Introducing Adobe Substance 3D Stager and Dimension update!

[JMathews]

Hi everyone!  Jeanette here, lead product manager for Dimension.  It's been a little while since I've had an announcement for the community, but I'm very happy to be able to break the silence on some exciting news.

Today we launched a new application - Adobe Substance 3D Stager!  Stager is built by the same team that built Dimension with a shared foundation for some technology while also being a bit reimagined.  Where Dimension was a general purpose application that was intended for those new to 3D to learn, Stager is a dedicated scene staging application that is more powerful for professional 3D artists while retaining it's approachability for those learning 3D.

So what are some of the key differences between Dimension and Stager?

• Dimension was more general purpose where Stager is specifically part of the new Substance 3D Collection which offers multiple applications for an end-to-end 3D workflow including modeling, texturing, and staging.
• The rendering engine has been updated and reworked to the Adobe Mercury Rendering Engine.  This engine is multi-technique, including both real time and ray tracing in a single engine.  It is built with entire new infrastructure for modernizing techniques, improving performance and scaling to be available on more hardware.
• Stager's material system has been updated for a new version of the Adobe Standard Material definition with tons of new effects like displacement, subsurface scattering, dispersion, clear coat, sheen, anisotropy, and more.
• Stager includes a variety of general new staging features including collision based layout, multi-camera resolution outputs, physical lights, and much more.

What does this mean for Dimension?

• Dimension will continue to be available as part of Creative Cloud All Apps plans - there is no change to it's availability!  To see Dimension Creative Cloud desktop go to settings > apps > and enable "Show older apps" setting.
• Dimension doesn't have any major planned releases right now  - we'll be putting new features into Stager, but we will provide support updates for Dimension!
• You can open Dimension files in Stager to take advantage of all the new features - also try Stager out for a full 30 day free trial!

Want to learn more about everything?  Check out some of these resources:

• Adobe.com 3D & Augmented Reality page
• Adobe.com Substance 3D Stager page

We're really excited about the opportunity to build a new family of 3D applications that work seamlessly to provide an end-to-end experience for modeling, texturing, and staging 3D models and scenes and we hope you enjoy the new Substance 3D Stager app!

--

Edit: 8/17

Thank you all for the great conversation on Dimension and Stager.  It's clear there's a lot of passion and excitement for amazing staging apps, and I take my duty to the community seriously.  Please know that all of your concerns about pricing, confusion on the Dimension status, and Stager future, have been escalated to our leadership teams and we're working on some possible improvements!

Here's a round up of the latest information based on some questions and discussion that have happened in various threads:

Dimension

• Dimension is still part of Creative Cloud All Apps plan.
• Dimension is currently hidden by deafult on Creative Cloud Desktop.
• To see Dimension you must go to CCD > Preference > Apps > and enable "Show older apps"
• The "Show older apps" option may be disabled by administrators for education and enterprise organizations.
• We are actively working to REVERSE this so that Dimension is not hidden, as it is confusing and inaccurate.
• Update 8/19: This is now reversed!  Dimension is available by default and you no longer need to enable "Show older apps".
• Dimension is NOT end-of-lifed, but we are not working on new features for it (at this time).

Stager

• Stager is exclusive to the Substance 3D Collection plan. 
• There are currently not any single app plans for Substance apps - we are investigating this possibility!
• It is not currently planned that any Substance apps will be added to the CC All Apps plans.
• HOWEVER, the exception is that Substance 3D Collection is free for those with CC All Apps for Higher Education.
• HOWEVER, the limitation is that Substance 3D Collection for Higher Education is available for Shared Device Licensing (SDL) and Feature Restricted Licensing (FRL).  It is not yet available for Named User Licensing (NUL).
• We hope to work on Named User Licensing for Higher Edu support, but I don't have a clear timeline on that.  It's months at least.  Unfortunately there's little we can do to accellerate this.  Adobe licensing land is a bit complicated and we have people working on it!

As always I try to be as transparent as possible with the community, but there's limits to what I can say on a public forum.  Everything is subject to change, and I will do my best to communicate as we move forward!

[Ussnorway]

yes you pretty much have it correct but I'd also add Windows to your understanding

[Thomas Logan Art]

thanks for your response, although I wasn't quite sure what you meant by adding Windows to my understanding?  I do use the Adobe Apps on an iMac as well as a PC, but pretty much stick to Windows for the 3D stuff so I can use the Nvidia GPU.

[jbellomo]

No you understand adobe. If you're just learning 3d look into blande. It's free 

[Thomas Logan Art]

Yes, I really do understand what you mean about Adobe.  I get that publicly traded companies care for nothing but profits... but you could at least make an effort to not be so obvious about it.  Thanks for the advice, I am just learning and I'll take a look at blande.

[jbellomo]

Blender. 

[Thomas Logan Art]

LOL - gotcha!  That should be easier to find . 😉

[GWJL]

Hi Jeanette,

I don't really see separating 2D from 3D as a good practice - because most Designers out there (including Industrial Designers like myself) use both 2D, and 3D, and Creative Cloud is advertised to have "..20 plus apps that work together.." except the don't - if you want to use any 2D content you created with your CC subscription for 3D Render. I think we all know it's about wanting to double the subscription revenue.

I think what you might find is Designers choosing one of one of three routes:

> Use Stager/Substance & dump CC for opensource Image/Vector/& DTP like Inkscape, Gimp, and Scribus

> Keep CC for Image/Vector/DTP, and use free Blender for 3D

> Dump CC & Stager, and go Free & Opensource for all 2d & 3D.

Such a pity, as Dimension really is fantastic (though it stopped working with the latest update).

[Ciellchan]

I second this and to be honest Adobe is already losing a lot of consumers in the 2D graphics world too because they fail to acknowledge user needs and seem to be focused only on revenues.  Dimension/Stager situation was and still is, obscene. We lost a program and no changes were made to the CC subscription price. Why?

I'm been asked more and more to design any graphic that is meant for digital consumption on Figma. I've even received Brandbooks in Figma and had a whole project of social media ads in Sketch. Illustrator is being used only for printed media. PS is being replaced by Procreate and so on.

I'm seeing a switch in the market and I guess it's because Adobe is failing to cater to users and because of that we are looking for alternatives. 

[itsMeJimmy]

This is a good point...we have to go out to add and learn some of these new pieces at our cost...in the meantime, Adobe is just adding new things from the income we provide and then providing less for what we were paying. It's really just a slap in the face.

I dropped Adobe Stock this year and am very frustrated with this whole situation...plus, I just don't feel Adobe is in-touch enough to even address the issue...or are even aware it's an issue

[dpow_]

---

Dimension

• Dimension is still part of Creative Cloud All Apps plan

---

• Dimension is NOT end-of-lifed, but we are not working on new features for it (at this time).

---

...unless you own an M1 mac

This is crazy. Peeps on silicon macs have waited over a year now and the news is - Dimension is not coming to an M1 mac near you, but don't worry we're going to make you pay for its replacment!

Now the community forum where many CC subscribers had posted their frustrations with this situation  - and where Adobe staff had over and over pitched patience and insisted a fix was coming - is 404ing

[eib4]

Well, I went and ordered the Substance 3D Collection. Price 39.99  € / month. A friendly welcome from Adobe to a self-employed person that the order did not cost a full forty euros!
In fact, I’m at the beginning of 3D and Dimension was the first program I realized something about. It was easy to jump into the 3D world. And Victoria Siemer’s brilliant and inspiring tutorials opened up the world of Dimension even further. Thanks for the tutorials Victoria.

When the dichotomy between Stager and Dimension occurred it was the end of an era. The matter can be explained in any fine terms, but the reality is nothing else. Dimension is what is left of Stager. However, I wanted to continue my well-begun journey into the world of 3D with an intuitive and friendy environment. So I ordered Stager 9 months ago. I got three other programs with me that I didn’t ask for. I don’t understand anything about them (at least not yet), so they’re unused. There is still a lot to learn at Stager.

Two weeks ago, I completed my first job with Stager and Photoshop. I started my second job and paid for resource packages that would have required a heavier 3D program to handle. (Blender, Maya, Houdini ...) I couldn't get it done, even though I tried for over a week and got help from the wonderful Dimension enthusiasts Facebook group! I gave up my original ideas because I don’t have time to learn Maya, Houdin, or any other program when there’s enough in Stager either. I finished my work with Photoshop in a few hours.

I have now paid Adobe 305.91€ and managed to complete ONE job! Not good business for me, but good business for Adobe. Fair trade is where both parties benefit. Is this one of that kinf? All apps pricing is now absolutely lousy!

Here you will find Adobe’s values ​​as shareholders would like the company to see, but the actual values ​​don’t show up in the comfort zone. It's easy when it's nice! But when we face difficult situations and brazenly resolve those situations, the true value of the company comes to the fore. For it is a value that is seen, heard and felt! 

Here are the Adobe values: https://www.adobe.com/fi/about-adobe/fast-facts.html

If now a manager or a senior manager’s sub-manager has time between meetings to ask the creative manager to forward the link to the product development and innovation manager to the management team. Then when everything is in place it’s nice to read those values and either change the way we work or change the values!

[bryanua]

Now that the Substance 3D transition is finalizing, ie., @JMathews can we finally expect to hear back from you about good news that Adobe is going to better incorporate the Substance-based apps into the Creative Cloud All-Apps plans?

[jbellomo]

Your kidding right. This is Adobe who will suck you dry

[gosh_bosh]

Not including Substance in the All Apps Plan is a blatant rip-off. It's literally called the ALL apps plan! What is this pay-to-play crap? Shameful, that's what it is.

[ZGeek]

Honestly. Removing these functions and development of the existing products we pay a fortune already to use. Then to introduce this new product to do it, but charge extra to use it?

Adobe can go to hell. You absolute money grubbing scumbags.

[Anushka251933931du7]

really amazing work you did with the app!! but i cant use the app at all now its crashing and if i try to quit it its rejecting my request , i cant shut down my laptop without quitting the app and the app wont work... please look into the issue i have  macbook 2020 model and its a new laptop so there is no issue with the machine..

[Ussnorway]

really amazing work you did with the app!! but i cant use the app at all now its crashing and if i try to quit it its rejecting my request , i cant shut down my laptop without quitting the app and the app wont work... please look into the issue i have  macbook 2020 model and its a new laptop so there is no issue with the machine..

By @Anushka251933931du7

so just to clear, is it Dimension or Stager app you are trying to run on your Mac?

a 2020 is prob a 13" M1 so Dimension will need to be in adaptive mode and can't talk to M1 chips dirrectly so that takes extra Ram \ Cpu to run

if its Stager you want then the forum is https://community.adobe.com/t5/substance-3d-stager/ct-p/ct-substance-3d-stager?page=1&sort=latest_re...

a good test of your M1 or M2 Mac is to run Blender or adobe premiere pro as that is where the M1 and especially  M2 really can keep up with average Windows systems... good luck

[Daniel Kramer]

Suggestion for the product team. A lot of designers who are mainly 2D want to dabble in a little bit of 3D. Dimension was the perfect app for that, I totally get where you are going with Substance 3D. What I reccomend is as follows... Why don't you do a remake of Dimension which stays part of the Creative Cloud that is based on Adobe Substance 3D Stager, but simplified and appeals to the same demographics who use or used Dimension. This would be the next major release of Dimension and since it shares a codebase with Adobe Substance 3D Stager. Those designers who want to go beyond it can then easily upgrade to the entire Substance Collection on Creative Cloud. Those who do a little and don't need anything beyond the basics can then get by with this new reimangined version of Dimension. That would be the best way to have the best of both worlds. Please conisder this.

[Garry Bradley]

Well said Daniel, I think this in an excellent concept. It's exactly how I want to use Dimensions and as the owner of a new Mac Mini Pro M2 it's got to be Apple Silicon native. Think about it Adobe, it's a no brainer and may get people to use your extended 3D packages.

[armpaulofer]

My opinion is that Adobe should replace Dimension with Substance Stager for the CC all apps plan.
Stager should be the 3D entry point for all CC users as was Dimension.
If people wants more about 3D they have to go for Substance 3D collection plan to then get the extra apps as 3D Designer, 3D Modeler and so on...

[CharleeeR]

Why hasn't Adobe updated Dimension for Apple Silicon? One of the main reasons I bought the latest Mac was to take advantage of the added speed of the processor for 3D work. The most recent version runs on my M1 computer but it doesn't render any faster than it did on my older Mac with the Intel prcessor. 

[LuminousWorks]

They will not. It will wither and die, prodding us to adopt Substance Stager, or going without.

[Ian Dack]

Have you tried Substance Stager? On my office M1 laptop it's slower than Dimensions and crashes all the time. After the demo we didn't bother with it. Useless piece of software.

[Knut Uwe Maria Junker]

Hi,
small questions: Why is it still shown here (Mac Studio - Apple m1 Max, OS 12.3.1 Monterey) that 1.2 is the current version? I would like to update to 1.3.2, as I need bug fixes and new features. But it is not possible to update to this version.
Are Mac users left behind again? Is it because of the configuration of my Mac?

And why is there still no M1 version?

[Turrican101]

Adobe should replace Dimension with Stager and put this to the normal all-apps plan. Dimension was great for 2D designers, who sometimes just want to render some 3D scenes simple and easy. But it lacks some functions for better usability. Stager is what Dimension should be and it's a shame that stager is only in the full 3d packet available.