Thread by @delaneykingrox

I need to bust another #gamedev myth. Environment artists are NOT inferior to character artists.

There is a strong fork in the road of skill sets between the two built on the same foundations...

Character artists require a set of skills in addition to their 3d and 2d skills that environment artists do not need.

Environment artists require a different mix of additional skill.

Neither make you a better artist- but those additional skills do mark a difference

Character artists need to understand acting, costume, hair, anatomy, gesture, human psychology and understand deformation of meshes.

Environment artists need to understand space, set decoration, lighting, staging, architecture, trees and plants, and modularity techniques.

(You can be both, though I am known for characters I did a lot of environment work over the years.)

I think the misunderstanding comes that generally entry level goes through environment via making props and static assets such as chairs and boxes.

There IS definitely a difference in perceived worth, and that may be due to characters being strongly linked to a products IP and identity.

Players tend to remember and identify characters, but not scenery.

You buy charactee merch, not place merch.

So there is a LOT of pressure on character artists to get it right, so they float an IP.

So perhaps that means studios give more worth to character artists?

I dunno. On projects I have run, I am always short of amazing environment artists.

Making static props and set dressing is the lowest tier of work for new artists as is focuses on the core skills before the branching.

From there you can evolve your additional skills to end in a specialised field if you choose.

Environmental art IS a specialised field.

So, students... make sure you have scenery assets in your folio. That is usually your first rung in the ladder.

However please consider environment art as just as powerful and satisfying a career path as making characters.