Victor Karp

Environment & Tech Artist

Work with me

CV

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General overview

  • Over 18 years of experience in video game development, including 12 years as a professional artist and 3 years as Lead Environment Artist at Piranha Bytes
  • Contributed to 2 shipped AA titles as (Lead) Environment Artist at Piranha Bytes
  • Contributed to 3 shipped VR environments as a freelancer for ScraggyRascalStudios
  • Worked 6 years as a freelancer, collaborating with international clients on diverse projects
  • Strong generalist with a wide spectrum of 3D abilities and game logic creation

Technical skills overview

  • Deep expertise in 3D asset pipelines: highpoly-to-lowpoly baking, UV unwrapping and layouting, custom normals, sculpting, texturing, rigging, animation, manual LOD and collision creation, and physics simulation
  • Skilled in crafting custom shaders for Blender, Unreal Engine, and Godot
  • Experienced in optimizing assets for WebGL and mobile rendering, ensuring performance and efficiency
  • Proficient in building Blueprint systems for game logic and tools in Unreal Engine 4/5
  • Well-versed in GDScript and scene creation for Godot, with a focus on 3D development
  • Comfortable with clean version control workflows in Git, Mercurial, and Perforce

Professional experience

  • Delivered distinctive visual styles tailored to project needs across video games, health, advertising, aviation, and transportation industries
  • Independently resolved unpredictable production challenges to meet tight deadlines and ensure timely delivery
  • Collaborated effectively with international clients and colleagues, maintaining friendly and solution-oriented communication

Teaching and Leadership

  • Served as a lecturer at SAE Bochum in Germany and abroad, instructing adults and children in game development concepts. Course contents included:
    • 3ds Max basics (UI, controls, lowpoly and highpoly creation, baking)
    • Blender basics (UI, controls, lowpoly creation)
    • Creating a simple FPS in Unreal Engine 4 using Blueprints
    • Overview over video game production steps
    • Recognized for a patient, thorough, and approachable teaching style

Freelance work

since 07/2018

Environment Art & Tech Art services

Clients include

Provided services

  • Mesh creation and optimization, light and texture baking for 3D assets
    used in WebGL and AR applications
  • Creation of assets for use in VR games
  • Creation of assets and rendering of camera fly-bys for advertising
  • Optimization of CAD data for use in realtime applications
  • Mechanical animations of 3D assets
  • Creation of 3D renderings for use in print advertising
  • Creation and optimization of assets and scenes in Unreal Engine 4 in
    the context of architectural visualization and VR games
  • Creation of Blueprint logic in Unreal Engine 4 in the context of
    architectural visualization and VR games
  • Level design and detailing of multiplayer levels
  • Lowpoly mesh creation and texture baking for assets sold on digital
    marketplaces

Teaching and lecturing

SAE Bochum

  • 3ds Max modeling course for beginners (UI overview, lowpoly creation,
    highpoly creation, UV unwrapping and mapping, modifiers, texture
    baking)
  • Unreal Engine 4 Blueprint FPS course (UI overview, player controller
    creation, asset import, weapon blueprint creation, physics objects)

Codinglab

  • Blender beginner course (UI overview, lowpoly creation, UV unwrapping
    and mapping, modifiers)
  • Xonotic level creation course (introduction to NetRadiant, creation of
    brushes and patches, texturing, lighting, item placement, moving
    platforms, teleporters, handling leaks, bot navigation, levelshot and level
    description)

Haus der Jugend Hattingen

Workshop for children and teenagers about the development process
of video games. Participants were introduced to the basic pillars of video
game creation (graphics, gameplay, sound, music) and were then guided
to create simple 3D models themselves

Spielbogenverein Dortmund

Blender beginner course for children and teenagers (UI overview,
lowpoly creation, UV unwrapping, texture painting)

Employment

12/2022 – 08/2024
Institut für WBOR, Design und Entwicklung Hamburg GmbH
Role: Media Designer

  • Realization of VR applications
  • Creation of high-quality, photorealistic renderings in the areas of
    transportation, interior and exterior
  • Data preparation and data reduction for demanding research projects,
    reduction of considerable amounts of data
  • Creation of 3D animations and 3D visualizations in photorealistic quality
  • Creation of animation videos based on 3D data and 3D scenes
    produced in-house
  • Creation of 3D exploded views of complex CAD assemblies

02/2022 – 08/2022
Institut für Betriebliche Gesundheitsberatung
Role: 3D Expert

  • Creation of VR game logic in Unreal Engine 4 using Blueprints and in
    the Godot Engine using GDScript
  • Automation and optimization of recurring workflows in Unreal Engine 4
    using Blueprints
  • Creation of new and revision and optimization of existing 3D
    environment assets for VR applications in Unreal Engine 4

05/2015 – 06/2018
Piranha Bytes
Role: Lead Environment Artist

  • Time management and planning during the development of Elex 1 and
    pre-production of Elex 2
  • Quality control and feedbacking of in-house and outsourced assets
  • Creation of high- and low-poly environment assets
  • Texture baking and texturing using unique, tileable and trim textures
  • Level design and scene dressing
  • Lighting
  • Creation of visual shaders
  • Performance optimization
  • LOD and collision creation

02/2015 – 04/2015
Piranha Bytes
Role: Environment Artist

  • Creation of high- and low-poly environment assets
  • Texture baking and texturing using unique, tileable and trim textures
  • Level design and scene dressing
  • Lighting
  • Creation of visual shaders
  • Performance optimization
  • LOD and collision creation

08/2012 – 01/2015
Piranha Bytes
Role: Trainee for digital and print media design

  • Creation of high- and low-poly environment assets
  • Texture baking and texturing using unique, tileable and trim textures
  • Level design and scene dressing
  • Lighting
  • Creation of visual shaders
  • Performance optimization
  • LOD and collision creation

04/2012 – 07/2012
Piranha Bytes
Role: Internship as Environment Artist

  • Gameplay testing
  • Lowpoly mesh creation
  • Texture creation

Education

08/2012 – 01/2015
Berufskolleg Ost Stadt Essen
Ausbildung zum Mediengestalter Digital und Print
Field: Design and Technology

07/2011
Stadtgymnasium Dortmund
Abitur

Languages

  • German: Mother tongue
  • English: Fluent
  • Italian: Basic reading comprehension

References

Institut für Betriebliche Gesundheitsberatung
Valentin Goetz, Managing Partner
valentin.goetz [at] ifbg.eu

Institut für WBOR, Design und Entwicklung Hamburg GmbH
Torsten Kanitz, Managing Director
t.kanitz [at] ids-hamburg.com

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