Page 90 - 3D Artist 110 - 2017 UK

industry insider

Dr. Sébastien

Deguy

The founder of Allegorithmic on
why Substance is now numberless
and what’s in store for the future
Job title CEO of Allegorithmic
Location Paris, France
Website
allegorithmic.com e all know the name of substance by now, right?
Biography Dr. Sébastien this suite of tools has reinvigorated the games
Deguy is the founder and CEO Windustry and is used by the biggest game studios,
of Allegorithmic: creator of
Substance, the leading but that doesn’t stop indies from giving Allegorithmic’s
texturing tools for artists and software a try. Allegorithmic’s MAt Contest has been a irst
designers. Now the same
concepts developed in his for the company, and a huge success to boot, too. “We
doctoral thesis are used received 1,200 entries which might be one of the biggest
throughout the world of 3D
creation, from 85 per cent of contests in the digital art world and in the 3d media and
triple-A game studios to entertainment world,” says its CeO, dr. sébastien deguy.
markets like VFX and
animation, industrial design there was a real diversity in entries, from seasoned game
and architecture. artists to students and new texture painters. “the winner
Portfolio highlights used substance Painter for the irst time, and it shows that it’s
• Substance a tool that’s easy to pick up!”
Designer 2017.1, 2017
Another part of the attraction to the tools is the payment
• Substance
Painter 2017.1, 2017 model, where everybody gets the same set of tools – no light
• Substance Source, 2016 version, no non-commercial version, no restrictions. “When
• Substance Painter, 2014 we think about our users, we think of the big guys and the
• BitMap2Material, 2011 small guys,” says deguy. “We don’t have light versions, it’s
• Substance Designer, 2010 the same product. We don’t like light versions, light versions
• MaPZone, 2005 is like treating people as light people!”
• ProFX, 2005 Key to deguy’s core business principles at Allegorithmic
has been the idea of fairness that stems from his father, who
owned his own plumbing business. “i look back at it and i
think it’s one of the most important things when you want to
do business in a proper way. When you’re fair, people get
back to you again and work again with you. My favourite
expression is that ‘life is not a zero-sum game’.”
it’s not a surprise, then, that generosity is also a core value
for deguy, as he admits that in the past Allegorithmic may
have given ‘too much’ – making some of the product releases
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unfair on the development process. One of the reasons that
substance Painter and substance designer have become
numberless in summer 2017 cycles back to this idea, “it’s an SubStance for filmS
unnatural and fake structure – the big releases. it’s like, should
we withhold and wait for this feature to go in a big version? Assassin’s Creed already got some
We wanted something that is fair and modular to our users Substance treatment, but what’s next?
and that is fair and manageable to us too.”
“12 blockbuster ilms will use substance this summer,”
next on the radar for Allegorithmic is the third substance
dr. sébastien deguy reveals when we met him at FMX
day of 2017. Also on the agenda is the substance Automation
2017. One of the reasons behind the slow uptake of
toolkit that contains Python APis and documentation to help
substance in ilm prior to this, though, is the lack of
with substance integration. it’s not a completely new product,
udiM support – indeed, double negative had to do its
though it has been repackaged together for easier access.
own workaround on Assassin’s Creed. “From the start we
in ive years time, however, substance may change
knew it was something we needed to tackle and we’re
completely. “We’re having fun,” says deguy. “Growing this
doing it right now, it’s a lot of work and that’s the value
fast is challenging. But what we really like is making products.
of Mari as well,” he admits. “it’s why it’s so popular in
i’d like to see a more complete portfolio, to do asset creation,
movies because it’s capable of handling that amount of
what we can do for the left side of the pipeline, like
information and we know it’s complicated. We are
parametrisation, and more hybrid ways of producing content
adding that now to substance Painter. i would say in Q3
– mixing textures, surfaces and meshes maybe, but also
or Q4, we should have something that’s very capable
rendering and visualisation, we’d like to improve on that, too.
when it comes to udiMs.”
And being more present in ilms and architectural work –
seeing substance in as many places as possible!”
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