From modeling to rendering, Marmoset Toolbag 5 optimizes every stage of the creative workflow.

Marmoset Toolbag 5 is a comprehensive program for 3D artists, modelers, and texture artists seeking high-quality, fast results. It supports every stage of the creative process, from map baking to photorealistic rendering and real-time texturing. Known for its versatility, Toolbag is a digital Swiss army knife that enables efficient and precise work across various artistic workflows.

User interface of Marmoset Toolbag 5
image owned by marmoset

What is Marmoset Toolbag 5?

Marmoset Toolbag 5 is the latest version of the software developed by Marmoset, designed to offer an all-in-one solution for viewing and presenting 3D models. It is a standalone application that integrates:

  • A powerful baking system to generate normal, ambient occlusion, curvature, and many other maps.
  • A real-time PBR editor supporting complex materials.
  • A real-time rendering engine with HDRi lighting, optional ray tracing, and physical camera.
  • Non-destructive texturing tools with support for layers, masks, custom brushes, and procedural materials.
  • Animation features, skeleton management, and morph targets.
  • Tools to create animated turntables, still renders, and short video sequences.

All wrapped up in an intuitive, customizable interface designed to maximize artist productivity.

Why use it?

Toolbag 5 has become a standard for rendering and lookdev (Look Development) in the game art and character design industry thanks to its ability to display 3D assets exactly as they will appear in game engines. But its use is not limited to gaming: it is also appreciated in industrial design, concept art, advertising, and architectural visualization.

One of its biggest strengths is the real-time preview of PBR (Physically Based Rendering) materials, allowing iterative and immediate work on model looks without waiting times. Additionally, the possibility to export presets for Unity, Unreal, or Sketchfab makes it ideal for a modern pipeline.

Real-world applications

Game Art and Game Development
Marmoset Toolbag 5 is an essential tool for game artists: it allows baking details from high-resolution models onto optimized assets for real-time use, visualizing the final look directly with PBR materials. It’s perfect for creating props, weapons, characters, or environments ready for engines like Unreal Engine and Unity, with dedicated export presets. It also enables developers to perform quick reviews and present models directly to technical and artistic teams.

High vs low poly models rendered in Marmoset Toolbag 5
image owned by marmoset

Portfolio and presentation on ArtStation / Behance

Toolbag is the ideal tool for creating professional presentations of your 3D assets: from turntable animations to high-resolution renders with depth of field, cinematic lighting, and HDRi environments. This makes it extremely useful for freelance artists, students, and professionals who want to impress recruiters and studios with a polished and immediate showcase.

Character design and creature modeling

Thanks to its powerful real-time rendering engine, Marmoset is often used for visualizing realistic or stylized characters. You can test material effects on skin, clothing, or complex organic surfaces like scales, fur, or alien skin. Moreover, the support for skeletal animation and morph targets allows for creating small animated scenes or demos.

Lighting features in Marmoset Toolbag 5
image owned by marmoset

Industrial design and product concept

Not only game art: Toolbag 5 is also useful for product designers and prototyping. The real-time preview of plastic, metal, glass, or matte materials allows realistic visual mockups, ideal for client presentations or evaluating product aesthetics before printing or manufacturing.

Visual storytelling and 3D illustration

Many 3D artists use Toolbag to create narrative scenes or illustrations from 3D assets, leveraging lighting, depth of field, and character poses. This way, you can get final concepts to publish as artwork or use as a base for paintovers in Photoshop.

Character art created with Marmoset Toolbag 5
image owned by marmoset

Light cinematics and motion graphics

Although it is not a full animation software, Toolbag allows creating animated turntables, camera movements, fades, and short clips that can be combined with audio or used in motion graphics. This feature makes it useful also for short trailers, teasers, and product videos.

Feedback and team review

Being fast and lightweight, Toolbag is perfect for internal asset reviewing, especially in collaborative pipelines. Artists can send .tbscene files or videos with different lighting conditions, facilitating communication between modelers, texture artists, riggers, and lead artists.

Marmoset Toolbag 5 proves to be an essential tool for 3D artists and rendering professionals thanks to its power, ease of use, and ability to deliver high-quality real-time results. With new features like USDZ support and faster baking, it marks a significant step forward for those looking to create professional portfolio presentations and efficient workflows. Whether you work in game design, visualization, or animation, Marmoset Toolbag 5 offers the perfect balance between performance and visual quality.

– article by: F Beranger

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR