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Derick Ballard
Derick Ballard
Tripwire Interactive
Roswell, GA, United States

Summary

I am a Senior Environment Artist with over 17 years of experience in the gaming industry. Along with an extensive background in organic and hard-surface asset creation, I've also developed a deep understanding of material creation using the PBR workflow. My objective is to continuously push the aesthetic limits of our platforms while respecting the game-play goals of our project in order to deliver an excellent, polished experience for the player.

Skills

Environment DesignDigital SculptingEnvironment ModelingLightingLevel DesignPBR Texturing

Software proficiency

Blender
Blender
3ds Max
3ds Max
Maya
Maya
ZBrush
ZBrush
Photoshop
Photoshop
Substance 3D Painter
Substance 3D Painter
Substance 3D Designer
Substance 3D Designer
Unreal Engine
Unreal Engine
Unity
Unity
World Machine
World Machine
Jira
Jira

Productions

    • Video Game
      Killing Floor 3
    • Year
      2025
    • Role
      Senior Environment Artist
    • Company
      Tripwire Interactive
    • Video Game
      Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2
    • Year
      2021
    • Role
      Senior Environment Artist
    • Company
      Hardsuit Labs
    • Video Game
      Claire de Lune
    • Year
      2021
    • Role
      Senior Environment Artist
    • Company
      Tactic Studios
    • Video Game
      Modern Combat Versus
    • Year
      2017
    • Role
      Senior Environment Artist
    • Company
      Gameloft
    • Video Game
      Siegefall
    • Year
      2015
    • Role
      Environment Artist
    • Company
      Gameloft
    • Video Game
      Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour
    • Year
      2012
    • Role
      Environment Artist
    • Company
      Gameloft
    • Video Game
      Asphalt 7: Heat
    • Year
      2012
    • Role
      Environment Artist
    • Company
      Gameloft
    • Video Game
      Forza Motorsport 4
    • Year
      2011
    • Role
      Environment Artist
    • Company
      Turn 10 Studios
    • Video Game
      Forza Motorsport 3
    • Year
      2009
    • Role
      Environment Artist
    • Company
      Turn 10 Studios

Experience

  • Senior Environment Artist at Tripwire Interactive
    Roswell, US
    February 2021 - Present

    Modeling and texturing environment and prop assets within the Unreal Engine. Working with or without concept to create realistic horror environments. Acting owner of several areas of the game as well as offering mentorship and feedback for colleagues.

  • Senior Environment Artist at Hardsuit Labs
    Seattle
    June 2018 - Present

    Modeling and texturing environment and prop assets within the Unreal Engine. Working with or without concept to create moody environments based on both real and fictitious locations.

  • Senior Environment Artist at Tactic Studios
    London, Canada
    December 2016 - March 2018

    Modeling, texturing, and lighting environment and prop assets using a PBR workflow. Asset implementation using Tactic's proprietary Immortal Engine, offering feedback along the way to enhance our visuals and optimize our various workflows.

  • Senior Environment Artist at Gameloft
    Montreal
    November 2011 - December 2016

    Modeling, texturing, and lighting environment and prop assets. Personally handling all aspects of the environment assets from 3d concept to importing into the Glitch game engine or Unity, depending on the project.

  • Environment Artist at Turn 10 Studios
    Redmond
    September 2010 - March 2011

    Modeling, texturing, and lighting environment and prop assets. Asset implementation using Tactic's proprietary Immortal Engine, offering feedback along the way to enhance our visuals and optimize our various workflows.

  • Assistant QA Lead at Microsoft
    Redmond
    March 2010 - September 2010

    Receiving skeletal animation generated from the Kinect sensor and cleaning the animation during the problematic frames. Promoted to Assistant QA Lead, adding the responsibility of evaluating thousands of clips under strict guidelines.

  • Environment Artist at Turn 10 Studios
    Redmond
    July 2008 - July 2009

    Modeled and textured environment and prop assets for fictional and real-world race tracks from around the world. Took on the role of Track Lead during my contract, adding the responsibility of porting an older track to the new game and raising the visual bar along the way.