80 Level Ratings: Great YouTube Channels for Environment Artists

1. Sketch

We start this article with a young game developer from Australia known as Sketch. Despite being only 19 years old, Sketch is already very proficient in using the Unity engine and competent enough to give advice on the engine's capabilities, share tips and tricks for setting up photorealistic graphics, and share tutorials on how to make fantastic environment art in Unity.

On Sketch's YouTube channel you will find various guides related to environment art. You will learn how to create photorealistic mansions, forests, mountains, deserts, and so on. Plus, you can check out Sketch's big project where the artist tries to recreate Witcher 1 using modern technology.

2. Hubert Knoblauch – 3D Content Online

The second channel of this list belongs to an experienced Level Designer and Environment Artist from South Africa Hubert Knoblauch. Knoblauch builds various 3D environments but specializes in modular urban scenes built in Blender.

The artist's channel is full of various videos that will teach you all aspects of urban environment art. The "Buildings in Blender" series will show you how to create your own city in Blender – from setting up the files to working with regular and irregular modular content. If you also want to fill your environment with smaller assets, this channel has you covered. Drying racks, washing machines, freezers, and more – Knoblauch thoroughly explains how to create all of them and make them look unique and beautiful.

3. Critical Giants

Our next channel would be a perfect learning source for aspiring 2D and Concept Artists. A World Builder and Concept Artist from Denmark William Bang has 7 years of experience behind his back and will teach you all the basic and advanced techniques related to world-building and concept creation.

On Bang's channel, you will learn how to set up underwater scenes in Blender, create fantastic ancient ruins, design ice landscapes, and more. The artist's ongoing "Worldbuilding" will teach you the aspects of designing your own worlds. Keep in mind that Bang's go-to tool is Blender, so Blender Artists will also find this channel very useful.

4. Adrien Lambert

The fourth channel of this list belongs to Adrien Lambert, a CG Trainer and Lead Generalist at ILM. Lambert is frequently mentioned on our website because of his fantastic and in-depth tutorials related to environment art made in Houdini and Blender. If you are looking to or already using these programs, then Lambert's YouTube channel can teach you a lot of new things to try in your projects. Plus, you will find a lot of neat techniques related to procedural art, so if you're into it, you'll definitely find this channel interesting.

5. pinkpocketTV

Our next YouTube creator specializes in using Unreal Engine for environment creation. Meet Israel Rangreji, an Indian 3D Artist and an Indie Game Developer who makes tutorials about Blender 3D, Unreal Engine, Core Engine, and Game Dev in general. 

Rangreji's channel will be especially useful for beginning Environment Artists. You will learn the basics of using UE in the development of environments by visiting this channel. Rangreji shows how to set up gorgeous beaches, forests, trees, and more using the aforementioned set of tools in 5 to 10 minutes. 

6. William Faucher

Our next YouTube channel and its creator need no introduction. The one and only William Faucher, the Unreal Engine guru and the creator of VFX/CGI shots in Marvel's Black Panther, and HBO's Watchmen with 11 years of experience in the field.

In his tutorials, Faucher thoroughly explains how to make your environments even juicier and better-looking with things like raytraced shadows, emissive lighting, volumetric clouds, realistic fog, and UE5's great tools Nanite and Lumen. Faucher's tutorials are useful for both beginners and experts in environment art, so definitely check out his channel if you use UE in production.

By the way, recently Faucher told us about the advantages of using Unreal for environment art and explained what worldbuilding is, so if you are interested, check out this article as well.

7. Unreal Sensei

Our channel number seven is Unreal Sensei and its host Zach who creates content about Unreal Engine that includes tutorials, news, and fun projects. The channel has already been mentioned in our previous 80 Level Ratings where we talked about Unreal Engine-related channels but this particular one is also very useful for Environment Artists because, in order to demonstrate the basics of UE, Zach creates small and cozy scenes that you can build upon in your own projects. So if you're looking to create a photorealistic landscape then definitely check out the Unreal Sensei channel.

8. Unreal Engine

And, of course, our list would not have been complete without our next two positions, the absolute treasuries of their corresponding game engines. Two juggernauts that contain all the necessary knowledge for all types of Artists, not just the Environment ones.

The first one is the official channel of Unreal Engine. On this channel, you will find in-depth and comprehensive tutorials on environment art and world-building in Unreal Engine. It is nearly impossible to list all the aspects that these tutorials teach you since there are so many of them. You will be guided by the professionals and whether you are a novice or a master, you will find something useful there.

9. Unity

And the next treasury is, you guessed it, the official YouTube channel of Unity, the world’s most widely-used real-time 3D development platform. Not much can be added here, on the Unity channel you will find various tutorials and guides that explain all the aspects of the environment art. Plus, experienced teachers and artists will explain how to create fantastic assets for your projects.