3D Environmental Artist in the Gaming Industry
Robert Hodri is the Senior 3D Artist at id Software. They are among the most recognized developers in the industry, having created first-person shooters like Wolfenstein and Doom. Hodri has had the opportunity to work on both of their recent revival of franchises.
Robert studied at the University of Hohenheim and received a Masters in Sociology at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. Hodri stumbled upon being an environmental artist by taking his free time to develop mods for the Quake 3 community. His initial level designs were not well received, but later his work caught the attention of recruiters who approached him.
Robert began creating levels for the Quake 3 modding community. His interest spent developing levels would prove to be fruitful for developing games.
Early Beginnings & Career
He began his career in the industry working on the triple-A title Crysis 2 and Crysis 3 developed by Crytek. Afterward, Robert worked on Ryse, a game set in Rome, which he felt was refreshing to work on another genre, setting, and more cinematic experience.
Robert begins to work by receiving concepts from artists and then starts on world-building. A few of the things he focuses on when building the world are props, textures, weapons, lighting, and set dressing.
All the work for the video games he develops are done in-house. As an environmental artist, Robert knows how to work with Autodesk Maya, Studio Max, ZBrush, 3d Code, Photoshop and is more proficient in sculpting and texturing with UV. His designs began industrial with Quake but later proved to be useful when having to develop areas for DOOM 2016.
Technique and Style
Robert’s lighting is superb by showing lots of atmosphere in reflections and shadows. He is also very good at making all of how the environments aesthetically realistic. As some players will just run by areas he’s worked hard on, he needs to make sure people will notice the details by placing them in strategic locations.
Certain levels in games like the Boneyard level in DOOM 2016, is complex and requires time for unique meshes. Modular pieces such as pillars, arches, or architecture for more buildings are easier to assemble for games like Ryse. Areas can take weeks and months to finish one section. Advising it’s best to stop working on a particular area and moving on to another, only to return later and notice what can be improved.
Robert’s work in incredible with attention to detail by adding textures and light that attract the user to continue exploring into the corridors of the level. Much more refined than his days in the modding community.
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