Martin Pech: d3t Rising Star Environment Art Winner 2021
We caught up with this year’s d3t Rising Star Games Animation winner, Martin Pech from University of South Wales, to find out what it’s been like to win the challenge & what advice he’d pass on to future entrants.
On winning d3t Rising Star
“I was just overwhelmed — I wasn’t even expecting to be in the finals, so it was amazing! I was just kind of freaking out and it was definitely an exciting time for me.
I’m living abroad to study [at USW] and not with my family. They knew a little bit about [Search For A Star] but I hadn’t told them much so they wouldn’t stress or anything. So I was just, like, “Hey, I won this 3D modelling competition”, and it was crazy when I told them how many people actually participated. They were amazed and really proud too!”
What have you learned from taking part?
“Have a schedule and try to plan ahead. I think it helped me a lot because I wanted to finish. The piece is a huge environment and you have to be strict with your schedule to manage everything that’s involved in creating it. I’ve taken a lot from this competition and in the end the feedback from the industry professionals was amazing.
This competition was the biggest thing for me at the time, so just being able to plan ahead and make sure that I finished everything on time meant I was happy with the result.”
Advice for students thinking of taking part in Search For A Star or d3t Rising Star
“I would say definitely go for it. There is nothing to lose, you can only benefit from it.
You might have other things on at the same time, but I would say just go for it. Even if you’re not be able to finish it, just do as much as you can and you will get value from it in the end, and that’s why it matters.”
What’s Next for Martin?
“I’m still in my second year so I have another year ahead of me, but it’s a huge deal to win and I feel very confident right now.
I was speaking to people from studios on the [SFAS interview panel]. They said to me directly that I’d done an amazing job and that I should be proud of myself. That’s something that means a lot.”
Huge thanks to Martin for speaking with us, and good luck with your final year at the University of South Wales!
You can check out Martin’s Artstation here, and check out their winning environment project here.
Search For A Star & d3t Rising Star are our annual gamedev challenges to help students create portfolio work to a professional brief, get industry feedback, and get noticed by games studios. You can learn more about the challenges here.
If you represent a games studio or university & would like to learn more about any of our activities, please contact Andy Driver at andy@gradsingames.com
