in Windows Explorer directly?

Yes, this page of the documentation is still valid for Substance Painter 2.4.

[helscorp]

Can a simple step by step walkthrough be created covering exporting from Painter specifically for import into Designer?
Or can a Painter file be "bundled" somehow for easy import into Designer along with the associated mesh so that artists don't need to rebuild what they already have in progress in order to add or edit in Designer?

The functionality of both packages is complex, which is understandable, but I feel I spend too much time setting up files and packages and less time actually painting or designing.

What is the easiest workflow to export bitmaps from Painter2017 to be reassembled in Designer2017 to augment?

Exporting completed work from Painter directly to an .sbsar or.sbs rather than bitmaps would be useful.
Is this possible?

[Froyok]

Can a simple step by step walkthrough be created covering exporting from Painter specifically for import into Designer?
Or can a Painter file be "bundled" somehow for easy import into Designer along with the associated mesh so that artists don't need to rebuild what they already have in progress in order to add or edit in Designer?

The functionality of both packages is complex, which is understandable, but I feel I spend too much time setting up files and packages and less time actually painting or designing.

What is the easiest workflow to export bitmaps from Painter2017 to be reassembled in Designer2017 to augment?

Exporting completed work from Painter directly to an .sbsar or.sbs rather than bitmaps would be useful.
Is this possible?

This sounds more like feature/tutorial requests than actual documentation related to the software itself.
I would suggest posting in the "Discussion" section so that we can answer more easily. Here it would be off-subject.

[wagray64]

When making a reference to an anchor point on an Image Input, two parameters pop up underneath. The Referenced Channel is quite obvious, but the Alpha Behavior is not obvious.  The choices are Keep Alpha, Extract Alpha, and Default Background Color.  What do these mean, and when should we choose them?  I haven't tried messing with the Levels graph below that yet, but some documentation on that would be helpful as well.  I am trying to author some mask generators, and the alpha behavior seems to be hanging things up. Thanks!

[Froyok]

When making a reference to an anchor point on an Image Input, two parameters pop up underneath. The Referenced Channel is quite obvious, but the Alpha Behavior is not obvious.  The choices are Keep Alpha, Extract Alpha, and Default Background Color.  What do these mean, and when should we choose them?  I haven't tried messing with the Levels graph below that yet, but some documentation on that would be helpful as well.  I am trying to author some mask generators, and the alpha behavior seems to be hanging things up. Thanks!

I'm actually working on the documentation of this part. It should be available soon.

[JosephKnight]

Under
Features>Subsurface Scattering>Enabling Subsurface in a Project>1 - Texture Set Settings               
of the documentation, it says;
"In the Texture Set Settings add a Transmissive channel if not already present: The Transmissive channel works like a mask over the surbsurface : if the channel is black there is no subsurface at all, while if it is white the subsurface intensity will be at maximum. This channel is a grayscale value that is black by default. Add a fill layer in the layer stack to control the default color or use a paint layer to manually control the intensity."

I have tried playing around with the transmissive channel in Painter, and it seems to have no effect on the scattering. Could this documentation go further into how to use the transmissive channel for effect.

[Jeremie Noguer]

This is a mistake in the documentation, Transmissive should be replaced by Scattering.

[Pixonti]

I was trying to locate a specific thread for Documentation issues and found this one. However, it seems quite old, so I'll try it but not sure if it's going to get any attention.

This is related to the documentation for Substance Painter, Arnold for Maya: https://docs.substance3d.com/spdoc/arnold-for-maya-143720756.html

I noticed on the page multiple times there was mention of the "Arnold Standart Shader". I assume that should be "Arnold Standard Shader"?

Also on the same page, step 2 of exporting mentions, "In the Export Tab, select the Arnold Configuration and Click on Export". This is perhaps outdated since when I go to the Export Textures window, there is no Export tab. There is a Settings tab that seems to be what the Export window was referring to, but there are other tabs in the window that do not reflect the same workflow.

The instructions also seem to end after the 2nd step, with some explaination of the Arnold Standard Shader, but it does not mention how to make any connections to the standard shader in Maya.

[Wes McDermott]

I was trying to locate a specific thread for Documentation issues and found this one. However, it seems quite old, so I'll try it but not sure if it's going to get any attention.

This is related to the documentation for Substance Painter, Arnold for Maya: https://docs.substance3d.com/spdoc/arnold-for-maya-143720756.html

I noticed on the page multiple times there was mention of the "Arnold Standart Shader". I assume that should be "Arnold Standard Shader"?

Also on the same page, step 2 of exporting mentions, "In the Export Tab, select the Arnold Configuration and Click on Export". This is perhaps outdated since when I go to the Export Textures window, there is no Export tab. There is a Settings tab that seems to be what the Export window was referring to, but there are other tabs in the window that do not reflect the same workflow.

The instructions also seem to end after the 2nd step, with some explaination of the Arnold Standard Shader, but it does not mention how to make any connections to the standard shader in Maya.

HI,

Very sorry for the confusion. The docs listed above are old and out of date. Please check our new updated docs for Arnold in the Ecosystem and Plugins pages. https://docs.substance3d.com/display/integrations/Rendering

Here is the page specific to Painter and Arnold.
https://docs.substance3d.com/display/integrations/Arnold+-+Substance+Painter

Cheers,
Wes