Substance 3D at Adobe Max
We have an extensive program at this year's Adobe Max, featuring A Digital Twin Creation Experience, Substance 3D-related Labs, Sessions, Talks, Demos, and more. Attend in-person or online. Develop your skills, learn new workflows, and experience the power of 3D!
ENGAGE WITH SUBSTANCE 3D at adobe max
DIGITAL TWIN CREATION WITH SUBSTANCE 3D | BOOTH #210
Learn how to create 3D digital twins of your physical products to supercharge content creation, whether you’re working on the desktop or producing at scale. Drop in anytime to catch sessions from 3D creative pros, get hands-on with our newest Substance 3D apps, and leave with exclusive swag.
Labs & SESSIONS
3D for Design: Creating Digital Twins for Design and Marketing
Tuesday, Nov 10 | 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM EDT (12:00 PM - 1:30 PM PDT)
Wednesday, Nov 11 | 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM EDT (5:00 AM - 6:30 AM PDT)
Wednesday, Nov 11 | 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM EDT (12:30 PM - 2:00 PM PDT)
Thursday, Nov 12 | 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM EDT (10:30 AM - 12:00 PM PDT)
Product: Substance 3D Stager
Technical Level: Beginner
AI Focus: Traditional Techniques
Jeanette Chow, Principal Product Manager, 3D & Immersive, Adobe, Adobe
Jeanette is a creative chameleon with a history in illustration and design; 3D modeling and animation; and video game design and programming. Her mixed skill set lead her to Adobe, where she drives new initiatives in the 3D & Immersive organization.
Discover how digital twins — high-fidelity 3D product representations — can accelerate your marketing content at scale. In this hands-on lab, Jeanette Chow, Adobe Principal Product Manager, 3D & Immersive, guides you through the fundamentals, from what digital twins are to building variations and generating marketing-ready imagery. No prior 3D experience is needed.
You will Learn:
What digital twins are, and how they unlock product accuracy in generative AI workflows
How to transform CAD data into accurate, high-quality 3D models — without learning 3D modeling
How to build variations, including colorways and SKU options
How to generate imagery from your digital twins for internal presentations and external marketing
How digital twins can expand from product, marketing, and sales use cases
How to get started with 3D digital twins, regardless of your current skill level
Adding Detailed 3D into Your Motion Graphics Workflow
Thursday, Nov 12 | 8:30 AM - 9:15 AM EDT (5:30 AM - 6:15 AM PDT)
Product: After Effects, Substance 3D Painter, Substance 3D Sampler, Substance 3D Assets
Technical Level: Intermediate to Advanced
AI Focus: Traditional Techniques
Ian Robinson, Creative Director and Motion Graphics Trainer, SoftBox Media and Creative 111
Ian Robinson is a creative director and instructor with over 20 years of experience in motion graphics and visual effects. His work spans screens of all sizes, from live events and documentaries to broadcast and digital media. Ian has collaborated with major clients like Discovery Channel, National Geographic International, PBS, and Google. He’s also an accomplished author and educator, co-founding SoftBox Media LLC and Creative111, contributing courses to LinkedIn Learning, and writing books for Peachpit and Adobe Press. When he's not designing or teaching, you'll likely find him hiking the Rockies with his Boston terrier, Gus.
Looking to step up your motion graphics workflow? Join creative director Ian Robinson as he shares some of his favorite Adobe Substance 3D to After Effects workflows. From modeling to texturing, lighting, and compositing, we’ll check out Substance 3D Assets, Painter, and Sampler, and tie them all together with After Effects.
You’ll learn how to:
Source production-ready 3D models and materials with Substance 3D Assets
Create stunning textures with Sampler
Prepare 3D models for animation with Painter
Add polish to your models and animate with After Effects
AI-Powered 3D Storytelling for In-House Creatives
Thursday, Nov 12 | 8:30 AM - 9:15 AM EDT (5:30 AM - 6:15 PM PDT)
Product: After Effects, Substance 3D Painter, Adobe Firefly
Technical Level: Intermediate to Advanced
AI Focus: AI Supported
Robert Hranitzky, Sr. Professional Video Evangelist & Community Advocate, Adobe
Robert is a filmmaker and motion designer and works at Adobe on the Video Evangelism Team. With more than 20 years of industry experience in motion design, 2D/3D animation, and creative direction for projects ranging from opening titles to film and showroom trailers, he loves to inspire and give back to the creative community. He is a sought-after speaker on many industry events around the globe and enjoys sharing his passion for directing, making movies, VFX, and motion graphics. When he is not entangled between keyframes, you can find him most likely either playing or watching Basketball.
Turning a single product photo into a polished, animated 3D scene doesn't have to mean a big team or endless hours. In this session, Adobe's Robert Hranitzky builds an animated 3D scene live, starting from just a product photo and a 3D model, using native 3D tools in Adobe After Effects, Firefly, and Substance 3D for photorealistic texturing.
You'll learn how to:
Extend flat 2D brand imagery into a moving 3D scene using native 3D shapes and camera tools in After Effects.
Texture photorealistic 3D digital twins of your products in Substance Painter, then send the model straight into After Effects to animate it.
Generate an image and turn it into a digital PBR material with Firefly and Substance 3D Sampler's image-to-texture tools.
Tap into Substance 3D assets and apply them directly onto parametric 3D shapes and text in After Effects,, building fully textured 3D scenes without leaving your composition.
See what an in-house production day looks like on an MSI AI PC, where NPU and GPU acceleration keep the viewport responsive and export times short, even as revisions pile up.
Crafting Stunning Motion Graphics with 3D, Textures and Effects
Tuesday, Nov 10 | 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM EDT (2:30 PM - 4:00 PM PDT)
Wednesday, Nov 11 | 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM EDT (10:00 AM - 11:30 AM PDT)
Thursday, Nov 12 | 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM EDT (10:30 AM - 12:00 PM PDT)
Product: After Effects, Substance 3D Painter, Substance 3D Assets
Technical Level: Beginner to Intermediate
AI Focus: Traditional Techniques
Ian Robinson, Creative Director and Motion Graphics Trainer, SoftBox Media and Creative 111
Ian Robinson is a creative director and instructor with over 20 years of experience in motion graphics and visual effects. His work spans screens of all sizes, from live events and documentaries to broadcast and digital media. Ian has collaborated with major clients like Discovery Channel, National Geographic International, PBS, and Google. He’s also an accomplished author and educator, co-founding SoftBox Media LLC and Creative111, contributing courses to LinkedIn Learning, and writing books for Peachpit and Adobe Press. When he's not designing or teaching, you'll likely find him hiking the Rockies with his Boston terrier, Gus.
Take your motion graphics to the next level by diving into the world of 3D. Join creative director and motion graphics trainer Ian Robinson as he guides you through importing 3D models and creating stunning realism using textures, modeling, and lighting with Substance 3D Painter. Then, we'll move into After Effects to learn compositing techniques — adding text, lighting, and shadows — for a professional, polished finish.
You’ll learn how to:
Source 3D assets to streamline your workflow and give your projects a distinctive edge
Create lifelike textures that match your creative vision and captivate your audience
Apply texturing techniques to enhance depth and professionalism
Composite 3D models in After Effects to produce high-quality motion graphics that elevate your brand
Demo Spotlight: Building a Product Hero Shot That Doesn't Look Like a Render
Tuesday, Nov 10 | 4:30 PM - 4:50 PM EDT (1:30 PM - 1:50 AM PDT)
Product: After Effects, Substance 3D Painter, Substance 3D Sampler
Technical Level: General Audience
AI Focus: Traditional Techniques
Brian Maffitt, Quality Engineer, After Effects, Adobe
Brian Maffitt has been a professional After Effects animator since version 1.0 (the CoSA days), way back in 1993. Before that, he was a Mac-based 3D animator using FormZ as a modeler and ElectricImage for animation. In 1997 he founded Total Training to teach people around the world how to use After Effects (along with many other Adobe apps), and in 1999 he founded Atomic Power Corporation, a software company that developed plugins for Adobe After Effects including the celebrated Evolution package, which was acquired by Adobe in 2000 and which are still some of today’s favorite effects (Colorama, anyone?). Brian continued producing and directing thousands of hours of training for 15 years as an official Adobe partner, along with continued work as an animator.
See how 3D in After Effects and Substance come together to create product hero shots that feel polished, tactile, and real. Learn techniques for adding cinematic lighting, texture, and motion that make products stand out.
From CAD to Campaign: 3D Digital Twins at Scale (ONLINE ONLY)
Wednesday, Nov 10 | 12:00 PM - 12:15 PM EDT (9:00 AM - 9:15 AM PDT) (Online Only)
Product: Substance 3D Stager
Technical Level: Intermediate
Anna Violette, Head of Technical Artists & Solutions Consultants, Substance 3D, Adobe
Anna is Head of Technical Artists & Solutions Consultants at Adobe, leading a global team that turns customer workflows into product direction across Substance 3D, Firefly, and Frame.io. She's self-taught in 3D, coming from a background in fashion, proof that the best technologists don't always start out technical.
Anna is an active connector in the broader 3D and digital product creation community through the Virtual Thread Collective, and she's just as comfortable geeking out over texture maps as she is talking silhouettes. She's passionate about helping brands close the gap between physical and digital product creation.
Join Anna Violette, head of 3D technical artists at Adobe, for a practical look at how creative teams create 3D digital twins and turn them into marketing content. At the creation stage, digital twins can help visualize and validate designs or serve as the basis for creating hundreds of variants to cover color or finish variations across brands. Those same digital twins can also power downstream content creation, allowing teams to produce campaign imagery, motion graphics, and on-brand content at scale.
This session will cover how to:
Create visually accurate digital twins from CAD files to visualize and validate designs
Generate variants that cover SKUs across brands and product options
Combine digital twins with Adobe Firefly generative imagery to quickly create brand-accurate campaign imagery, pack shots, and general marketing content
Share digital twins with Frame.io for work in Adobe After Effects and Firefly Enterprise content automation tools
From Concept to Cinema: Building Film-Quality 3D Assets
Wednesday, Nov 11 | 1:30 PM - 2:00 PM EDT (10:30 AM - 11:00 AM PDT)
Product: Substance 3D Designer
Technical Level: Intermediate
Carlos Fueyo, Co-founder & Realtime Principal Creative, playard studios
Carlos Fueyo is the Co-founder, CEO, and Creative Director of playard studios. He has over 15 years of experience in post-production and VFX as a filmmaker. Known for his work on major titles like Super 8, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Independence Day: Resurgence, and Priest, among many others. Carlos has also contributed to iconic game cinematics for franchises like Halo, Assassin's Creed, and Mafia III, along with numerous commercials. In recent years, Carlos has become a leader in real-time filmmaking and virtual production. He served as the virtual art department director and supervisor for Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and led innovative research and development projects at Eyeline Studios, contributing to projects like Aquaman 2, Senna, MEG 2, and The Three-Body Problem.
Carlos is at the forefront of integrating real-time techniques with an AI-enhanced pipeline, aiming to revolutionize filmmaking. With a master's degree in architecture and design, he combines his passion for storytelling, filmmaking, and design with technical expertise to address the most challenging issues in virtual production real-time film making.
Join Carlos Fueyo, CEO, Director, and Principal Realtime Creative at playard studios, to learn how the award-winning animated short film, The Last Advice, brought cinematic-quality 3D assets to life through a streamlined solo artist workflow. In this fast-paced session, Carlos will demonstrate how Adobe Substance 3D Painter and Stager were used to texture, look develop, and visualize a production-ready asset from concept to final render. Learn practical techniques for creating compelling materials, accelerating iteration, and maintaining creative control while achieving the visual quality expected in modern animation. See how real-time workflows, procedural tools, and rapid visualization helped transform ideas into polished results efficiently, allowing more time for creative exploration and refinement. The session will also highlight how AMD Threadripper-powered workstations enabled a responsive, high-performance workflow that supported faster iteration and film-quality output. Whether you're a 3D artist, motion designer, or creative technologist, you'll leave with actionable insights for building high-quality assets faster and bringing ambitious creative visions to life.