Adobe has bought France’s Allegorithmic, makers of Substance, the industry-standard suite used to create 3D textures and materials in game and video post-production.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Allegorithmic’s Substance 3D model painting and texturing tool has been used in blockbuster films like Blade Runner 2049 and AAA games such as Call of Duty.
Adobe Allegorithmic: Subscription Push
Allegorithmic’s portfolio is offered as a subscription service and in the future Adobe will focus on expanding the availability of Allegorithmic tools via subscription, it said, hinting at a package that will bundle them with Adobe Creative Cloud technology .
“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,” said Scott Belsky, Executive VP, Creative Cloud, Adobe.
Today, products are very often designed in 3D, but with a number of workarounds that make the process more difficult and time-consuming, Adobe explained.
e.g. “The designer iterating on the next set of colorways often has to go back to a 2D workflow, the merchandiser laying out the store design has to fake the assortment by compositing renders in Photoshop, and the UX designer working on the next version of the e-commerce page or AR application has to redevelop the assets from scratch.”
“With Allegorithmic’s tools, companies can now leverage the 3D models of their product across the entire customer experience – from e-commerce content to marketing material, from catalogues to immersive experiences.”
Among Adobe’s video production tools, Adobe After Effects already offers capabilities for compositing 3D and 2D content.
The deal, however, will make it possible to bring 3D content textured in Substance tools directly into After Effects and composite 3D and 2D content in real-time, with the true photorealism required by the film and VFX industry” Adobe said.
Changing Tools Powered by Hardware Advances
The ability to render in real-time, using game engine technology, alongside the consistency and photorealism provided by a new technique called Physically Based Rendering (which simulates the real-world physics of how light bounces off 3D models) is transforming how game, film and TV studios create content.
(Adobe’s Stefano Corazza has an excellent blog explaining that evolution here).
Allegorithmic’s capabilities have won it customers across the gaming, film and television, ecommerce, retail, automotive, architecture, design and advertising industries, including brands like Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, BMW, IKEA and Louis Vuitton.
After the deal closes, Allegorithmic CEO and founder, Sebastien Deguy will take a leadership role in Adobe’s broader 3D and immersive design efforts as VP, 3D and Immersive: “Allegorithmic and Adobe share the same passion for bringing inspiring technologies to creators,” he said. “We are excited to join the team…and transform the way businesses create powerful, interactive content and experiences.”
