Super excited to announce the release of my brand new Unreal Engine Environment Art course! All 13 hours of content are only $49 forever. (Also comes with a coupon for my 3D Coloring Book course too) Join here: bit.ly/3htZU2G

I can't stress enough how important unwrapping skills are, especially for environment artist. Understanding such concepts as "overlaps" and "trimsheets" are essential.

Hi! The title of your video should have been '' How to Become an Artist for games'' because it was so general! I didn't find it to be specifically for the environment. So much can be said about how to make/master environment art and you mentioned nothing about it. I link your video to my interns because I find them very helpful for juniors! I have watched your videos since the beginning but have never commented before, it's a first! Keep the good work and the high-quality content :) How to become an Environment Artist for Games: (quick overview of the guideline) 1 - Get a general idea of the scene/level (and the story). 2 - Get all the concepts and references you need. 3 - Blocking and first pass lighting. (Helps to highlight the main area(s)). 4 - Start modeling the main assets (+ Uvs + baking). Placement 5 - Modeling filling props ( UVs + Baking). Placement 5.1 - (If needed) Mod/Tex vegetation 6 - Texturing (You can do it right after modeling each asset or do it all in one. I prefer to do it all in one for more consistency in the style and colors). 7 - Particle systems and effects (Post process, etc.) 8 - Final lighting pass. 9 - optional! Animation/ shader animation. It will bring the scene to life! More steps can be added depending on the environment and complexity (demo or real game). Some other important stuff that will make your work better: - Optimize as you go! This is not the last step. You may have to re-do full assets If you didn't think about it earlier. This step can help you save time too by atlassing or using symmetry, etc. - Learn how nature works, analyze everything ( forest hierarchy, rock degradation, water flow, etc! ) This will make your scene more believable x1000. - Each asset has a story to tell. - Learn how real objects are made ( you can use that knowledge, even for stylized assets. You can exaggerate some important parts for the style or bring the eye to it. ) - Watch what other people do, Share your work. - Open old projects. If you ask yourself wth@! did you do, well that's good. It means you have learned to do better. There is always room for improvement, even for veterans. 5 years in an indie studio, learned alot! still have a lot to learn!

Damn. This should be the de-facto video for all 3D Environment Artists. It assembles everything I've been learning for the past few months in under 15 minutes. Great job.

I graduated in my game dev degree back in may. I got hired at my first studio a couple weeks ago. Super stressful and imposter syndrome is very real. But I love it. :D

I'm delving into 3D modelling and game design at the age of 27 as a big career shift from being a carpenter up until now. I discovered i have a knack and some talent for it, but it's still hard. I know in time I will become better and maybe some day I'll even be able to work with my newfound passion. But i can't help but shake the feeling sometimes that I came into this " game" or industry a bit too late as people my age or even way younger than me are already wildly talented, skillfull and successfull artists while I'm merely beginning. It's sometimes discouraging, but it's just one of many hurdles I'll have to surpass. Atleast I'm done doing things I don't want to do, and I'm starting to focus on the things that I do want to get better at and work with. It's great to see videos like these that inspire me and channels like this that share in their plethora of knowledge on the subject. Keep up the good work guys!

What a fantastic video... I was a uni student and now solo artist of over 5 years... and everything you said in the very beginning and throughout rings true... The reasons why I got to where I am as an E.A. down to everything my professors and real world industry instructors taught us in class... I am a member of stylized station by way of the 3d artist coloring book... and I look forward to everything you have coming in the future... cheers...

This is an amazing video. Something I wish I had seen it was created a long time ago. Nothing against you, the video is just that good. It told me things I already knew (hence why I wish I saw it earlier), told me things I sort of understood and reinforced my understanding of it, and taught me new things. Incredible video. Thank you for creating it.

I swear this video is truely deeply well explained ...how to become artist i have seen soo many video with thumbnail how to become game artist but they never deeply talk about modeling uvs and texture ...their all just like ....blockout models picture refrence lighting thats all and they end up their video ...you never going to understand from where you should began with ...

This was mind-blowing, dude ! I just started the Summer of Unreal as a 2D animation film director (with almost 20 years of xp behind me), so I've been completely drown by all the 3D jargon in there (Blueprints, Nodes, PBR, meshes... What the heck are those !?). Your vid is a fantastic eye-opener on all of this ! Thanks a bunch ! It was really a timely video !

I really like this video. I just started attending college last fall for Multimedia and Game development. I'm not very great at coding, and I've learned I will probably never be a pro at it. And I've really learned that I love creating things in Maya, creating maps and levels for games. I've done stuff in Unreal and Unity so far. Thanks for the video!

Great video man! Totally agree on the soft skills part. One of the reasons I feel I got a shot is while there are many talented people not all of them are easy to work with meaning if you are easy to work with it improves the chances of breaking into the industry.

Thank you so very much for featuring my work! 😊💛

And this is one of the reasons of why being a solo game dev feels so overwhelming (the word itself is such an understatement). I like to mostly do the game design and game developing part, but the (visual) art plays such a huge role that can also make or break a game, and I will not even start about the sound, animations, story, etc. ps: Keep bringing high quality content like this, your videos are highly appreciated. Now I need to get back into my cave, my game won't finish itself.

After 2 years of working in product design, I'm starting as an environment artist in a small indie studio. Your videos have been extremely helpful, to say the least. Thank you Stylized station ^^

An awesome video! All aspiring env artists should totally see this. Thank you for the advice

You explain it so well! T_T Even though I've done most of these things separately, I never got how to put it all together. Trying to make a short film in C4D by myself with random tutorials was a living nightmare. The way you explain it makes it so easy to understand. Man if this video had been around when I was still in school, I might've actually finished that film LOL

Wowza. This was incredible. Thanks man.

Awesome video as always

Thank you very much for this useful video!

Beautifully said, I'm an aspiring environment artist currently working on smaller projects and I'm cobbling together everything and anything I can learn to be able to create these environments in a timely manner. The biggest setback I've faced in UV unwrapping and optimisation. Even with lower poly counts, your shaders MUST be taken into account and advanced effects should be used sparingly (this is for VR). UV unwrapping takes the cake and it needs to be right or you will find yourself fudging the results to make ends meet. Simply put, I may hide certain things behind props because I simply didn't have the time to do it properly. My advice is to UV unwrap on the fly, don't make everything first and then come back to it. The only reason I ever do that is if my clients are expecting results that same week and I will model everything as fast as I can with decent detail, use tri-planar texturing shaders to slap materials onto everything and then show the demo result and go back and refine it afterwards. This is usually due to regular meetings and updates for the people funding the projects. They always want to see good and fast progress.

You nailed this video!

I'm seriously shocked you did not mention Modo when you spoke about the 3 modeling software. However This video touches deeply and totally one of the same situation right now. Setting back listening to where you started brings me back to my memories LOL Oh do I have them. Lost a lot of battle matches due to me reviewing environment art. Example are "Fanboy and chum chum shows, Hale, Rachet and Clank. Banbicot, Tekken and a lot others. I need guidance and careful pacing to get to where I need to be in this skill set. I remember in Halo 1 when playing on teams I'd be the driver at times and I remember getting out of the Wart Hog right and just wandering around leaving the game and in aww about the structures and how they are built and the theming of the sets for game play for hours LOL so I know what you mean and this is my mission and glad I found you somehow on youtube to help guide me through your courses. Man I am on board for sure. I also am a musician and wondering how to add this at some point to my production. I work with Cubase and Nuendo for the music and play all the instruments to create scores including sound designing as well . So at some point I think this will be helpful. I have so many ideas swarming around in my creative head and it's so frustrating that's where my ideas are trapped for right now. Great video and everyone here viewing this knows and understand we all start at some place, Thank You Stylized Station for making this video for that childhood memory you've resurrected in all of our hearts starting when one crayon on my wall drawing "Wile-E Coyote Super Genius" LOL.

I heard you can become an environment artist by planting a bamboo forest in your backyard.

I want to become Environment Artist for Games. And im always learning and improving with great inspirations from Pinterest and youtube.

Thanks!

For all sculptors out there! Retopology trainig is key for animation ready characters& creatures

Excelent video as always

inspiring video...thank you!

7:20 I do all of my baking in blender now. I really dislike texturing so I learned basic nodes for procedural materials. I generally go around taking photos on my camera, upload them and turn them to seamless textures and then give them as a sample to blender. This is a really easy method especially if you need to use old metals that have damaged edges (basically by targeting edges using AO)... After that there are 2 free methods of making all the maps (by putting your color texture through the bump node and color map and attaching the bump to normal; or by using free 3rd party software like Materialize and ShaderMap4- free version that is missing only metallic- I use blender or Materialize to make the metallic map ). Both methods work really well and if you use blender you cam make textures of any custom size (I generally make 4K and downscale it to the smaller resolutions after...). Only small problem for blender is metallic map that you need to detach when baking other maps and need to put in the emission when baking, but that is basically nothing compared to the power it has! Also, if done in blender, you do not even need sample textures, everything is 100 customizable and standalone, all the details can be drawn directly onto a model (color texture) using stencils and it has a really high level of customization with basically everything already online so you can also learn really quickly I wanted to learn Mixer for texturing but nodes saved me a bunch of time and gave me the exact same option without the need to learn a totally new software...

Your videos are really very helpful and informative. Are you able to do all of this solo? I really am intrigued by your work and also found new interest in learning environment designing.

Awesome, I'm an indie game dev and I'm only 15, I just wanted to check out what it takes to become an actual environment artist

Essentially most off this video is correct. And a well put together video. I've been an environment artist for around 6 years now. The point of needing to know 3D Modelling isn't entirely correct. I have never touched 3DS Max and opened blender around 3 times in that 6 year gap. Knowing 3D Art is advantageous not essential, so don't be put off environment art if your new to the idea. Although there is said to be a shortage of 3D artists in the industry. This only refers to TOP TOP talented 3D Artists. And there is a MASSIVE abundance of websites that offer 3D Assets. The point I'm making is don't be alarmed if your wanting to get into environment art and level design and have no interest in making 3D Assets. Proceed with your dream.

This is actually pretty relevant for other things besides environments

Basically, if u want to become a environment artist, you need to be almost a generalist. Great video! Thanks!

How did u know that I wanted a video on this topic?🤔 Please make more videos for Game Artists

My personal thought is unreal has the best graphic from all other game engines, Very cool video for environment artists. Thanks

6:01 sounds cool, got a little head bop :)

Amazing

When I was a kid, video game landscapes were a solid color…

what is your job beside youtube ? are u making games ?

I just graduated from high school and I took an animation class for 2 years and I want to pursue this

Tnx for ur advice / I'm going to start from zero, even i have no any laptop computer except mobile phone.

I just want to add that Marmoset Toolbag has introduced some texturing tools recently too. I doubt they would be as good as substance painter, but who knows maybe in a few years it will be something to behold.

zbrush has some free alternatives 1. Sculptris, while no longer supported is an amazing software. 2. ZBrushCoreMini I have this software but I have not used it for any of my projects as I still use sculptris but it was made by the same team.

Long comment incoming. Important info for students and prospective future professional game artists. To any people looking to pursue this as a profession and work at a studio making games, I just want to warn you that while it's totally possible, it isn't easy. The competition is fierce, and if you want a job you're going to have to work your ass off. Also, having a fulltime job while you learn it on the side makes it exponentially harder. It's all possible, but it's hard. It takes time and a lot of effort. I wish it wasn't like this, but it's just the reality of being able to live off making art. I don't want this to discourage anyone, but I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea and think this is an easy thing to do. Put in the time and effort, you'll get there. You can do it, I promise. You need to know how to do a huge variety of stuff that ranges all over the board. There's lots of disciplines involved that range from very 'creative' to very 'technical'. The range of what amount of them you'll be doing at wherever you end up ranges wildly as well. It depends if you end up as more of a generalist who does all sorts of stuff, or end up being specialized only doing a few things. Here's a list of a lot of the main ones for environment artists. Modeling. Trim sheets. Baking. Texturing baked assets. How to make tileable materials, whether it's in designer, painter, or zbrush. The difference between a baked asset vs an asset made from tileables and trim. How to gather good reference. How smart materials work. Topology. Sculpting. How PBR works. UV mapping. A game engine. Modularity. Texel density. Lighting. Composition. Stylization vs Realism. A modeling package, a sculpting pacakge, a texturing package, photoshop and a engine. There's also Protogrammetry, Shaders, Terrain. etc. etc. etc. The list goes on. Some of these you just need a basic understanding of, some of them you need to be very proficient in. It's a lot of stuff as you can see. My biggest recommendation would be joining a community that has people like you who are working towards the same goal, as well as industry professionals who can help guide you in the right direction. My #1 recommendation for that is the DiNusty Empire Discord. It's filled with top talent and students alike. There's other options like Experience Points, 3D Fast Track and The Rookies, but DiNusty is where I'd start. The guy who runs DiNusty also streams on twitch regularly which is great for asking questions and seeing an industry veteran's workflow in real time. They also offer mentorships similar to the mentorship coalition shown in the video. Mentorships are amazing for making portfolio pieces and getting intimate knowledge and guidance from professionals. That being said, I wouldn't recommend starting a mentorship until you know the basics of modeling, texturing, uving, baking and sculpting. Also, once you have a prop and basic environment under your belt. You don't want to waste your time and money with a mentor having them show you how to use software that you could learn from a youtube video. I also obviously want to recommend watching lots of tutorials, including buying tutorials from professionals in the field. You can get them on youtube, gumroad, artstation, flippednormals, Learn Squared, etc. Also, make an Artstation! Post your work on there and ask for critique on discord. Get as much critique as you can. Let it be harsh. It's how you get better. Sorry this was long but I hope it will help someone who is on a similar path to the one I was on.

Thank you for the video.👍 Greetings from Russia. 🖐

Thank you. I'm leaving the freelance 2D illustration/concept art field since AI has taken over it and switching to 3D environment art until AI also takes over 3D too. Hopefully happens after I have enough for retirement since quality models aren't freely available for scraping. The introduction will help.

Thanks for this video, I learned a lot. I have some questions though. Do you think the skills mentioned would apply for films as well as games? Do you think an environmental artist should start with basic 2D skills such as sketching and shading? (I have many ideas that I can't illustrate very well) Is there a difference between "baking" vs applying textures to simple model? Will technology advance to the point that baking is no longer necessary? If I have a bunch of ideas (for a scene) but poor artistry skills, can I cobble together a bunch of pre-made assets? Thanks again

I want to be an environment artist so bad, but I need a good PC for it, Substance and Marmoset doesn't work at all for me which makes the texuring very hard, and on top of that when I tried UE I couldn't get past 10fps. Anyway I loved you video and subed

Hi there; just wanted to ask is a degree environment artist worth for the future and is the job market growing/in demand? also love your stuff!! God bless thank you : )

hola tenia una sola consulta si los videos traen subtitulos en español. gracias

I like character and asset creation. Is asset modeller in enviorment or character field? So I am both

Would be good if you define area of expertise and categories of skills

With only Unreal Engine 5, do I need to learn any of this or can I create/model the items in UE5?

Modeling, unwarping, sculpting, baking, texturing lighting I know these just someone help me get these stuffs to unreal and create that beautiful secene

What's the system requirements to get started? Can a computer of 2gb Nvidia graphics card work out something when it comes to sculping and environment modelling things?

Was Devil May Cry 5 published by square enix in any territory? The video credits them for it at 0:51 I know capcom made it, at any rate.

My biggest problem is I want to do game and graphic design and I know absolutely nothing about it I can’t seem to find any really helpful video tutorials for starting up and I don’t have enough time to do a payed coarse

i remember buying when i feel like on other and not know how to do in game XD.

which software program i should download ?? i am learning 3dmax. Does Environmental gaming 3d model has connection with 3dmax ?

this video needs subtitle that's exactly what i need

how much time does it take to do this arch?

Does your course teach unreal engine 5 or 4?

I'd like to see automatic subtitles, could you set it up?

I need some technical guidance please regarding the requirements of my laptop which I will use to learn this field. Should it be similar to the high quality laptops used to make rendering and lighting in 3dmax ?

Does nannite solev high poly count scenes without baking ??

Whats the difference between being and artist to games vs movies

Hey I'm modelling in Cinema 4D, Is it good for games?

How do I become an enviroment artist for games? I still have no idea after watching 15:06 minutes of this video and getting hit by 3 ads. This is a short-form guide on what an environment artist does, not how to become one. And I'm being generous. It's more of a guide on how to be a 3D model artist.

13:31 Ah yeah, good old Battlefiedl 2042

What if you’re bad at drawing? Also, how do you learn those programs?

Maya has an Independent subscription that's $300 a year. Look it up.

1:43

The real question is: Is it better to learn environment art or character art? if you are trying to find a job. I know people will say do what you love the most but I'm talking about job opportunities.

I keep wondering: Is it worth all the effort? I am new in that area. I want to be a 3d artist but I am not sure all my efforts will be compensated. Because you know, being a ui-ux designer is much easier and has more demand. I need your valuable comments.

Non programmers use blueprints. I believe your statement is incorrect. I personally use both c++ and blueprints. At the end blueprints is just faster

What does a environment artist do?? In both 2d and 3d?? Plz reply

What game is it at 13:06?

Good topology is only needed in deforming meshes, not hard surface models.

It is called : Environment gaming 3d model ?

bro started talking following the rhythm of the background music 6:00

Hi guys I'm a begginer and still learning to use blender but I wanna know what do you call this art style/ theme at 14:49 I wanna set it as my goal moving forward to create that kind of 3D art. P. S. I don't have any art background whatsoever, so I might be using the wrong terminologies in my question. I would appreciate any corrections too. Thanks!

How many of you kept pausing multiple times to write game names from the video?

I am kinda curious also how Age comes into this, i am for instance 36 years old, and i am having a tough time to be honest. Havent had a single commission anymore in the past year or so.

Wait so which ones are Hard Skills and which ones are Soft Skills?

How often do environment artists use zbrush?

I never really been a fan of Blender. I typically use low-polygon modeling programs like Wings 3D and 3D Builder which are MUCH MUCH easier than Blender. And as was said in this video, low polygon is better for games if one doesn't want their game to slowdown a lot. And some VERY VERY VERY nice stuff could be made simply keeping it low poly. In fact, I made a few low poly models on my channel where I recreated a store called Venture, Shop N Save and Kmart. I made those in 3D Builder and they are examples of what could be done in low poly and in modeling programs that are GREAT and easier alternatives to Blender. Thus, this just my 2 cents.

Point to be noted UE5 will give you the ability to directly import sculpts so if that is also an option if viable for your project.

What exactly is an environment artist?

Can you do for metroidvania or 2d

Only critic to this video is "Zbrush is user friendly" the joke :D its more like a further off apple compared to every standard in our society hahah, but yeah best for sculpt for sure.

why is this video not sp sub?

I feel like im not creative enough or an artist 😢

Do you think its necessary to learn substance designer to be an environment artist?

I clicked this video specifically for information on 3D Environment Artists; i.e. terrain design and creation....it ended up being way too general and not at all what I clicked the video for...

No love for Modo? As a modelling suite it absolutely puts anything from Autodesk to shame.

Figure out how you become one that tell others XD

1st

blender gang