Karsten Sperling
Karsten Sperling
unique 3-D terrains and PBR texturing
Alzey, Germany

Summary

A set of skills alone doesn’t fully capture who I am or what I consider my greatest asset.

I am a self-motivated, self-taught artist who is deeply passionate about 3D creation. This craft is not just what I do; it’s part of my identity. My drive to develop, learn, and improve each day fuels my journey to become the best possible version of myself.

I thrive in environments where I can contribute ideas and collaborate to develop solutions as part of a team.

Here’s a snapshot of my approach to work:

For the past few years, I’ve been working part-time as a freelancer, specializing in CG landscapes and terrain creation using tools like WorldMachine, Geoglyph2, and Gaea. I create terrains for both offline and real-time renderers, including game engines.

My process typically starts with laying out a specific terrain layout (fully procedural, but with a controlled approach). From there, I meticulously add numerous hand-crafted details to avoid uniformity and break up repetitive patterns. This hands-on fine-tuning helps bring the terrain to life. I also handle texturing, including base color maps for terrain as well as detailed textures used with splat maps.

For texturing in general, I work primarily in Substance Painter and Substance Designer, following a PBR workflow. This includes texture baking and UV unwrapping in RizomUV as well.

My style is focused on realism rather than stylization. I often rely on real-world references, including scanned textures, photos, and procedural techniques that I create myself, ensuring that the textures match the mood and visual goals I want to achieve. I also integrate Megascans surfaces when appropriate.

In addition to my expertise in terrain and texturing, I have foundational skills in modeling and sculpting with tools like MAYA, MODO, Blender, and ZBrushCore. On the CAD side, I possess advanced proficiency in AutoCAD Map3D and CAD visualization, including rendering products from CAD data using KeyShot.

I hope this gives you a clearer picture of my approach and work. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Skills

Creating landscapes for use in real-time or offline-renderingCustomizing Real-World DEM DataTexture BakingPBR texturingEnvironment ModelingHeightfield manipulation and creationMaterial authoringLow-poly ModelingTexturingUV MappingSculptingArchitectural VisualizationHigh-poly ModelingPhotogrammetryPBR TexturingPhysically Based RenderingGIS and CADEnvironment Designbox modelingRendering3D ModelingDigital SculptingLighting

Software proficiency

Gaea
Gaea
GeoGlyph
GeoGlyph
World Creator
World Creator
World Machine
World Machine
Substance 3D Painter
Substance 3D Painter
Substance 3D Designer
Substance 3D Designer
Substance 3D Sampler
Substance 3D Sampler
Substance 3D Modeler
Substance 3D Modeler
Marmoset Toolbag
Marmoset Toolbag
Maya
Maya
AutoCAD
AutoCAD
Modo
Modo
RizomUV
RizomUV
Unreal Engine
Unreal Engine
Quixel Bridge
Quixel Bridge
Mixer
Mixer
Megascans
Megascans
NDO
NDO
Quixel Suite
Quixel Suite
Aseprite
Aseprite
Keyshot
Keyshot
ZBrushCore
ZBrushCore
Blender
Blender
Unity
Unity
Hard Ops
Hard Ops
Sketchfab
Sketchfab
pro motion ng
pro motion ng

Productions

    • Video Game
      Discovery Sims ESS
    • Year
      2021
    • Role
      Environment Artist / Technical Artist
    • Company
      Nth Degree / CGHero
    • Video Game
      Mortal Online 2
    • Year
      2021
    • Role
      Environment Artist / Technical Artist
    • Company
      Star Vault