“Tomb”

Introduction

Hi my name is Markus, I am an Enviroinment Artist, 29 years old and currently I and work in Spain at 'elite3d'. Before I got into the game industry I was constantly building my portfolio as a self-taught artist. Often, I did not hear back from companies and got rejected. I knew something in my portfolio was missing and I couldn't pass art tests when I was invited to do one. So I thought doing a course or a mentorship was the solution. I came across The Mentor Coalition on Google and I didn't hesitate to sign up for a mentorship with Billy Matjiunis.

The Mentor Coalition Experience

Before my mentorship started I got in contact with Billy and he asked me what I'd expect from the mentorship and what kind of environment I'd like to do. I wanted to do a Indiana Jones inspired scene, something like an abandoned temple or tomb. I came up with a concept for a scene that I quickly blocked out, rendered and phot bashed it.

Billy replied he has seen this kind of tomb scene quite often before and that we should strive for something more unique, it also should have more verticality. So I made a revision of that and the second concept turned out way better. Now we had something to start with. Although the concept wasnt really something you'd like to show, the idea was clear.

In our first call we discussed generall things like 'how I got my passion for games', 'why I want to get into the industry' and 'what I would expect of the mentorship and him as a mentor.

At this point I haven't created an environment in Unreal and it was good that I could rely on someone with experience. Billy taught me how to tackle a bigger project with strategy. The first step was to break down the concept into modular pieces. In the first week I just focused on blocking out simple shapes

Now, I had all my assets (at least the big and important ones) in place and in week two we talked about the next steps, refining and using trim sheets. At this point I've never really heard of trim sheets, in fact I just did props with unique UV layouts.

After creating the first trim, which was basically just a simple stone/brick layout I did the UV's for my blockouts and wrapped them to this first trim. I also refined the meshes to an almost finished state according to these trim textures, playing around with the tiling and shapes. The first look of the scene was already pretty cool and I was surprised how fast I could achieve progress. Although, the scene looked quite repetitive and I had worries how the scene would look in the end. But in week three, Billy introduced me to decals and vertex painting inside Unreal.

At this point I had done another texture with some wood variation using photoshop. Week three was basically set dressing, adding more details and break up repetitive surfaces.

We couldn't finish the scene in the four weeks, which was actually no problem because I had the knowledge that I needed to finish the scene by myself. Billy gave me the opportunity to reach out to him, in case I would need any feedback on something.

It's fair enough to say that my trims didn't look that professional and full of variation but I created three textures using different workflows (1. using Substance Painter and Zbrush, 2. using Photoshop and pictures, 3. Substance Designer and ZBrush, the basic pattern was a black/white image that I used as a base in SD) and I learned that in a short amount of time. Also, I got a basic understanding of decals in Unreal, how to use mesh decals (wherever planar projection wasn't possible) and how to set up simple shaders to blend two materials using vertex painting in Unreal. We also discussed composition, storytelling and lighting throughout the 4 weeks.

With that knowledge I got in this short time I was able to pull off a scene efficiently in just six weeks.

After finishing the mentorship I had a strong piece in my portfolio, enough knowledge that I was able to proceed a job interview and an art test with confidence. The mentorship was the missing piece and three months later I got my first job in a game studio.

By doing the mentorship I gained enough skills to tackle environments for games and the next bigger project that I did one year later got me the next job at 'elite3d'.

I constantly try to build up on what I've learned back then, according to workflows, techniques and artistic choices.

I like sharing knowledge with others and for the future (when I will have gotten more experience in the Industry) I would like to teach and doing online courses.

Advantage of a Mentorship (compared to classroom)

I never went to art school, I am a self-taught artist, but I went to universities, one for management and business and the other for science and technology, although I never finished them. What I can say is that a mentorship is abolute crucial when you'd like to learn at a fast pace. The mentorship with Billy was tailored for me, just for my needs, you won't get that in a classroom.

Furthermore, when you are trying to get out of your comfort zone (in my case creating an environment) it makes your life so much easier when you have someone that guides you through the process. Also, I had to deal with technical issues, mostly related to the engine, and it's way easier to troubleshoots them with a helping hand, rather than tackling problems alone and spending endless hours in forums to find solutions.

Life since TMC

Since I took the mentorship, I got a job at a company called Mediasquad that lately got the award "VR Enterprise Solution of the Year 2020", landed my first gig in the industry at '2K/Hangar 13' where I was working on amazing AAA projects and one year later I got a job at 'elite3d' stepping up from junior to (mid-level) environment artist.

Conclusion

TMC was really beneficial for me, I got a solid understanding of AAA techniques, how to create a project with a good strategy and Billy gave me constantly feedback from an artistic point of view, all that in just a short amount of time.

I would definitely recommend The Mentor Coalition for everyone, whether experienced professional, student or beginner, but I think it's even more important when you are self-taught.