Your world looks greatbut every level looks different.but it runs at 22 FPS.I fix it in no time.
One finished area of your world. It hits your frame rate, it matches your art direction, and your team gets the rules for everything else.
We look at one level together. If I cannot help, I tell you.
One area, rebuilt
Example from a real project. Your numbers will look different.
- Gunzilla GamesBuilt the world of an Unreal open world game
- Epic Games / QuixelMade the scan assets the whole industry uses
- CrytekMade VR environments run at full speed
What is going wrong in your project?
Click the one that sounds like your project. I will show you how I fix it.
The game drops below 30 FPS
It looks great in screenshots. On the actual console or target PC it stutters. Nobody knows which part of the world is eating the frame budget.
I find what costs the most and remove it
We agree on three to five problems. I fix them hands on and give you the numbers from before and after, so you can show them in your next milestone review.
Takes2 to 3 weeks
The problem shows up months after you caused it.
The demo looks great
You send screenshots. Everyone is happy. You put more artists on the project.
Five artists, five opinions
Each artist guesses how much detail is okay. Nobody has an example to copy. So everyone builds it a bit differently.
The game does not run
The game stutters. Now your artists go back and redo work from months ago.
The real cost is the time
You lose that time. You also lose the areas nobody built while they were fixing. And the date moves.
You do not need more people. You need one good example.
Your art lead owns how it looks. Your tech artist owns how it runs, and has no time. Your producer owns the date. Nobody owns the bit in between: what does one finished area look like, and what rules do the others follow? So each artist decides alone. Every day. Differently.
Hire more artists
More artists with no rules just build more of the same problem. Faster.
Hire a senior full time
That is 108,000 to 151,000 dollars a year, plus months of searching. For a problem that lasts a few months.
Wait for the engine to fix it
The engine is good at its job. But it does not decide how a forest should look. A person does.
Fix it at the end
By then the mistake sits in your world a thousand times over. Now it is expensive.
Three artists redoing old work for two months costs you about that much. And that is the good case. The bad case: you cut the look at the end so the game runs. Then you pay twice.
What does one round of rework cost you?
Move the sliders to match your team. This is the money you spend redoing work that is already built.
That round of rework costs you
$54,000
And this is only the salary. It does not count the areas nobody built during those months, or the milestone that moves.
Spend a fraction of that insteadFive steps. You can book each one on its own.
You do not pay me by the hour. You buy a result with a date on it.
Check
We look at one part of your world and test it on your platform. Then I tell you what to fix first.
1 to 2 weeks
Build one area
I build one area with your team. It looks the way you want and it runs. I write down the limits it stays in.
3 to 4 weeks
Write the rules
I turn that area into simple rules. How much detail is okay. How files are named. And a short checklist for artists before they hand work over.
3 to 4 weeks
Fix problems
I fix the problems you already have. You get numbers from before and after.
2 to 3 weeks
Hand it over
A workshop with your art, tech art and production people. After that we can add review dates, or I build the next area as a new package.
Ongoing, optional
I am not right for every project.
It saves us both time if you know this up front. Here is where I help a lot, and where you are better off with someone else.
Write to me if
- You build a large world in Unreal Engine 5 and it has to run on a console or a set PC spec.
- You are about to put more artists on the project and want one solid example first.
- You are a co-development studio and your own senior people are booked on other projects.
- A milestone is close and the environment side has become the risk.
- You want someone who hands over documentation, not just files.
Do not write to me if
- You want a few nice looking assets and nothing else.
- You need the cheapest hands you can find. I will lose that comparison, and I should.
- You are looking for a programmer for engine or shader code.
- You want someone in the team full time for the next two years.
- External development producers
- Art directors
- Environment art leads
- Technical art directors
- Producers
Where would I start in your project?
Answer two questions and you will see where I would start. The exact scope we work out in the call.
1Where is your project right now?
2Do you know what needs fixing?
Pick an answer above and your suggestion shows up here.
A fixed price only works if we are clear about what is included.
Every offer says exactly what I do. Which part of the map. Which platform. What you get. By when. How many feedback rounds. And what you give me. It also says what is not included. New wishes get their own offer and their own price.
- A call and a few questions before we start
- One or two feedback rounds while I work
- All files, settings and notes handed over to you
- A handover session with your art, tech art and production people
- A whole open world, or endless new assets
- Doing all the art for your game
- Engine or gameplay programming
- Endless bug fixing and endless feedback rounds
I work remote from Germany, on projects anywhere. If your security rules need it, I work only inside your system. Nothing leaves your side without your okay. The clock starts once I have access and a contact person.
Most studios need two people for this. I am both.
How it looks and how it runs are usually two jobs. That is why this falls between them. I have done both at the same time for over ten years.
Principal Biome Artist
Set the look of a big game world. Built trees and plants that look good and still run fast. Trained new people and wrote the rules they worked by.
Photogrammetry Artist
Made assets for Megascans, the scan library used across games and film. Found better ways to capture real places with drones and cameras, and wrote the guide other teams followed.
Environment Artist
Worked on the VR game The Climb. Made the plants run fast enough for VR, which is the hardest speed target there is.
3D Artist
Environment and hard surface work for several unannounced game titles, from first model to finished asset in engine.
Own product
Built and sell a Blender tool that turns plants into game ready meshes. Used by artists who hit the same problems I fix for studios.
Contract work for studios in the UK and Germany
Scanning contracts, plant and foliage packages, and pipeline work. Happy to walk you through the details on a call.
Philipp Russo
I make game worlds. I work with studios worldwide, from Hagen in Germany.
I built the world of an Unreal open world game and wrote the rules the team worked by. Before that I made real places from photo scans usable in games, and I worked on VR, where the game has to run fast or people get sick. Over ten years in the industry, self employed since 2016.
From the people who hired me and worked next to me.
Recommendations written on LinkedIn.
I had the pleasure of hiring Philipp Russo as a Principal Biome Artist during our time at Gunzilla. He delivered not only high-quality biome work but also clear, actionable documentation and robust pipelines that benefited the wider department. He worked at pace without compromising on quality. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Philipp to any studio looking for a highly capable and dependable Principal Artist with a strong grasp of both artistic execution and pipeline development.
Henry Kelly
Ex Ubisoft, Game Developer and Director
His ability to capture clean, detailed scans and turn them into production-ready assets was impressive. From raw capture through cleanup and optimization, he brought both technical skill and a strong eye for quality. Philipp is reliable, focused, and knows how to get results. If you need someone who can bridge the gap between real-world reference and game-ready art, I highly recommend working with him.
Ethan Olson
Senior Technical Artist, Founder at 3D Polygen
Twenty minutes. One level. A straight answer.
We go through your project together. I show you where the expensive rework will come from. If I cannot help, I say so on the call.
- No slide deck, no sales emails afterwards
- Remote from Germany. Projects anywhere in the world.
- Under NDA if you need one