Viewport Click-to-Select Layer in Substance 3D Painter

[monsteranuni]

Hello Adobe Substance team,

I’d like to suggest a new feature for Substance 3D Painter that would greatly enhance the workflow for artists: Viewport Click-to-Select Layer.

The idea is to allow users to click directly on a visible area within the viewport, and Substance Painter would automatically select the corresponding layer in the layer stack. This would make it much faster and easier to identify and edit specific layers in complex projects, especially when dealing with multiple layers of detail or when layers have similar names.

Key Benefits:

1. Speed and Efficiency: This feature would reduce the time spent searching for layers in the layer stack, especially in projects with many layers or complex structures.
2. Precision in Layer Management: By clicking on specific regions of the model in the viewport, we could quickly locate the layer responsible for that detail, making edits more intuitive.
3. Improved User Experience: Many artists are familiar with viewport-based selection tools from other 3D software, so this addition would feel natural and improve Substance Painter's accessibility.

Potential Use Cases:

• Quickly locating and selecting details like dirt, scratches, or decals without searching through multiple layers.
• Easily verifying and adjusting effects like masking on specific layers.
• Enhancing the general workflow speed, especially for artists working with large material stacks.

Thank you for considering this suggestion! This feature would be a valuable addition for many artists and could streamline workflows, making Substance Painter even more powerful and user-friendly.

Best regards,

Anup.

[PixelVixen]

This would be super helpful!

[Cyril Dellenbach]

Hi @monsteranuni,

Sorry I missed your message back when it was sent.

That would actually be an awesome feature, and we're often discussing about QOL (Quality Of Life) updates we can make to improve Layer Management.

It would require to define how we're solving specific cases. As instance, if a Roughness layer is on top of a Base Color layer ; should it select the Roughness one or the Base Color one?

Regardless of the answer, I love the idea and you have my upvote.

Best regards,