Create a leather material in Substance Designer

leather sofa

Although there are plenty of pre-made free textures around, if you want a specific material to use in your 3D art, it isn't that difficult to make your own. In this article, I'll show you how to create a simple leather material (shown above) using Substance Designer. You can watch a time-lapse of my process below, or read on for a step-by-step guide. 

When you have to create materials using nodes, like you can do in Substance Designer, Blender and other software, my pro tip is to keep a clean work environment in order to have control over all the elements of the material. So try to avoid overlapping elements and so on.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

TOPICS
Pietro Chiovaro
3D Artist

Pietro is a freelance 3D artist and YouTuber with more than 10 years of experience in different fields of 3D production, from animated movies to VFX and game production. He shares many of his creations on his YouTube channel @PietroChiovaro.

Latest in 3D Software
An image of someone using Da Vinci Eye Apple Vision Pro app
This Apple Vision Pro art app revolutionises learning to draw
Reallusion Live capture screenshot
How to make the most of AccuFace Facial Mocap
ZBrush, everything you need to know; digital sculpting and painting of elephant in ZBrush and Photoshop by Rob Brunette
ZBrush: everything you need to know
RailClone 6 review; a designer home next to a river
RailClone 6 review: makes CG scenes easy
Cinema 4D, everything you need to know; a render created with Cinema 4D by Forrest White
Cinema 4D: everything you need to know
3ds Max 2024 review; a render of a house and trees in a 3d app
3ds Max 2024 review: a surprisingly fresh annual release
Latest in Advice
Raid character design tips; a female queen character in red leather armour carrying a large axe
Game art tips: how to breathe new life into a classic character design
Promo for Future Cards with the tagline "Leave the busywork to the machines"
What makes good designers great? Stand out from the crowd with these 9 expert tips
Homepage of portfolio by Colin Moy
8 expert tips for creating a killer design portfolio
someone paying with a phone and a Mastercard
Brands should invest in multisensory marketing – here’s why
A laptop using VideoProc Vlogger video-editing software
Laptop specs for video editing: All you need to know
hero image
GIMP vs. Photoshop: Could you make the switch?