We are thrilled to introduce Daniil Gerber, a very talented junior 3D environment artist that impressed us with his portfolio. As our trailblazing intern, he brings valuable skills and creativity that will make a great contribution to our studio during his time here.
In this Q&A, Daniil shares insights about his background, interests, and advice for students seeking internships.
Daniil, tell us a bit about yourself and what sparked your interest in pursuing Game Design?
I am a game design student living in Berlin, currently specializing in 3D Environment Art. From a young age, I was drawn to art, and over the years, my medium evolved from paper to digital 3D graphics. After graduating, I decided to combine my two passions — games and 3D art — into a future career. That led me to pursue my studies in Game Design at HTW Berlin.
What is one project in your portfolio that you are most proud of and why?
I’m proud of several pieces in my portfolio, each for different reasons, as they focus on aspects like PCG (Procedural Content Generation), overall 3D quality, and materials. If I had to pick a standout project, it would be my recent Gothic Cathedral piece. Completed over two weeks of intensive work, this project showcases my ability to bring together all my skills to create an optimized, real-time environment using industry-standard software, further enhanced with Unreal Engine’s material capabilities.
In your portfolio, you mention specializing in PCG Framework in Unreal. Can you share why it appeals to you?
A bit of background: in my studies, we began with Unity, and after completing two projects, we were allowed to switch to Unreal Engine for our university work. As an environment artist working in Unity, I found that I lacked certain tools for advanced object placement.
Unreal Engine's PCG Framework, which comes as a plugin, felt like a game-changer because I didn’t have to develop a solution from scratch. With PCG, I can create systems for prop placement, architecture, and full environments, as I did during my first game jam project, “Baton Pass to Play”, where I developed a system to procedurally generate the game environment.
What are you most excited to learn during your time at Sierra Division?
I am most excited to push my creative boundaries and refine my attention to detail in asset and environment creation. I look forward to advancing my software skills to achieve high-quality results and gaining insights into the communication and development pipeline within a studio like Sierra Division.
What goals do you hope to achieve by the end of your internship?
By the end of my internship, I hope to improve both my technical and soft skills, as well as connect with people who are professionals in their field. I also look forward to receiving valuable advice on how to improve my approach to different aspects of asset and environment creation.
What's one piece of advice you would share with students looking for their first internship?
My main advice is to reach out to studios directly, even if they don’t explicitly advertise internship positions. Don’t be discouraged by rejections; instead, keep improving your skills and portfolio to increase your chances of landing an internship at your desired studio.
Check out Daniil's portfolio.
We are always on the lookout for talented artists to work with. Even when we don't advertise any openings, artists are welcome to submit their portfolio for future consideration on our Careers page here.
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