GDC is the game industry's premier professional event, championing game developers and the advancement of their craft. The Game Developers Conference (GDC) brings the game development community together to exchange ideas, solve problems, and shape the future of the industry across five days of education, inspiration, and networking. Attendees include programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals, and business leaders.
substance Days
March 18 | 9:00am - 6:00pm | MOSCONE CENTER, west hall, Room #2020/2022
We’re excited to welcome you to the new edition of Substance Days! At this full-day conference, you will get to know what’s new with Substance 3D and listen to inspiring presentations from the experts on the industry’s best-rated games.
Check the program below.
SUBSTANCE DAYS PROGRAM
9:30 - 10:30 AM | Adobe Substance 3D Keynote
Jeremie Noguer, Product Director, Substance 3D, 3D & Immersive, Adobe
Wes McDermott, Head of Worldwide Substance 3D Evangelism, 3D & Immersive, Adobe
Valeria Gerontopoulos, Product Manager, 3D & Immersive, Adobe
Lydia Choy, Product Engineering, 3D & Immersive, Adobe
Learn the latest developments and announcements taking place in the Adobe Substance 3D ecosystem. Discover how the Substance 3D team continues to improve workflows and support artists to create stunning content. The team will share the latest product updates and initiatives, and much more. 
10:50 - 11:50 AM | Tips & Tricks in Adobe Substance 3D Painter to make semi-realistic textures
Anna Beganskaya, 3D Character Artist
3D Character Artist Anna Beganskaya will present the creation of textures for her Cyperpunk Girl project, which was fully textured in Substance 3D Painter. She will demonstrate how to combine procedural and hand-painted techniques to make semi-realistic textures which can be rendered further in Arnold. Anna will show that making good textures is easier than it often seems, as well as sharing her own tips and tricks.
1:20 - 2:20 PM | The Environment Art Technology and Workflows of Alan Wake 2
Miro Vesterinen, Lead Environment Artist, Remedy Entertainment
Benjamin Lindquist, Principal Technical Environment Artist, Remedy Entertainment
The presentation will give a brief high-level overview of the narrative-driven AAA game development company, Remedy Entertainment, and an in-depth look into the environment art workflows developed for Alan Wake 2. The talk will demonstrate prior conventions related to asset creation and texturing at the company and how these were improved during development. A deeper dive into physically based rendering (PBR) practices and pitfalls, Substance texturing processes and the in-engine (Northlight) developed landscape and material workflows will be provided as well as a glimpse into future tech development plans.
2:40 - 3:40 PM | The art and technology behind creating characters for Baldur’s Gate 3
Alena Dubrovina, Art Director, Larian Studios
The introduction of in-game cinematics was a game-changer for the character art team on Baldur’s Gate 3, as this meant characters needed to look good not only from the perspective of top-down combat cameras but also for extreme close-ups in cinematics. In this talk we’ll dive into some of the tools and processes that helped the Larian Studios team create high-quality characters, and allowed them to build up a customization system for players and NPCs to populate the vast world of Faerûn, the setting for the Baldur's Gate series. Alena will demonstrate a breakdown of a character, discuss ways to speed up production, and highlight how much can be achieved with simple texture customization techniques.
4:10 - 5:10 PM | PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE LOST CROWN - A VERSATILE APPROACH TO STYLIZED ENVIRONMENT ART
Loic Anquetil, Senior 3D Artist, Ubisoft
Jean-Baptiste Rollin, Lead Environment Artist, Ubisoft
Ubisoft’s Lead Environment Artist Jean-Baptiste Rollin and Senior 3D Artist Loic Anquetil will share the philosophy and the different techniques and tools that helped bring the game's environments to life. They will discuss how an indie approach and a craftsman's mindset made it possible to meet the challenges specific to the Metroidvania genre, with a small team, in a short production time frame, without compromising on artistic direction or performance. They will dive into the process of creating stylized textures in Substance 3D Designer, as well as the various pipelines put in place to facilitate asset creation.
SUBSTANCE DAYS AFTERPARTY
March 18 | 7:30 - 10:30 PM | Executive Order Bar & Lounge
After the conference, come to the Substance Days Afterparty at Executive Order Bar & Lounge. A great occasion to connect with the Substance team and our speakers while enjoying some food, drinks and good vibes. Reservation-only, and capacity is limited, make sure you register below!
Substance 3D Booth
March 20-22 | location #s157 | MOSCONE CENTER, SOUTH HALL (MAP)
Join us at the Adobe Substance 3D booth on the GDC Expo show floor where we are highlighting the latest features in the Substance suite.
The team will be at booth #S157 from March 20 to 22, in the South Hall with a program of live presentations (see schedule below) and exclusive technical demos. Meet our Substance experts to learn more about 3D workflows, get artists insights, and present your work during a portfolio review session. Book your review in one click (link below) and get useful tips and advice.
Live Presentation Schedule
Get inspired with live talks and demos from 3D artists, art directors, product managers and more. Discover 3D workflows, learn tips and tricks, and deep dive into an array of Adobe Substance 3D highlights and features. Check out the schedule below, and drop by the booth for your favorite presentation.
Creating textures for a stylized production in Adobe Substance 3D Painter
Carol Cornils, 3D Character Artist
Watch the creation of wood, skin and cloth textures for a stylized production setting using Substance 3D Painter and present them in Stager.
Wednesday, March 20 | 10:15am - 11:00am
Thursday, March 21 | 2:00pm - 2:45pm
Friday, March 22 | 12:15pm - 1:00pm
No-Color Texturing Approach on Baldur's Gate 3
Alena Dubrovina, Art Director, Larian Studios
Alena will show how Larian Studios approached creation of color-customizable textures on Baldur's Gate 3 for characters and creatures using Substance Painter.
Wednesday, March 20 | 11:15am - 12:00pm
Crafting Your 3D Artistry: Building an Impressive Student Portfolio
Nick Sharma, Senior Industrial Design Evangelist, Adobe
Explore essential strategies, showcase inspiring examples, and guide aspiring 3D artists through the process of creating a standout portfolio.
Wednesday, March 20 | 12:15pm - 1:00pm
Thursday, March 21 | 5:00pm - 5:45pm
Creating stylized tattoos in Adobe Substance 3D Painter
Rain Rouhani, 2D and 3D Character and Visual Development Artist
Learn how to create tattoos for a characters while utilizing brushes, anchor points and path tool in Painter.
Wednesday, March 20 | 2:00pm - 2:45pm
Working with Strong, Sculptural Shapes in Adobe Substance 3D Modeler
Giovanni Nakpil, Head of Visual Development, Worldwide Substance 3D Evangelism, Adobe
Learn how to use Modeler powerful primitives as a basis for creating strong, readable sculptures.
Wednesday, March 20 | 3:00pm - 3:45pm
Creation of embroidered cloth in Adobe Substance 3D Painter and Sampler
Sasha Honcharova, Environment Artist
Learn the process of creating a realistic embroidered cloth for environment props while using Illustrator, path tool, and anchor points.
Wednesday, March 20 | 4:00pm - 4:45pm
Friday, March 22 | 2:00pm - 2:45pm
Quick and easy texture creation using Firefly in Substance 3D Sampler
Laura Vitolina, 3D Artist / 3D Designer, Adobe
Baptiste Manteau, Lead Product Manager, Adobe
Learn how to create textures in minutes by taking advantage of the new Text to Texture, stylization filter and generators.
Wednesday, March 20 | 5:00pm - 5:45pm
Thursday, March 21 | 10:15am - 11:00am
The Making of "Ronda" Diorama with Substance 3D ModeleR
Giovanni Nakpil, Head of Visual Development, Worldwide Substance 3D Evangelism, Adobe
See how Substance Modeler was used to model assets for a diorama scene inspired by Spain.
Thursday, March 21 | 11:15am - 12:00pm
Tips and Tricks for Texturing using Substance 3D Painter and SampleR
Wes McDermott, Head of Worldwide Substance 3D Evangelism, Adobe
See how Substance Painter and Sampler were used to texture assets for a diorama scene inspired by Spain.
Thursday, March 21 | 12:15am - 1:00pm
Stained Glass creation in Adobe Substance 3D Designer
Sasha Honcharova, Environment Artist
Tips and tricks on how to create your own quick and easy stained glass materials in Designer.
Thursday, March 21 | 3:00pm - 3:45pm
Creating torn cloth for characters in Adobe Substance 3D Painter
Rain Rouhani, 2D and 3D Character and Visual Development Artist
Learn how to work with opacity on character clothing in Painter.
Thursday, March 21 | 4:00pm - 4:45pm
Creating Small Worlds in Adobe Substance 3D Modele
Kevin Shaw, Production Artist, 3D Modeler, Sculptor, Adobe
Learn different workflows for quickly creating assets and building out a small scene using Modeler.
Friday, March 22 | 10:15am - 11:00am
Making stitches and clothing sims for characters in Adobe Substance 3D Painter
Rain Rouhani, 2D and 3D Character and Visual Development Artist
Learn how to create cloth stitches with masks and anchor points.
Friday, March 22 | 11:15am - 12:00pm