IntroductionHi, I'm Berkay Dobrucali, Co-Founder of JustBStudios. I also work full-time as the Unity Team Lead at Hivemind Studios. Since my last interview with 80 Level, we won a Unity Award in the Best Artistic Content category with our Stylized Nature pack on behalf of Hivemind. These days, we've been focusing on both Unreal and Unity environments, working on some exciting new projects. I'm also continuing to bridge the gap between platforms by converting Unreal content into Unity.
Becoming an Environment ArtistSince I studied interior architecture, I started modeling houses and furniture using 3ds Max during my early university years. After graduation, I worked professionally in the field for a while. Later on, I joined an asset creator studio, where I began learning Unity. Over time, I found myself becoming more interested in environment design, lighting, and optimization rather than just modelingThe biggest challenge was starting from scratch and having to learn so many different aspects at once. But as time passed, I improved steadily and began to develop a broader understanding across various areas of environment art.I initially started with 3ds Max and became quite proficient in it. Later on, I added Photoshop to my workflow. As I specialized in both Unreal and Unity, I also found myself using Photoshop and Premiere Pro occasionally. For tasks like texture editing and video editing when needed.In the beginning, I benefited a lot from Udemy and free YouTube courses. Watching a lot of tutorials and repeating the process over and over was key to improving my skills.Environment art has always fascinated me because it has the power to directly convey atmosphere to the player. As an interior architect, I'm especially drawn to how a space can contribute to storytelling and immerse the player in a narrative. I often find inspiration from modern games and artistic platforms like ArtStation. Additionally, abandoned real-world structures and nature serve as important sources of inspiration for me.
Art-to-ExperienceI was involved in the project as the Art Director. The project was completed by three people. One of my teammates, who is also my Co-Founder, Begüm Dobrucali, was responsible for modeling and texturing the assets in the pack.She first created high-poly meshes in Blender, then baked them down to low-poly versions. For texturing, she used Substance 3D Painter. Once the asset and texture creation were complete, we asked another team member, Sude Kömür, to create the level design using the assets, based on the references we gathered. We stayed in close communication throughout this process and managed to create a compelling level. Afterward, we moved on to lighting. Since it was a desert environment, we used warm-toned directional lighting to illuminate the scene.The main challenge was placing the level elements correctly and ensuring everything was scaled properly to human proportions. Otherwise, the pack would have looked inconsistent.Using Emperia's Creator Tools plug-in was a smooth and enjoyable experience for me. The plug-in came with clear and detailed guidelines, which allowed me to follow each step carefully and complete the necessary tasks with ease. This comprehensive documentation made the entire process much faster and more efficient on my end. Overall, thanks to its user-friendly interface and logical workflow, working with the plugin was straightforward and significantly simplified my work.Thoughts on the Digital Art IndustryOne of the major issues in the industry is how quickly content is consumed and how often the artist's effort goes unrecognized. Additionally, the uncontrolled use of AI-generated content poses a threat to many artists. I believe we need more respect and recognition for the craft and the people behind it.Advice for BeginnersBeginners should focus on building a solid foundation and maintaining patience throughout the learning process. They should pay special attention to asset creation, level design, and lighting. I recommend starting with free resources on YouTube, and once they reach a certain level, diving deeper into paid courses for more advanced learning.Additionally, working on small but achievable projects is very important for growth.JustBStudios TeamInterview conducted by Theodore McKenzie #setting #explorable #desert #environment #with