Crafting Environments: Career Kickstarter

Set yourself up for success in the games industry as an environment artist. Learn how to build a professional 3D environment art portfolio that shows you’re ready for a AAA studio role.

In this group mentorship course, expert environment artist Alex Beddows from That’s No Moon shares industry insights and provides personalized feedback you won’t get from self-paced tutorials. Through in-depth video lessons and live Q&As, you’ll receive clear guidance on working within a professional production pipeline and how to improve your skills.

Enrollment Open

What You'll Learn

Course Overview

Set yourself up for success in the games industry as an environment artist. Learn how to build a professional 3D environment art portfolio that shows you’re ready for a AAA studio role.

In this group mentorship course, expert environment artist Alex Beddows from That’s No Moon shares industry insights and provides personalized feedback you won’t get from self-paced tutorials. Through in-depth video lessons and live Q&As, you’ll receive clear guidance on working within a professional production pipeline and how to improve your skills.

Alex will provide a clear, repeatable workflow you can apply to professional environment art production. You’ll learn how to plan projects, refine your environments, and showcase your work in your portfolio to highlight both creativity and technical strengths. You’ll also learn how to promote your work on social media and how to communicate your creative process clearly, an essential skill for job interviews and collaborative studio work.

By the end of the mentorship, you’ll have more confidence in your skills and a polished, environment art project that demonstrates you can work at a professional level and ready to break into the games industry.

THIS COURSE IS IDEAL FOR

3D environment artists ready to break into the Games Industry and land their first job.
For students to understand what the best pathway forward is for their careers

Course GALLERY

Course Goals

Understand how we plan projects and trust the process, skills that will help in the industry
Learn the soft skills required to speak about their art in a professional capacity
Learn every step of what is needed to create a standout environment portfolio
Increase your chances of landing your first job in the game development industry

Prerequisites

Basic understanding of 3D modeling and material authoringBasic knowledge of Unreal Engine (UE), including its purpose and core functionality

Assignments

Open

Learn Together on Student Boards

Collaborative workspaces where students submit weekly assignments, receive feedback, share WIPs, and learn from the progress of their peers.

PAINTOVERS & FEEDBACK

Get clear visual feedback through paintovers and detailed comments that help you understand exactly what to improve.

LEARN FROM EVERY PROJECT

Follow the progress of other students and discover new techniques, workflows, and creative solutions through their WIPs, project breakdowns, and mentor feedback.

SHARED KNOWLEDGE BASE

From references and workflow tips to paintovers, everything is organized in one place for easy access throughout the course.

STAY MOTIVATED

Learning alongside other artists helps keep you inspired, accountable, and committed to your goals.

COURSE CONTENT

1

In week one, we will explore the different paths available for environment artists and debunk common misconceptions about creating personal art. This process helps clarify your end goal, providing a strong foundation for planning the upcoming project. By the end of the week, you'll have a set of clear criteria to guide your work and measure the project's success.

2

In week two, we will focus on selecting our concept or reference. Several criteria will guide this choice, including its viability in relation to your predefined goals and the overall scope of the project. Once the concept is chosen, we will walk through the high-level planning process, breaking down the key phases of a project and applying this framework to your own work.

3

In week three, we will begin assembling our blockout in Unreal, adhering to professional practices by avoiding temporary assets. Every asset added will be intended for final use, allowing us to address fundamental assembly issues early on. During this phase, we will also block in cameras and lighting to ensure the overall composition aligns with the concept. This process will give us a clear checklist of assets to complete as we move forward as well as highlight potential problems we will need to solve.

4

In week four, we will begin refining our broad shapes by taking the blockout assets through a sculpting or modeling pass. This is a crucial stage where we focus on shape and form at the overall scene level, rather than just individual assets, while keeping albedo values in neutral greys. This stage is also a great chance to see if we missed any required assets in our original blockout. By the end of the week, all primary shapes should be represented in the environment.

5

In week five, we will move to the next level of detail, focusing on secondary forms. During this stage, we’ll finalize our sculpts, bake out normal maps, and create detailed normal maps. We'll continue working in neutral grey values, ensuring that both primary and secondary forms are cohesive and that no additional detail is needed at the shape level.

6

In week six, we’ll begin introducing albedo and roughness maps. Using masks, vertex painting, and decals, we’ll ensure that these values enhance the shapes we’ve created at the scene level. This is where the fun truly begins, as the scene starts to come to life with added texture and detail!

7

In week seven, we’ll add the finishing touches with VFX and lighting. Until now, we’ve intentionally avoided color grading and post-processing to prevent relying on effects to enhance weak ideas. By introducing these elements at this stage, we elevate a good scene into a truly fantastic one. This is also our opportunity to fix bugs, errors and any last minute bits we may have missed throughout the process.

8

In week eight, we’ll focus on capturing our final renders. We’ll explore tips for composing the scene and sequencing shots to create the most impactful viewing experience. Additionally, we’ll plan our social media strategy, ensuring that our work is presented in a way that maximizes visibility and supports future career opportunities.

Learn From The Best

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Alex Beddows

Alex is an accomplished Expert Environment Artist currently employed at That’s No Moon. With an impressive track record, Alex has held leadership positions as a Lead Environment Artist at outsource studios, contributing to the development of acclaimed titles like Returnal and Scavengers. Seeking new challenges, Alex made the transition to in-house development at Counterplay Games, where he played a pivotal role in the release of the highly anticipated PS5 game, Godfall. More recently, Alex worked with Respawn Entertainment on the exciting new project, Star Wars: Jedi Survivor.

During his game development journey, Alex made significant contributions to the art community whilst working at ArtStation. He not only managed the learning platform but also hosted the popular ArtStation podcast, amplifying the voices of artists within the company and beyond. Alex’s multifaceted background and extensive experience in the industry make him a valued professional in the field of environment art.

Student SHOWCASE

3D sci-fi industrial tunnel environment art featuring volumetric lighting, hard surface modeling, and hazmat characters

Student Work

3D snowy medieval stone cottage environment art with warm window lighting, textured masonry, and winter forest

Student Work

Modular medieval building asset kit displaying stone walls, wooden beams, roof tiles, and environment props for 3D environments

Student Work

Medieval stone cottage game environment featuring realistic stone textures, mossy foliage, and forest lighting

Student Work

3D fantasy harbor town environment art featuring half-timbered architecture, water rendering, and atmospheric dock lighting

Student Work

3D rendered abandoned kitchen interior featuring atmospheric blue lighting, peeling paint textures, and environmental storytelling props

Student Work

German Rodriguez - Crafting Environments: Career Kickstarter

Finn Bogaert - Crafting Environments: Career Kickstarter

Finn Bogaert - Crafting Environments: Career Kickstarter

Finn Bogaert - Crafting Environments: Career Kickstarter

Bart Van Hoye - Crafting Environments: Career Kickstarter

Ash Stafford - Crafting Environments: Career Kickstarter

Learn at your Own Pace

All options include the complete course. Choose the amount of time that best fits your learning style.

8

Weeks Access

$650

or $162.50 × 4 installments

Full 8-week course content
8 weeks to complete 8 rounds of instructor feedback on assignments
1-year course content & Miro board view access
Exclusive Academy Discord access
Monthly live Q&A sessions
Certificate of completion

Most Popular

12

Weeks Access

$725

or $181.25 × 4 installments

Full 8-week course content
12 weeks to complete 8 rounds of instructor feedback on assignments
4 extra weeks for review & polish
1-year course content & Miro board view access
Exclusive Academy Discord access
Monthly live Q&A sessions
Certificate of completion

16

Weeks Access

$775

or $193.75 × 4 installments

Full 8-week course content
16 weeks to complete 8 rounds of instructor feedback on assignments
8 extra weeks for review & polish
1-year course content & Miro board view access
Exclusive Academy Discord access
Monthly live Q&A sessions
Certificate of completion

Installment plans on all options where available

Ask a qUESTION

Have questions about the course, prerequisites, or anything else? Drop us a message and we'll get back to you shortly.

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