Certificate course in Substance 3D Painter

Module 1: Introduction to Substance 3D Painter

1. Overview of Substance 3D Painter
2. Installation and setup
3. Interface navigation and customization
4. Introduction to the Substance ecosystem (Substance Designer, Substance Alchemist)

Module 2: Basic Texture Painting Techniques

1. Introduction to texture painting
2. Understanding the layer system in Substance 3D Painter
3. Brushes and brush settings
4. Painting with smart materials
5. Exporting textures

Module 3: Material Creation and Customization

1. Basics of PBR (Physically Based Rendering)
2. Understanding material channels (Albedo, Normal, Roughness, Metallic, etc.)
3. Creating custom materials from scratch
4. Material blending and layer masks
5. Smart masks and generators

Module 4: Procedural Texture Creation

1. Introduction to procedural textures
2. Using Substance Designer graphs in Substance 3D Painter
3. Integrating Substance Alchemist materials
4. Blending procedural and hand-painted textures
5. Exporting procedural textures

Module 5: Texture Maps and Channels

1. Understanding different texture maps (Diffuse, Specular, Glossiness, etc.)
2. Texture map baking from high-poly to low-poly models
3. Normal map details and projection
4. Painting on specific channels
5. Exporting texture maps for various engines (Unity, Unreal)

Module 6: Advanced Material Techniques

1. Material layering and blending modes
2. Using anchor points for material placement
3. Triplanar projection for seamless texturing
4. Advanced masking techniques
5. Using filters and procedural effects

Module 7: Texture Maps and Channels

1. Understanding different texture maps (Diffuse, Specular, Glossiness, etc.)
2. Texture map baking from high-poly to low-poly models
3. Normal map details and projection
4. Painting on specific channels
5. Exporting texture maps for various engines (Unity, Unreal)

Module 8: Project-based Exercises

1. Texture painting for a specific environment or asset
2. Material creation for characters or props
3. Procedural texture exercises
4. Baking and exporting maps for a game asset
5. Critiques and feedback sessions

Module 9: Performance Optimization for Games

1. Understanding texture resolutions and compression
2. Texture atlasing and packing
3. LODs (Level of Detail) for texture maps
4. Texture streaming techniques

Module 10: Integration with 3D Software and Game Engines

1. Importing/exporting models to/from Substance 3D Painter
2. Live Link with 3D modeling software (e.g., Autodesk Maya, Blender)
3. Integrating textures into game engines (Unity, Unreal Engine)
4. Updating textures in real-time

Module 11: Industry Practices and Workflow Integration

1. Industry standards and best practices
2. Collaborative workflows with other software
3. Keeping up with the latest Substance 3D Painter updates
4. Job opportunities in texture painting and material creation

Module 12: Portfolio Development and Showcase

1. Building a professional portfolio using Substance 3D Painter work
2. Showcasing texture painting and material creation skills
3. Presentation techniques for job applications and freelance work
4. Peer review and final project showcase