What motion designers can learn from Substance 3D

When Adobe partnered with 3dsense Media School, a top creative school in Singapore, and with leading creative agency Carbon Moves, the goal was simple: emulate the real world of motion design through a fast-paced, collaborative, and creative project. At the heart of the collaboration was the integration of Adobe’s Substance 3D tools into a motion design workflow centered around Cinema 4D, Substance 3D Painter, and After Effects.

The result? A hands-on experience that helped students step confidently into the world of 3D storytelling.

“We hope that this workshop impacts the students by giving them a lot of confidence and helping them bridge that gap between leaving education and stepping into the industry”, said Alwyn Hunt, head of education partnerships at Adobe.

Turning a simple object into a story

Students were given a simple but powerful brief by Carbon: turn a 3D model of a piece of luggage into a short, animated clip. They explored how to use animation, texturing and lighting to give life to an everyday object and tell a meaningful story. “The idea was for them to give the object a personality,” explained Jeslyn Khoo, 3D Motion designer at Carbon Moves. “Not just decorate it , but design it with intent.”

Learning how to use Substance 3D Painter

For many students, using Substance 3D Painter was the turning point. It opened a new way to think about texturing — it made changing a texture about more than surface details, but a driver of storytelling. The tool’s real-time texturing and smart materials made it easy to experiment with creative ideas, while its Photoshop-like interface helped students feel instantly at home.

Tomas Sackmann, senior 3D artist at Tencent Singapore, led the creative workshop , teaching Substance 3D Painter to the students. “Substance 3D Painter is a game changer,” he said. “It brings an extra level of realism to motion graphics and lets students achieve a high level of quality fast.”

“It was intuitive because we were already used to using tools like Photoshop. Just being able to paint details exactly where I wanted, it felt natural,” added John Quek, a graduating motion design student. “That was something really hard to achieve in Cinema 4D alone.”

Building a collaborative motion design workflow

For team CMYK, led by Cleo Jocson, building their project meant leaning into a full creative software stack. The team transformed their luggage into a living travel companion, using wear marks, faded seams, and vintage stickers to tell the story of a suitcase that had seen the world and has lived many lives.

“After we all worked on the base texture of the suitcase in Substance 3D Painter, we split up to be more efficient,” Jocson explained.

They organized themselves into two squads: Team Creative and Team Technical. Team Creative took charge of designing the stickers in Illustrator, animating them in After Effects, and refining the suitcase textures in Substance 3D Painter.

At the same time, Team Technical was busy creating the environment in Cinema 4D and handling the 3D animation. To speed things up, they kit-bashed the airport background using assets from the Substance 3D Assets Library. Once everything was ready, they pulled it all together and composited the final sequence in After Effects.

"Being able to integrate Substance 3D Painter into my workflow opened up so many possibilities,” Jocson said. “I'm able to create detailed objects and keep things low-poly, which makes animating more efficient in Cinema 4D. I like to animate the textures in After Effects, allowing me to create complex-looking visuals from simple textures.”

Learning from industry: mentorship with Carbon Moves

With Carbon as the industry partner, the students received mentorship rooted in real creative pipelines. There were deadlines, reviews, and rounds of feedback. And importantly, there was creative ownership.

“The base luggage model was intentionally plain,” said Ying Lin Choong, 3D motion designer at Carbon. “It gave students room to explore, push textures, and focus on visual storytelling.”

“This workshop didn’t just open up their world, but it empowers them with a new tool ,” said Justin Chua, co-founder of 3dSense Media School. “Using Substance 3D Painter not only makes them more efficient in their workflow; it makes them better artists”.

Singapore: A creative hub for talent

Singapore, and the wider Southeast Asia region, is quickly becoming a hotbed for the next generation of digital creatives. While it has been known for its contributions to gaming and VFX, there’s a fresh wave of 3D-native designers stepping into the industry.

With strong design schools, an emerging pool of motion design talent, and growing demand from both global brands and local studios, this part of the world is fast becoming a hub for digital content creation. From 3dsense Media School to creative agencies like Carbon Moves, Singapore is home to a swiftly developing generation of digital artists.

How game and VFX tools are transforming motion design

Workflows and tools that were once the domain of game development and high-end VFX are now becoming standard in the world of motion design. Tools like Substance 3D Painter are now being adopted within motion design studios for their creative power, speed, and flexibility.

As motion design becomes more cinematic and asset-driven, the demand for detailed texturing, realistic materials, and efficient workflows has increased. Designers are turning to proven solutions from gaming and VFX, tools that were built to scale, and adapting them to fit the needs of the unique mix of animation, design, and branding.

The workshop was further designed to help students understand emerging paradigms like the use of digital twins: high-quality 3D models of real products that are increasingly used for marketing campaigns and e-commerce. Companies now rely on agencies and in-house teams to create flexible, scalable visuals using digital twins, cutting production time and costs while unlocking new creative possibilities.

This evolution isn’t just about adopting new software; it's also about integrating tools to make workflows more relevant for motion design. Features like the direct export of 3D models from Painter to After Effects, and the native Substance 3D plugin in Cinema 4D, allow motion designers to craft higher-quality deliverables than ever before.

Motion design is emerging as an exciting new destination for artists who want to blend storytelling, branding, and animation into one practice. Discover how motion designers are integrating Substance 3D into their creative workflows.

A huge thank you to our partners at 3dsense Media School and Carbon Moves for making this workshop possible. Their shared commitment to hands-on learning, mentorship, and creative excellence helped transform this experience into something truly special.

Want to explore the Substance 3D tools yourself? Check out our free trials or benefit from free education licenses if you are a student or academic staff member. Stay tuned for more in the Substance 3D Education Series!