Hasta La Motion!

Adobe Acquires Allegorithmic, the makers of Substance. This brings one of the industry’s best tools in creating 3D textures and materials to the Creative Cloud.

Adobe is taking a huge step into 3D with this acquisition. While Adobe’s 3D offering Dimension bridges a gap for 2D artists, it has not been largely adopted by the professional 3D market. However, Allegorithmic’s Substance has become a standard tool among many 3D artists and studios in a variety of industries, so the move is a big play to bring those users into the Adobe Creative Cloud.

History and Predictions for Adobe and Allegorithmic

For those thinking that this acquisition came out of the blue, it couldn’t be further from the truth. Adobe’s relationship with Allegorithmic publicly dating back to three years ago when the two companies jointly developed Adobe’s standard PBR material. The standards and practices they developed are currently used in Adobe Dimension, Project Aero, Adobe Capture, and all 3D materials in Adobe Stock.

Adobe will now bring in Substance SDK into their product lines, making Substance a more powerful standard for materials.

Chad Ashley shares insight,

I spend quite a bit of time in the Allegorithmic discord, and a source did point out that Adobe had been on the Allegorithmic board for a few years and had been critical in decisions during this period. But behind the scenes, advising is entirely different — both from a PR and operations perspective.

It would not surprise me if this move were part of a broader strategy that ended with Adobe creating it’s own complete 3D DCC with Sebastien Deguy at the helm. After all, we know that Adobe wants in on the 3D market and let’s face it, Allegorithmic’s offering gets you close. 

About Allegorithmic and Substance

Based in France, with several offices worldwide, Allegorithmic tools have been widely adopted by artists working in gaming, film, television, e-commerce, automotive, architecture, design, and advertising.

Per Adobe’s press release, Allegorithmic is the recognized leader in 3D material and texture authoring for most AAA gaming franchises, including Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed and Forza, and the tools used in the making of award-winning movies, including Blade Runner 2049, Pacific Rim Uprising and Tomb Raider.

We’ve also talked to hundreds of artists who use Substance in their daily workflow. At Greyscalegorilla, Substance was crucial to the creation and success of the Everyday Material Collection.

Greyscalegorilla Creative Director Chad Ashley on Substance and the acquisition,

I spent a good part of last year in Substance Designer while working on our Everyday Material Collection and immediately fell in love with the UX and the fantastic capabilities of that app. I remember telling friends that if I had to spend the rest of my career in one program, Substance Designer might be it.

Cut to me this morning reading about the Adobe acquisition and my mouth was agape. I am immediately wary of any sizable company gobbling up such a small and nimble innovator. I’ve seen it go horribly wrong way too many times. I hope that they can continue to deliver killer professional 3D software that is a joy to use.

Final Notes on the Acquisition

Adobe Creative Cloud chief product officer and executive vice president Scott Belsky says,

We are seeing an increasing appetite from customers to leverage 3D technology across media, entertainment, retail and marketing to design and deliver fully immersive experiences…

Creative Cloud is the creativity platform for all and Substance products are a natural complement to existing Creative Cloud apps that are used in the creation of immersive content, including Photoshop, Dimension, After Effects and Project Aero.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Allegorithmic CEO and founder, Sebastien Deguy, will join Adobe as a vice president, 3D and Immersive.

What are you thoughts on this acquisition? Let us know in the comments below.

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