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Substance Painter - Rune Sword (Udemy.com)

Create a AAA quality sword asset and import it into Unreal Engine and Unity!

4.9
120 reviews

Created by: Stephen Ulibarri

Last updated February 2026

Our take

Based on the ratings of 120 students, a sample of their written reviews and the syllabus, as the course stood in February 2026. No course pays to be reviewed.

This is a project-based course that walks beginners through texturing one asset, a glowing rune sword, from a bare mesh to a finished PBR export ready for Unreal Engine or Unity. Stephen Ulibarri supplies both the high and low poly meshes, so nobody needs modeling skills to start. At 2.9 hours across 21 lectures, it stays narrow: baking maps, layering, masking, edge wear, and emissive painting, all in service of one sword rather than a broad tour of the software.

Reviewers consistently call out the teaching itself. Students say Ulibarri explains each decision as he makes it, moves at a steady pace, and keeps the videos short enough to follow without losing the thread. Several mention finishing with an actual game-ready asset, not just theory. The complaints are minor: a couple of reviewers noticed the same techniques getting repeated across lectures, and one wanted the dirt effect to read less like corrosion. One student was upfront that this teaches one workflow for one asset, not a ground-up tour of every tool.

With a 4.9 rating from 120 reviews and an update this year, it holds up well next to other Substance Painter courses on the site: shorter and cheaper than a full software course, but it hands over a portfolio piece by the end instead of scattered exercises. Worth it for anyone who already owns a Substance Painter license and wants one clean, exportable result. Skip it if exhaustive tool coverage matters more to you than finishing a single guided project.

Best forBeginners to Substance Painter who want one finished, exportable portfolio asset.
Skip it ifYou want a full Substance Painter reference covering every tool, not one project.

Pros

  • 21 short lectures build one complete, portfolio-ready sword in under 3 hours
  • Covers baking, masks, fill layers, edge wear, and emissive rune painting
  • Ends with export and setup in both Unreal Engine and Unity
  • High and low poly meshes provided, so no modeling skills needed to start

Cons

  • A few reviewers say the same techniques get repeated across lectures
  • Narrow scope: one asset and workflow, not a full Substance Painter reference
  • Requires an active, paid Substance Painter license just to follow along
Absolutely superb. I achieved much more than I expected to and produced a game ready asset.
Benjamin Gardner, a student

Suits true beginners to Substance Painter, provided you already have a license and basic 3D comfort.

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What you will learn

  • Texturing a game asset in Substance Painter
  • Baking mesh maps from high-poly to low-poly meshes
  • What the different maps are and what they do for our mesh
  • How to apply masks to layers and layer groups
  • Use of paint and fill layers, filters, and generators
  • Adding color variations, edge wear, dirt, ambient occlusion, post process effects, and more!

Course content

5 sections · 21 lectures · 2.9 hours of video 1 article

  1. 1Project Setup and Baking Mesh Maps 2 free previews6 lectures · 1.1 hours
  2. 2Texturing the Blade5 lectures · 41 min
  3. 3Guard and Disk3 lectures · 13 min
  4. 4The Handle Wrap3 lectures · 21 min
  5. 5Emission, Post Process Effects, and Exporting our Textures for Game Engines4 lectures · 29 min

Who it is for

The instructor says it suits

  • Those who wish to use Substance Painter to texture their meshes and create AAA quality assets for their games or animations!

What you need before you start

  • No experience in Substance Painter necessary
  • You must have an active Substance Painter license. You can use a subscription, or buy the course from Steam! Apply for a student license from Adobe for a discount

How it compares

Against the other 545 rated Udemy courses in 3D Modeling on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.9 out of 5higher than 98% of them
  • Reviews120#414 of 546 by number of reviews
  • Length2.9 hoursshorter than 75% of them
  • Last updatedFebruary 2026more recently than 87% of them

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Course Description

Welcome to the Substance Painter – Rune Sword Course!

This is a beginner level course teaching the basics of Substance Painter to create a AAA quality rune sword, complete with PBR textures (don’t worry, you’ll learn what those are), with emissive glowing runes that shine their magical light in the dark!

You’ll be introduced to Substance Painter and how to get your meshes into the software. This course uses the Rune Sword, modeled in my Blender Sculpting – Rune Sword course, but you’ll be provided with both the high and low poly mesh for this course!

We’ll learn all the basics of Substance Painter, including (but not limited to):

· Importing meshes

· Baking mesh maps

· What the mesh maps do for our materials and how to use them

· Layers

· The Layer Stack and Layer Groups

· Masking

· Adding fill layers and grunge maps

· Using curvature to get Edge Wear and highlights/shadows

· Filters, Modifiers, Post Processing Effects

· Realistic and Stylized techniques

· Hand-painted looks without the need to hand-paint

· Emissive materials and painting layers by hand

· Adjusting bake parameters to get the high-poly details onto the low poly mesh in an efficient manner

· Exporting textures and importing our meshes into Unreal Engine and Unity

· Creating the materials and applying the textures in both game engines

This course assumes you have access to Substance Painter. You can have a subscription or buy the program with a one-time payment through Steam. Students have also obtained student licenses to get a discount, so look into that!

By the end of the course, you’ll be able to professionally texture your meshes to make beautiful game assets! This is a great portfolio piece that you can add to your collection! All skills are explained in depth so you understand everything you’re doing and will be able to recreate these processes with your own models.

Jump in, and let’s create this beautiful Rune Sword together!
Read More Beginner Beginner Level product length iconTime: 2.9h

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Instructor Details

Stephen Ulibarri

When I earned my bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, I was exposed to the world of programming. I was instantly hooked. I have a passion for game development and a love for creative problem solving. I have written and self-published a science fiction novel and love all things creative. I have experience assisting and tutoring in engineering, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and programming.

I have since gained professional industry experience in the world of surgical simulations. It is extremely rewarding and my passion is to pass on my knowledge so others can achieve a highly engaging and fun career as I have!

I enjoy biking, drawing, 3D-design, and procedural generation in video games. I am proud to have many talented game developers and students in my online community: Druid Mechanics.

I have also written and published a book on Unreal Engine C++ titled: Unreal Engine C++ The Ultimate Developers Handbook.

Read More

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Reviews

4.9

120 ratings on Udemy

Select a bar to show only those reviews.Select the bar again to show every rating.

Write a review

By Aldo "The Alphius" B M on 3/24/2026

Have to say it, Thank you Stephen Ulibarri, this is the 4th or 5th course I've taken in the last 3 months and really like you now more than on the 2nd course, sometimes you speed up your explaining and code way to fast, but on this courses I can see it well explained. I'll go for a few more of your courses and improve on my game development. Also with this 2 courses I can create my own stuff instead of just using the FAB, maybe at first but now I can make my own to my liking.

By Anonymized User on 3/18/2026

This is a fantastic introduction to Substance Painter that sets you up with a workflow using layers, masks, texture fills, generators and filters that you can use for many projects and a workflow you can expand on as you learn more about Substance Painter. This is a really fun course.

By Robert Silas LaBarbera on 8/10/2025

Great Teaching Technique. Very informative with step-by-step instructions. Kept me engaged while explaining the in and outs of proper preparation of painting a game asset. Thank you for the course. I enjoyed immensely and this was and is a great help.

By Benjamin Gardner on 7/16/2025

Absolutely superb. I achieved much more than I expected to and produced a game ready asset. Love it. Thank you Stephen. The only slight criticism I would give is that we went over the same skills multiple times, but to be fair, that helped bed them in. It is also worth knowing that this isn't a full introduction course to using Substance Painter but more like a "I want to texture my game assets, how do I do that" - which is exactly what I wanted, but may not be what you want!

By Sindre Susrud on 2/14/2025

I love how the teacher is explaining every step of the design process, as well as his decision making and thoughts about it. Slowly but steady is perfect for learning, and I am learning a lot about 3D painting! My only complaint is that the "dirt" of the work looks more like corrosion than dirt, but that's okay :-)

By Richi xxx on 1/5/2024

Great course. Im new to Substance Painter. Ive understand all lecutures but to remember it i need to repeat some lessons. Thank you, great work!

By Donal Johny on 6/29/2023

Great course, the instructor explains things very well, wastes no time and get into things very quickly. I also enjoyed how short the videos were, that made it easy to follow.

By Bryan Kingsley Khongdeit on 3/12/2023

Just Awesome and simple to understand as Stephen is a master at explaining things. Recommended to all who are looking for asset creating courses.

By Lilly Y on 1/12/2023

Good little course for absolute beginners in SP. Lovely narrating voice, great explanation on various topics and steps. I didn't like how repetitive and time wasting was when making the same steps (creating layers - filters) for all the three parts of the sword - just copy and paste it.

By Robert Helgi Robertsson Zak on 11/30/2022

Awesome course as always, explains everything thoroughly & makes sure that YOU, the student, understand everything that's being done; 10/10, highly recommend buying this!

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Overall Score : 98 / 100

Substance Painter - Rune Sword
Visit course on Udemy Write a review
  • Video Duration: icon 2.9h
  • Price: $74.99
  • Provider: icon Udemy
  • Updated: icon February 2026
  • Level: Beginner Beginner
  • Language: icon English
  • Certificate: icon Yes
  • Lectures:21 in 5 sections
  • Students:1,217
  • Subtitles:1 language
  • Udemy badge:Highest Rated
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