--- title: "Substance Assets and Redshift" url: "https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/html/SUBSTANCE_WITH_REDSHIFT.html" section_path: "Extensions menu > Substance > Substance Assets and Redshift" description: "After loading the required Substance 3D assets (e.g., via the Load Substance... command from the Extensions menu, as described here), classic materials …" --- # Substance Assets and Redshift Quick access: - Rendering a Cinema 4D material with Redshift - Creation of a Redshift Shader Graph material for a Substance 3D asset - Use of the Substance Node in a Redshift Node material ## Rendering a Cinema 4D material with Redshift After loading the required Substance 3D assets (e.g., via the **Load Substance...** command from the *Extensions menu*, as [described here](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/html/55382.html.md)), classic materials for the Cinema 4D renderer will be created by default. However, these can also be combined directly with the Redshift renderer. It should be noted that a *displacement* in the material of the Substance 3D asset only works with the existing geometry of the objects to which it is applied. You have to make sure that there are enough subdivisions on the object to allow the desired level of detail in displacement deformation. The *Redshift Object tag* is not required and cannot be used to increase the subdivision density on the object for the displacement when rendering Cinema 4D materials with Redshift. ![Image: 2024-0_Substance_RS_01.png](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/2024-0_Substance_RS_01.png)\ A displacement used in the classic Substance Asset material can only use the existing geometry of the object when rendering with Redshift.\ Subpolygon Displacement cannot be used. As you can see in the image above, it is easy to adjust the subdivision density on primitives by increasing the **Segment value** accordingly. With polygon objects, however, this is a bit more problematic, since this option does not exist there. This is also because the Cinema 4D material's **Sub Polygon Displacement function** does not work in Redshift, and the *Redshift Object* tag 's subdivisions cannot be evaluated for displacement of this normal Cinema 4D material.\ The solution to this problem is to convert the loaded Substance 3D asset into a *Redshift Shader Graph material*(see next section on this page). The actual settings used to calculate the Substance asset can be edited directly in the *Attribute Manager* after selecting the asset in the [Substance Asset Manager](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/html/55385.html.md). There is a special mode for displaying Substance assets, which [is described here](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/html/NSUBSTANCEASSET.html.md). ## Creation of a Redshift Shader Graph material for a Substance 3D asset However, if you need all the options of a Redshift material and the *Redshift Object tag*, you can also have a loaded Substance 3D asset evaluated for Redshift. To do this, open the *Substance Asset Manager* in the *Substance Engine category* in the Cinema 4D *extensions menu* and select the desired asset. Then open the *Material menu* in the *Material Manager* and select**Functions/Create** **materials**from selected substance assets.\ It is therefore important that the selection of a material in the *Material Manager* is not evaluated when this command is executed, but rather the selection in the *Substance Asset Manager!* ![Image: 2024-0_Substance_RS_02.png](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/2024-0_Substance_RS_02.png)\ An asset selected in the Substance Asset Manager can be converted to a Redshift Shader Graph material. Once the command has been processed, a new Redshift *Shader Graph material* will appear in the *Material Manager*. If a Cinema 4D material already exists due to the original loading of the Substance 3D asset, this will also be retained. Double-clicking on the new Redshift material will open the *Redshift Shader Graph Editor* and display the Node setup of that material (see image below). Otherwise, you can also open the *Redshift Shader Graph Editor* at any time from the *Redshift main menu* in Cinema 4D. ![Image: 2024-0_Substance_RS_03.png](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/2024-0_Substance_RS_03.png)\ The Redshift material of a Substance asset in the Redshift Shader Graph Editor. The number and type of Nodes used there depends on the respective Substance 3D asset and can therefore vary greatly. However, all textures offered by the Asset are represented via *C4D Shader Nodes* and *Redshift Texture Nodes*. A large part of these textures should already be correctly passed to an *RS Material Node*, but there are also textures that could not be clearly assigned by the *Material Manager*. In the image above, this can be seen, for example, in the *Metallic Shader texture* at the top of the circuit, which has not been connected to the material. In such cases, it is worth taking a look at the original Cinema 4D material to see how this texture was used there. This often involves additional gloss or reflection levels, for example, which can then be implemented in the Redshift material, e.g., via the *Coating layer*. For many Substance 3D asset materials, however, the Normal texture is also important, which - as can be seen above - was automatically assigned as a simple *Bump map*. This must be corrected manually so that the material can be calculated as desired. Such textures must be linked in Redshift via an *RS Bump Map Node*. In addition, reverse the direction of the Y-axis**(Reverse Y**) to achieve the desired effect (see following image). ![Image: 2024-0_Substance_RS_04.png](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/2024-0_Substance_RS_04.png)\ Correction of the normal texture assignment and optimization of the use of asset textures on the Redshift material. As can also be seen in the image above, additional inputs can also be used on the *RS material* to use all textures as on the Cinema 4D material. Of course, this also opens up options for your own parameter and property controls on the Redshift material, should you want to adjust or optimize the material to suit your own needs. Once you have assigned this new Redshift material to the object in the *Object Manager*, you can also call up a *Redshift Object tag* for this object. You can find this in the *Object Manager* under *Tags/Render**Tags*. This tag is always required if the Redshift material uses *displacement* (see use of the *Height Shader texture* in the bottom part of the circuit above). Possible settings on the *RS Object tag* can be found in the following image. ![Image: 2024-0_Substance_RS_05.png](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/2024-0_Substance_RS_05.png)\ Settings on the Redshift Object tag to activate displacement on an object and, if necessary, have additional subdivisions added during rendering. The **Overwrite option** at the top of the *geometry settings* of the tag must be activated in any case in order to be able to switch on the **Activate option** in the *Displacement group*. This is the only way to perform a displacement calculation on the object. There you will also find the value for **Maximum Displacement**, which is used to specify the maximum deformation of the surface. As a rule, you should synchronize this value directly with the **Size setting** of the *Redshift Displacement Node*, which can be found in the *Redshift Shader Graph* of the material. To refine the subdivisions on the object, also activate the **Enable option** in *the tessellation part* of the settings and use this settings group to configure the desired detail density for the displacement. The configuration here depends on the dimensions and the existing polygon density of the object. If necessary, read the documentation on the [Redshift Object tag](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/html/TRSOBJECT.html.md). The actual settings used to calculate the Substance asset can be edited directly in the *Attribute Manager* after selecting the asset in the [Substance Asset Manager](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/html/55385.html.md). There is a special mode for displaying Substance assets, which [is described here](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/html/NSUBSTANCEASSET.html.md). Since the Redshift Shader Graph material also indirectly uses the *Substance Shaders* that were also used in the classic Cinema 4D material, both types of material react equally to changes to the [Substance Asset](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/html/NSUBSTANCEASSET.html.md). ## Use of the Substance 3D Material Node in a Redshift Node Material A Substance Archive file (*.sbsar*) can be used directly in a Redshift Node material. To do this, simply drag the corresponding *.sbsar* file from the Finder or Explorer directly onto the Cinema 4D interface or call up the *Support*/**Substance** command in the *Create* menu of the *Material Manager*. A file dialog will open, which you can use to load the desired Substance file. The result is a new Redshift *standard material* in which a *Substance 3D Material Node* will establish a connection to the *.sbsar file* and make the corresponding channels of the Substance asset available as baked textures (see example in the following image). ![Image: 2024-2_Substance_RS_Node_Material_01.png](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/2024-2_Substance_RS_Node_Material_01.png)\ A Substance 3D Material Node can be used in Redshift Node Materials to read out a Substance Asset. As can be seen in the figure above, all texture channels of the Substance 3D asset are automatically made available at the *Substance 3D Material Node* and - depending on the properties of the Substance 3D asset - automatically connected to the *bump map*, *displacement* and *Standard Material Nodes*. The strength of the displacement is also automatically taken from the asset. However, please remember that a *Redshift object tag* is also required on the respective object in order to use displacement, on which the displacement and the subdivision density to be used for this must also be configured on the object. The *Substance 3D Material Node* automatically created by the workflow described above can of course also be added to a Node Material manually, e.g., using the search function in the *Asset Browser*. You will find the *Substance 3D Material Node* there in the category of *Material Nodes*. The option to load the desired *.sbsar file* can be found in the **File menu** in the settings for the *Inputs category* on the *Substance 3D Material Node*. To open a file dialog, simply click on the small folder icon to the right of the File Path field. If, for example, changes have been made to the Substance 3D asset, you can also trigger the reloading of the asset at any time using the **Reload button** in the *Commands tab*. ![Image: 2024-2_Substance_RS_Node_Material_05.png](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/2024-2_Substance_RS_Node_Material_05.png)\ The Substance 3D Material Node also enables manual linking with an .sbsar file. ### Configuring the texture resolution On the selected *Substance 3D Material Node* you will also find a *Substance 3D Material category* in the *Attribute Manager*, in which you can select the desired resolution of the textures via **Width** and **Height parameters**, which are then made available at the outputs of the Node (see following figure).\ Please also note the **Lock Ratio option**. If this is active, only square textures can be calculated. This often makes sense, as these can be compressed and processed by the graphics card in a more memory-friendly way. Deactivate this option if you still want to use different values for **Width** and **Height**.\ Finally, this category also contains an **Random Seed value** that forms the basis for all random calculations of the loaded Substance 3D asset. Change this value to obtain a new variant of the asset. Some assets already offer presets that have been created by the manufacturer, e.g., for different looks of the material. You will find these in a **Preset menu** for direct selection. If no default settings are available, only the *Default* entry is displayed in this menu. ![Image: 2025-0_Substance_RS_Node_Material_02.png](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/2025-0_Substance_RS_Node_Material_02.png)\ The desired resolution for the output textures of the Substance 3D asset can be set on the Substance 3D Material Node and, for example, default settings for the material or starting values for its random calculations can be changed. > **Tip:** Note regarding the resolution of the baked Substance Asset textures: > > The specifications for **Width** and **Height** are also used for manually saving the output textures. You will find a button for **exporting** the textures as TIFF files in the *Command settings* of the Substance 3D Asset Node. ![Image: 2024-2_Substance_RS_Node_Material_07.png](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/2024-2_Substance_RS_Node_Material_07.png)\ In the Node's command settings you will find buttons for **reloading** the Substance 3D assets defined under **File** and for **exporting** the output textures as individual TIFF files. The latter then enables the use of individual Substance 3D asset properties as normal bitmap textures. ### Additional asset settings If this information was created by the creator of the substance asset, the **physical size** of the material can be read directly here. These values can help us to scale the corresponding material on surfaces and, with their Z value, also give us a realistic amount for the displacement shift of the original surface. These values are also automatically forwarded to the corresponding output of the Node and can be used there, for example, to calculate display heights or adjust projection sizes. However, these values are only used automatically if they are also activated in the *Redshift tab* of the material. You can therefore adjust the size and displacement thickness of the material according to visual aspects.\ If no **Physical Size** has been defined in the Substance 3D asset, only the vector 0,0,0 is output here. More detailed explanations on controlling the material projection and the **Physical Size** can be found in the explanation of all parameters on the [Substance 3D Material Node](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/html/Substance_3D_Material_Redshift.html.md). ![Image: 2025-1_Substance_Physical_Size_01.png](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/2025-1_Substance_Physical_Size_01.png)\ Some Substance 3D Assets also contain information about their **Physical Size**, which can be read here. These values can also be further processed at an output of the Node and used, for example, to adjust the scaling of the shader projection. If additional parameters were used in the Adobe Substance 3D Designer to control the Substance calculation and were made available to the user, these settings can also be edited directly via the *Substance 3D Material tab* in the *Attribute Manager* if the *Substance 3D Material Node* is selected within the Node material (see example in the following figure).\ The number and type of these settings can vary greatly from asset to asset. Substance 3D assets that offer no settings at all and therefore only produce a static result that cannot be edited or animated in Cinema 4D are also conceivable.\ Please note that - depending on the complexity of the Substance Asset - the textures provided at the outputs of the *Substance 3D Material Node* must be recalculated after changing the settings offered. The use of large texture resolutions (see **Width** and **Height settings**) also plays a role in the calculation time of an update. > **Tip:** Note regarding the support of special Substance 3D asset properties: > > Please note that linking options for bitmaps and fonts cannot be made available on the Substance 3D Material Node. ![Image: 2024-2_Substance_RS_Node_Material_03.png](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/2024-2_Substance_RS_Node_Material_03.png)\ Example of settings for a Substance 3D asset on a Substance 3D Material Node. From case-to-case, additional technical settings may also be offered in a separate *Technical Parameters group*, as shown in the following illustration. This concerns the procedure with which the RGB values of the normal calculation should be interpreted. ![Image: 2024-2_Substance_RS_Node_Material_04.png](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/2024-2_Substance_RS_Node_Material_04.png)\ Option for the interpretation of calculated Normal maps. *OpenGL* and *DirectX* interpret the RGB values of a Normal map differently. The main focus here is on the green values of this texture. With *OpenGL*, the first pixel of the green color channel is expected at the bottom, whereas with *DirectX* the first green pixel is expected at the top. Selecting the "wrong" method can therefore result in the effect of an inverted green channel and thus an inverted Y direction for the Normals.\ In most cases, the correct method will automatically be defined here. However, if the asset does not provide any information on the format used for the normals, *DirectX* will automatically be used and the inversion of the Y-portion of the normals will bactivated at the *bump map Node*. If you do not want this, you can also switch these settings manually. This switch is only offered because the Substance Engine is available based on both *OpenGL* and *DirectX* and it is therefore not always clear which of these versions is used to create the assets and therefore also to calculate and evaluate the Normal maps. You can see which of these variants is being used at any time in the [Preferences menu](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/html/PREFSSUBSTANCE-PREFS_SUBSTANCE_MAIN_GROUP.html.md) under *Extensions*/*Substance Engine* under **Active Substance Engine**. ![Image: 2025-0_Substance_RS_Node_Material_01.png](https://help.maxon.net/c4d/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/2025-0_Substance_RS_Node_Material_01.png)\ Settings to influence the size, offset and rotation of the material projection. As can also be seen in the illustration above, the *Redshift category* also offers different projection settings and parameters to adjust the **size** and **offset shift** of the Substance material. The material can also be **rotated** individually using the rotation value.