Wes McDermott - The3DNinja - has for a long while been one of the standard-bearing go-to guys in the realm of 3D art and graphics. In 2009, he wrote Real World modo: In the Trenches with modo, a guide on how to implement the modo toolset into project workflows. Shortly thereafter, in 2010, he wrote Creating 3D Game Art for the iPhone with Unity, another tutorial for independent and professional artists alike. He has written a number of articles for graphics magazines, and his online presence is considerable - his tutorial videos on Youtube cover a wide range of 3D issues, and he has written innumerable posts on forums addressing specific concerns raised by members of the 3D art community.

In short, he’s a guy who knows his stuff - and, better yet, possesses the teaching aptitude allowing him to productively share that knowledge.

Wes first popped up on Allegorithmic’s radar when he began creating some of the first Substance Designer tutorials, and he began to help us out working on a modo plugin, and related support. But ultimately, we wanted Wes in-house; he formally joined Allegorithmic in late 2013, initially as our community manager. Today, Wes is our Integrations Product Manager, as well as frequently being our evangelist at major 3D events, and handling in-company training.

And yet, workhorse that he is, this wasn’t enough for Wes. In 2014 he wrote The PBR Guide, a handbook for physically based rendering. The book was made available for free on Allegorithmic’s site as a downloadable PDF before, more recently, migrating across to Substance Academy. The book is divided into two parts: Volume 1 essentially outlines the physics involved in light striking, and reflecting from, an object - and the mechanics involved in simulating such effects within software tools in general. Volume 2 is a set of practical guidelines for the creation of PBR textures, with specific examples applicable within the Substance toolset.

In 2016 Allegorithmic published the first edition of The PBR Guide in physical, dead-tree format, and made available to artists and users at trade shows, and other 3D events. The popularity of the book proved such that we produced a second edition in 2017, and a third edition earlier this year.

And now, at last, the much-loved dead-tree format of The PBR Guide is available online, via Amazon. Go ahead and check out Amazon.com or the various European Amazon pages on which the book is available.

Want to take a look inside the book first? Don’t feel like forking out cold, hard cash? We’ve got you covered - The PBR Guide is freely available on Substance Academy, and will remain there indefinitely.

Get the book now on: