M3DS Academy

11/08/2026

🏆 Help M3DS Academy student Sunny Turner win the People’s Choice Award at The Rookie Awards 2026!

We are incredibly proud to share that Sunny’s “Stylised Environment Art Collection for 2026” has been selected as a Rookie of the Year Finalist! His submission brings together some of his strongest environment-art projects from 2025 and 2026, showcasing his creativity, technical development, and dedication throughout his journey at M3DS Academy.

Now we need the support of our incredible community! ❤️

Please take a moment to explore Sunny’s work and cast your People’s Choice vote. Every vote, High Five, comment, and share helps his artwork reach more people and brings him one step closer to the award.

👉 View the project and support Sunny here:
https://www.therookies.co/entries/45798

Let’s come together and show the strength of the M3DS Academy community!

Congratulations, Sunny—we are incredibly proud of you! 🔥👏

Welcome to my Rookies 2026 submission! This entry portrays some of my larger projects from 2025 to 2026. Big thank you to M3DS Academy for helping me through some of these projects. I hope you enjoy scrolling through!

03/08/2026

🌿 2026 Rookies Entry Showcase – Unknown Island by Lili Bruijn

Welcome to Unknown Island, a vibrant stylized environment created by Lili Bruijn in Unreal Engine 5, inspired by the beautiful concept art of Kateryna Kyrkach.

Wanting to challenge herself with large-scale outdoor environments and foliage, Lili brought this lush island to life with colorful vegetation, handcrafted props, and an inviting atmosphere full of personality. The result is a charming scene that perfectly captures the spirit of the original concept while showcasing strong environment art fundamentals.

Fantastic work, Lili! 🌴✨
https://www.therookies.co/entries/48389

Don't forget to visit Lili's 2026 Rookies Entry and leave a High Five to show your support! 🙌

02/08/2026

✨ 2026 Rookies Entry Showcase - Beyond Extent Team Challenge by Lili Bruijn

Step into Kingdom Below, a beautifully stylized fantasy environment created by Lili Bruijn as part of the Beyond Extent Team Challenge for the 2026 Rookies.

Over an intensive five-week collaboration, Lili and her teammates transformed an idea into a magical world filled with vibrant crystals, ancient ruins, flowing waterfalls, and atmospheric storytelling. From concept exploration and prop creation to worldbuilding and final presentation, this project is a fantastic example of what can be achieved through teamwork and creative collaboration.

A huge congratulations to Lili Bruijn and the entire team for this incredible achievement! 🌟

Team:
🎨 Ana Cristina Pacheco Romo de Vivar ()
🎨 Yan Honorato ()
🎨 Jaëlle Alsac ()
🎨 Anastasia "Anki" Kiseleva ()
🎨 Diane Picaud ()

Don't forget to visit Lili's 2026 Rookies Entry and leave a High Five to show your support! 🙌
https://www.therookies.co/entries/48389

31/07/2026

🏴☠️ 2026 Rookies Entry Showcase - Game-Ready Pirate Girl by Corentin Campoli

Meet Corentin Campoli's stylized character, Game-Ready Pirate Girl, created for the 2026 Rookies competition.

This project showcases a complete game character workflow from high-resolution sculpting in ZBrush and hard-surface work in Blender, to facial blendshapes, optimization, and full integration into Unreal Engine 5. Every stage reflects Corentin's dedication to refining his pipeline while pushing beyond his comfort zone.

Fantastic work, Corentin, and best of luck in the 2026 Rookies! ⚓🔥
https://www.therookies.co/entries/46802

29/07/2026

🌟 Student of the Month - Jeffrey Zou 🌟

Congratulations to Jeffrey Zou, our Student of the Month! 🎉

Jeffrey has consistently impressed us with his creativity, dedication, and steady growth. From charming stylized environments to polished prop studies, every project reflects his commitment to improving his craft. We're excited to celebrate his hard work and can't wait to see what he creates next!

Congratulations, Jeffrey! 👏

27/07/2026

2026 Rookies Entry Showcase - Aleksandra Jankova

Meet "The Sorcerer," a stunning character created by Aleksandra Jankova for her 2026 Rookies Entry.

This project marked Aleksandra's first experience integrating the MetaHuman Pipeline, making it her most ambitious work to date. From sculpting a custom head in ZBrush to creating garments in Marvelous Designer and designing intricate embroidered patterns in Substance Painter, every detail was refined over several months to achieve the final vision.

The result is a beautifully crafted fantasy character that showcases both artistic creativity and technical precision.

If you enjoyed Aleksandra's work, don't forget to visit The Rookies and leave her a High Five! 🙌
https://www.therookies.co/entries/49357

26/07/2026

2026 Rookies Entry Showcase - Caio Mesquita

We're excited to showcase "Highway Tunnel", a realistic environment created by our Environment Art Instructor Caio Mesquita for his 2026 Rookies Entry.

Completed in just 6 weeks, this project was built almost entirely from scratch, with a strong focus on achieving realism while maintaining an efficient production workflow. Inspired by the moody atmosphere of Alan Wake 2, Caio used a skylight-driven lighting setup, atmospheric fog, custom materials created in Substance Designer, layered shaders in Unreal Engine, and carefully tuned post-processing to capture the perfect mood. Subtle VFX and PCG workflows help bring the environment to life while keeping the scene performant and visually rich.

A great example of how technical workflows and artistic vision come together to create a compelling real-time environment.

If you enjoyed Caio's work, don't forget to visit The Rookies and leave him a High Five! 🙌
https://www.therookies.co/entries/50200

25/07/2026

2026 Rookies Entry Showcase - Sergej Smilkov

We're excited to showcase "Signifying Nothing", a real-time cinematic environment created by Sergej Smilkov for his 2026 Rookies Entry.

Built entirely in Unreal Engine, this project focuses on atmosphere, composition, and visual storytelling. Sergej created nearly every asset in the scene himself while using optimized real-time workflows such as RGB masking, custom light functions, Chaos Cache Manager, and carefully crafted lighting to achieve a cinematic result without sacrificing performance.

A perfect example of how technical knowledge and artistic direction come together to create a compelling real-time experience.

If you enjoyed Sergej's work, don't forget to visit The Rookies and leave him a High Five! 🙌
https://www.therookies.co/entries/50434

24/07/2026

Step into "Frog Sanctuary – Croak n' Oak", a beautifully stylized environment created by Jeffrey Zou for his 2026 Rookies Entry.

Nestled beside a peaceful pond, this charming scene captures the feeling of discovering a hidden corner of a much larger world. From the cozy mushroom homes and handcrafted wooden walkways to the lush moss, oversized foliage, and tranquil water, every element works together to create an inviting atmosphere full of personality and warmth.

Jeffrey paid special attention to the environment's stylized art direction, developing unique assets and experimenting with creative workflows to achieve the soft, painterly look throughout the scene. One standout example is the cattail foliage, where traditional techniques were reimagined to create a more convincing, fluffy silhouette while maintaining an efficient game-ready approach.

The result is a delightful environment that showcases strong composition, appealing color harmony, and thoughtful asset creation, proving that even the smallest worlds can tell memorable stories.

If you enjoyed Jeffrey's work, don't forget to visit The Rookies and leave him a High Five! 🙌
https://www.therookies.co/entries/47836

22/07/2026

⚔️ The Eternal Hunter by Luka Kostoski

Created in just 4 weeks, The Eternal Hunter challenged Luka to recreate the same production-quality workflow from his previous project while significantly reducing the development time.

Built with a 77K triangle outfit mesh, the character utilizes UDIMs for efficient material management and faster in-engine setup. Luka also continued refining his custom workflow for creating Base Color, Normal, and SMRF maps for the MetaHuman base, further optimizing his character production pipeline.

A fantastic showcase of technical growth, efficiency, and craftsmanship. Great work, Luka! 👏
https://www.therookies.co/entries/48484

If you enjoyed this project, don't forget to visit Luka's 2026 Rookies Entry and leave a High Five! 🙌