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Support Nested Effects in the Layer StackOpen for Voting

I would like to request support for nested / hierarchical Effects in Substance 3D Painter's Layer Stack.The goal is not to introduce a full Designer-style Node Graph, but to allow the existing Effects used in Layers and Masks — including Filters, Generators, and other effect types — to be organized hierarchically.A good reference for this workflow is the nested Filter system in World Creator 2026, where an effect can contain other effects and multiple levels of hierarchy can be created.The main reason for this request is that Painter's current linear Effect workflow becomes increasingly difficult to manage as Mask and material logic becomes more complex.The Core Problem: Painter's Effect Stack Is Fundamentally LinearPainter already provides most of the building blocks needed to create sophisticated masks and material effects.For example:Curvature Ambient Occlusion Position Thickness Grunge Noise Generators Levels Histogram Scan Blur Warp etc.The problem is not a lack of available Effects.The problem is that these Effects are primarily organized as a linear sequence: Fill Layer├── Curvature├── Metal Edge Wear├── Dripping Rust├── Levels├── Warp└── UV Border DistanceA linear stack works very well when the desired operation is simply: A → B → C → DHowever, real-world material authoring frequently requires branching and nested operations.For example: A × (B + C)or: Blur( A × ( B + C ))These are not particularly complicated operations mathematically, but they are difficult to express naturally using a purely linear Effect stack.The issue is therefore not the complexity of the individual operations. It is the inability to conveniently represent their relationships.The Current WorkaroundCurrently, when a more complex relationship is required, the artist has to construct additional Layers, Masks, Groups, and intermediate results to simulate the required hierarchy.For example, instead of directly representing: Multiply├── A└── Add ├── B └── Cthe artist may have to construct several intermediate Masks/Layers to calculate B + C first, then feed that result into another Mask operation, and then continue processing the result.As the logic becomes more complicated, this can lead to structures such as: Layer└── Mask ├── Generator ├── Filter ├── Group │ ├── Mask │ │ ├── Generator │ │ └── Filter │ └── Filter ├── another Mask └── additional FiltersThe Layer Stack is then no longer primarily representing the material itself.It is being used to simulate a processing tree that Painter cannot directly represent.The Cost of the Current ApproachThis workaround has several significant costs.1. Unnecessary complexityA relatively simple mathematical relationship can require many Layers, Masks, and intermediate operations.The resulting graph of dependencies becomes much larger than the actual logic being performed.2. Poor readabilityWhen returning to a material weeks or months later, it can be difficult to understand why a particular intermediate Mask exists or how several nested Masks contribute to the final result.The artist has to mentally reconstruct the processing logic from the Layer Stack.3. Difficult iterationChanging one part of a complex operation can require navigating through several levels of Layers and Masks.This makes experimentation slower, especially when the artist is trying different combinations of existing Effects.4. More duplicationThe same intermediate processing may need to be recreated in multiple places because the current structure does not provide a convenient way to organize complex operations hierarchically.5. The Layer Stack becomes an implementation detailThis is perhaps the biggest problem.The artist is forced to think about:"How can I represent this operation using Painter's Layer/Mask structure?"instead of simply thinking about:"What operation do I want to perform on this material?"That distinction becomes increasingly important as a material becomes more sophisticated.Why More Generators Do Not Solve This ProblemAdding more Generators or Filters does not fundamentally address this issue.Different materials frequently require completely different combinations of the same basic operations.For example, a wood asset might require: Levels└── Multiply ├── Curvature └── Directional Noisewhile a copper lamp might require: Levels└── Add ├── Concavity └── Grungeand a stone asset might require: Blur└── Multiply ├── AO └── SlopeThese are asset-specific compositions.It is not practical to solve this problem by creating a new Generator for every possible combination.This is analogous to software development:A library provides reusable functions. The application decides how those functions are combined for a particular task.Substance 3D Designer is excellent for creating reusable procedural building blocks.But Painter needs a better way for the artist to combine those existing building blocks freely at the asset level.Proposed Solution: Nested EffectsAllow Effects to contain other Effects.For example: Fill Layer└── Levels └── Multiply ├── Curvature └── Add ├── AO └── GrungeAnother example: Fill Layer└── Blur └── Multiply ├── Metal Edge Wear └── Levels └── Dripping RustThe important point is that the hierarchy should apply to the broader Effect system, rather than only to Filters.It should ideally support combinations of:Filters Generators Other existing Layer/Mask EffectsThe exact terminology or UI implementation can of course be determined by Adobe.Why a Hierarchical Tree Is EnoughI am not requesting a full Substance 3D Designer-style Node Graph.A recursive hierarchy would already solve a large portion of the problem.The conceptual difference is simply:Current Effect AEffect BEffect CEffect DProposed Effect A└── Effect B ├── Effect C └── Effect DThis provides a way to express nested relationships without requiring Painter to introduce a completely different node-based authoring paradigm.The existing Painter workflow could remain intact:Layers → Masks → EffectsThe only significant addition would be:Effects can contain Effects.Reference: World Creator 2026World Creator 2026 provides a useful example of this concept.Its Filters can be organized into multiple levels of hierarchy, for example: Filters└── General - Border Blend ├── Distribution ├── Effects └── Occlusion ├── Effects └── WaveThis is the kind of hierarchy I am referring to.I am not suggesting that Painter copy World Creator's entire procedural system.The useful part is specifically the ability to organize processing operations into a recursive hierarchy.Why This Would Be a Relatively Focused FeatureI believe this could be introduced without fundamentally changing what Painter is.Painter would not need to become Substance 3D Designer.It would not require every asset to become a Node Graph.Existing Filters and Generators would remain useful exactly as they are.The primary change would be allowing the existing Effect container/stack to support a parent-child relationship.Conceptually: Current:Layer └── Effect Stack ├── Effect ├── Effect └── EffectProposed:Layer └── Effect Tree ├── Effect │ └── Effect │ ├── Effect │ └── Effect └── EffectThis would preserve backward compatibility with the current linear workflow while providing a much more powerful structure when needed.The ResultThe most important improvement would be that the structure of the Painter project could finally represent the structure of the material operation itself.Instead of having to translate: A × (B + C)into a complicated collection of Layers and Masks, the artist could simply construct: Multiply├── A└── Add ├── B └── CThe parentheses in the mathematical expression become the hierarchy of the Effect tree.This would make complex material authoring:Easier to construct Easier to understand Easier to debug Easier to modify Less dependent on intermediate Layers/Masks Less repetitive More scalable for complex assetsMost importantly, it would allow artists to spend less time working around the limitations of the Layer Stack and more time designing the actual material.The request is not for more Effects. Painter already has many excellent building blocks. The request is for the ability to freely compose those building blocks into hierarchical, asset-specific operations.

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