# substance designer [Adobe Substance Designer](https://www.adobe.com/products/substance3d-designer.html) uses a non-linear node-based workflow to programmatically create textures and materials, patterns, lights, and even models. It is the most abstract and technical-looking app in the Substance suite and it is known as having the biggest learning curve. Textures and materials are output as elements to be used in programs like Substance Painter while models are output to programs like Substance Stager or Maya. Designer is where you go to build the detailed assets you can’t find in the library of assets that ship with the programs. ## resources Substance Designer is one of the more established applications in the Substance Suite and so there are plenty of online resources for how to use the tools, however some fundamental shifts have happened since Adobe purchased the suite. Many of the older tutorials out there may be good for a conceptual approach but don’t capture what is truly possible with this tool. For a conceptual overview, Adobe provides a [Discover page](https://www.adobe.com/products/substance3d/discover.html) to help you understand how things work in the 3D universe. The[Designer Overview](https://helpx.adobe.com/substance-3d-designer/getting-started/overview.html) and [Workflow Overview](https://helpx.adobe.com/substance-3d-designer/getting-started/workflow-overview.html) pages help focus in on the conceptual approach to working non-linearly with parametric programming. Most importantly, the [Substance 3D Designer Help site](https://helpx.adobe.com/substance-3d-designer/home.html) documents most of the tools, techniques, and hotkeys that you will use. This is your best place to start when looking for reference help. The [First Steps with Designer YouTube series](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB0wXHrWAmCzPPogfeSk3lhOsmflTfRv5) give a good basic introduction. The [Substance Academy Series on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB0wXHrWAmCwWfVVurGIQO_tMVWCFhnqE) dives deeper into the workflow. [Designer Quick Tips YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB0wXHrWAmCy457vxKM4rQuJ-nvYm9j4M) series shows you how to create specific materials such as stones, text patterns, leather, etc. ## assets Adobe’s [Substance 3D Assets](https://www.adobe.com/products/substance3d/3d-assets.html) library has a plethora of materials, models, lights, and other assets to get you started building. [ArtStation’s Marketplace for Substance Designer](https://www.artstation.com/marketplace/game-dev?softwares=substance-designer) has tons of resource packs available for purchase. These could be a good starting point for building your own assets. ## dig deeper Substance Designer works in a few fundamentally different ways. Each has a similar workflow but a different approach and outcome. 1. [Substance Graphs](https://helpx.adobe.com/substance-3d-designer/substance-compositing-graphs.html) work with 2D elements to create patterns and materials 2. [Substance Model Graphs](https://helpx.adobe.com/substance-3d-designer/substance-model-graphs.html) work with 3D elements to create parametric mesh objects 3. [Substance Function Graphs](https://helpx.adobe.com/substance-3d-designer/function-graphs.html) work with mathematic programming and are used in conjunction with 2D and 3D graphs 4. [Substance MDL Graphs](https://helpx.adobe.com/substance-3d-designer/mdl-graphs.html) are a specific Materials Definition Language system that works with NVIDIA --- tags: #3d #resources #substance home: [[! 3d modeling - substance]]