Astrild's Blender & Substance Painter Resources

Hi there! This is where I post all my guides I've found for Blender and Substance Painter which I found personally useful for modding. While 3ds is great, with Autodesk yeeting it's student licence, it became a super steep entry fee for people to get into modding, which I really don't vibe with. So I'm here trying to convince more people into Blender, because it's completely FREE and you can do the same things as you can in 3ds.

There are some paid things noted down, as Substance Painter does have an entry fee for example.

I got my Discord which has even more rando modding related resources, or you can just hit me up in the DMs if you need help with something specific (Blender community has a lot of guides, although not FFXIV related, so try searching for them first because they can still apply to FFXIV modding). My Discord section with guides is updated more regularly, whereas this one get updated in bulk every so often.

https://discord.gg/EAduqnaj8D or @Astrild#0001

Astrild's Hoard of Useful Guides and Other Random Stuff

Blender & General 3d Stuff:

Get Blender For Free! https://www.blender.org/

These are my personally written Guides for TT/FFXIV Modding:

Blender is acting up but I don't know what I'm doing wrong/ I'm used to 3ds troubleshooting guide:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16yJtzXtdYuSADze_PWL-yPwEJcOqOlOu6C2hS6rC-6Q/edit?usp=sharing

DIY Custom Ears FFXIV Modding: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wZ4hRpsrz1imeIhNbAVMeEe8wmtPhcX8nH7pHYgx-zc/edit?usp=sharing

How to Remove Your Character's Eyes in Blender:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NWFeyBr8ZCvbgKUrt7yu9zrBU-MEUXlpAyeqFEBBv5I/edit?usp=sharing

How to Hide Ears & Horns with Meta Data FFXIV Modding: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oSDuL3K43grdx95bV-xIOiWZu8ggfxqyZ3r4voP4uvU/edit

General Explaining for Beginner Blender Users:
What Are Normal Maps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-hA5KsY_Yg
Most Texture Maps Explained: https://youtu.be/ZOHNRlrd1Ak
UV Maps Explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAcEzlsoad0
Blender Nodes Explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moKFSMJwpmE
What is Topology: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIM6EXisvu4


Modelling in Blender:
🥇Low Poly Modelling Guide with Timestamps & Hotkeys Explained: https://youtu.be/1jHUY3qoBu8
Low Poly Modelling in Blender 1: https://youtu.be/wzRIWaRHHIg
Low Poly Modelling in Blender 2: https://youtu.be/7N4VoF_2R60


Stitches modelling: https://youtu.be/lxlZRGkP5MY
Ornaments modelling: https://youtu.be/3sEBu2lZbOM
Ornaments cuves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgFBnEw86W8
Clothes modelling: https://youtu.be/ioXMXbJxBuQ
Low Poly Folds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W96oZbk7F20
TLDR Skintight Clothes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffS36ZG9LtI
Creating Ruffles: https://learnmmd.com/Make-Your-First-Model-Using-Blender-by-Mae-Blythe/Make-a-Model-Part-8/index.html
More Ruffles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhaYJaIt1Yc
Easy Jewellery with Grease Pencil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuNN7r6UKpI


Baking Maps in Blender:
Short Tutorial Baking Maps Blender: https://youtu.be/0LuEqvO9QsE
Longer Tutorial Baking Maps Blender: https://youtu.be/arvhK4tvYuY


UVs in Blender:
UV Controls: https://youtu.be/Z-xF5d3esd0
Auto Unwrap UVs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=illIxYKb-1k
Unwrapping Multiple UVs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzzD2DhIkEE
UV Seams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS6B5PAzlWI
🥇 Exporting UV Map: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9qGEKCoNi4
Really handy for makeup tattoos etc to have overlay in PS
Flattening UV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHbgQs8zkpw

Vertex Paint in Blender:
Vertex Paint Basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3V6qh_85-A


Baking Maps in Blender:
Short Tutorial Baking Maps Blender: https://youtu.be/0LuEqvO9QsE
Longer Tutorial Baking Maps Blender: https://youtu.be/arvhK4tvYuY


Weights in Blender:
Weight Paint ADVICE for ABSOLUTE beginners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWuE8Gnhuy4
2.8+ Weight Paint Tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9S-jhBIEiU
Weight Painting (short tutorial): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fICQmBEt4Y
Transferring Weights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR_Vke__voU


Blender Addons:
Jewelcraft Addon for Blender: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhdHp1I6hRc
🥇YAVNE Blender Normals Addon: https://github.com/fedackb/yavne
🥇MACHIN3tools, tool for easier workflow + cleanup: https://gumroad.com/l/MACHIN3tools https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdqpxrTLnOc
🥇Loop Tools: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2MjvKy1yCo
UVPackmaster 2: https://uvpackmaster.com/uvpackmaster-for-blender/
F2 Addon (Easier Faces) https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/addons/mesh/f2.html

💰Paid Addons for Blender
I only will link REASONABLY priced addons which I've personally tested, regularly use and are affordable for people who are on a small budget
FYI I don't make any money of linking this to you guys.
Cablerator - Easier Cables in Blender: https://blendermarket.com/products/cbl


Advanced & Random:
Skinning Thicc Meshes: https://youtu.be/6Zh7PDyTXBM
Japanese UVs Explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZkC1XMDtDY
Shape Keys Explained: https://youtu.be/CaHomz6gPWY
PBR explained: https://youtu.be/vQcXLu49z28


🖌 Substance Painter:

Disclaimer: I don't recommend Substance Painter to super new beginners because of the price point and it sort of would be best if you have some experience with digital art. But if you have a background in digital art, been modding for a while or are just crazy stubborn, I'd suggest playing around with the trial version and check for yourself if you vibe with it!

💰Substance Painter Steam Edition - Perpetual Indie License: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1454900/Substance_Painter_2021/
Get the Steam version if you do end up buying it because it's forever + not the subscription based. Has Trial options on SP website if you want to try it before buying. Goes on sale with most big sale events on Steam.
Substance Painter Official Website/Trial: https://www.substance3d.com/products/substance-painter/


General Stuff:
🥇Fixing Seams with Substance Painter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THJOUmHCp7A
Easy Tattoos in Substance: https://youtu.be/DF6aotbEJpg
Easy Tattoos in Substance: https://youtu.be/DF6aotbEJpg
Select Part of Mesh to Paint: https://youtu.be/n-hDakDNklc
Transform: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pLV8Gu3_G0
Opacity: https://youtu.be/-9n-4Oh5O0A (fyi blue channel normal map is your opacity in SP)
Tiling Alphas: https://youtu.be/o8WhTZ2rTxY
Project Textures, Stencils etc: https://youtu.be/ggGHRnj7E58

Baking in Substance:
Baking in Substance: https://youtu.be/srUXsAjD2xs


Advanced:
UDIMs in Substance: https://youtu.be/2WG4BaNdrnQ
Creating/Exporting UDIMs Blender: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR3Y9R2wmdI

*Make sure you put your UVs in the correct spot because TT exports them odd due to FFXIV engine being weird. You need to put your UVs in the correct spot before importing them as an FBX into Substance. Else you won't be able to paint your models.

Substance Alternatives -Ish:


Blender can do painting directly on models these days too. Personally I haven't used this fuction yet, but I will try so in the future. I will link guides when I watched them and found them useful.

If you want to start out with basic 2d texturing things, I'd recommend GIMP as a free alternative.
Gimp Website: https://www.gimp.org/

Clipstudio is a very awesome program as well, and often goes on Sale. It's mainly used by Manga artist, but I know some modders use it too.
Clip Studio Paint Website: https://www.clipstudio.net/en/

Highly Recommended for Any 2d Artists:
💰 Lazy Nezumi is the best thing you can get whether you're using Photoshop, Substance, Clip Studio etc. It is a game changer for anyone doing any sort of digital drawing. It smooths your linework by a lot and has a few nifty tools build in features. It has a trial version too, and it is affordable if you decide to buy it. You keep it forever, but it won't update past a certain time has expired.
https://lazynezumi.com/

Random:
Overlaying Normal Maps in Photoshop: https://youtu.be/HXhTpSD1oco
Normal/Specular Map Generator: https://cpetry.github.io/NormalMap-Online/