
A university course designed to build foundational skills and an environment art portfolio is a popular way.
There are many routes to becoming an environment artist.
Unreal Engine for the final construction of the level and world. Marmoset Toolbag for baking texture maps. Substance Painter and Substance Designer for texture creation. For example, Fortnite Senior Environment Artist Scott Homer uses: “Simply having the ability to take an existing asset and reuse it in an interesting way is a key skill to building cohesive worlds quickly.”įrom building trees in SpeedTree to painting terrain in Unreal Engine, environment artists need to retain a working knowledge of many different tools. “Reuse plays a huge role in the job of an environment artist,” adds Homer. In order to build cohesive worlds quickly, it’s important to learn to take existing assets and reuse them in an interesting way.
The ability to be detail-oriented, while also seeing the bigger picture. The ability to take a blockout from Level Designers and turn it into a fully lit/crafted level. A firm understanding of architectural elements, environments, and props. What types of skills do environment artists require? Pre-requisites “The world around us isn’t always exciting, but the skill to take something generic and build upon it is a key trait to be mastered,” notes Scott Homer, Senior Environment Artist ( Fortnite) at Epic Games. Even a basic layout can soon become a fully-fledged world, with subtle details that form a story.
A truly effective environment artist will have the ability to make the mundane feel interesting. Want to turn a generic forest into a relaxing summer retreat? What about a haunted wood? Either way, you’ll need an environment artist. As well as films and games, environment artists can also be found creating realistic training simulations, helping visualize spaces for architects, and more.Įnvironment artists tend to be generalists, and as such have a lot of freedom to focus on multiple areas like: Whether you’re creating a new Skyrim or the next Star Wars, environment artists are required to construct cohesive 3D worlds, from terrain to sky and everything in between. That’s where an environment artist comes in.