Website powered by
Sarah Smith
Sarah Smith
Biomes Director at Ripple Effect Studios - EA
Seattle, United States

Summary

10+ years of industry experience working on iconic franchises such as Battlefield and Forza Motorsport.

I specialize in leading teams to create natural biomes, vegetation and photogrammetry. Interested in working alongside other creative and passionate individuals to create high quality worlds and immersive game play experiences. I am an organized and detail oriented individual focused on deep collaboration and clear communication with plenty of experience working with global teams to create effective long-term plans, execute on objectives and improve workflows.

Skills

3D ModelingVegetationPhotogrammetryPBR Texturing

Software proficiency

SpeedTree
SpeedTree
Maya
Maya
3ds Max
3ds Max
Photoshop
Photoshop
RealityScan
RealityScan
Metashape
Metashape
Substance 3D Designer
Substance 3D Designer
Substance 3D Painter
Substance 3D Painter
xNormal
xNormal
ZBrush
ZBrush
Quixel Suite
Quixel Suite
Quixel Megascans
Quixel Megascans
Houdini
Houdini
Frostbite Engine
Frostbite Engine

Productions

    • Video Game
      Battlefield 6
    • Year
      2025
    • Role
      Lead Vegetation Artist
    • Company
      Ripple Effect Studios
    • Video Game
      Forza Motorsport
    • Year
      2023
    • Role
      Vegetation Artist
    • Company
      Turn 10 Studios
    • Video Game
      Project Excalibur (Canceled)
    • Year
      2018
    • Role
      Associate Environment Artist
    • Company
      Wargaming Seattle

Experience

  • Biomes Director at Electronic Arts - Ripple Effect Studios
    Seattle, US
    August 2022 - Present

    Biomes Director for Battlefield 6 (Nov 2025-Present)

    Lead Vegetation Artist for Battlefield 6 (Aug 2022-Nov 2025)

  • Environment Artist at Turn 10 Studios
    Seattle, US
    August 2018 - August 2022

    Vegetation Artist responsible for managing the creation and implementation of all vegetation assets from both internal and external artists. Some of my responsibilities include

    - Pre-production development and research for next generation platforms, collaborating with Look development, Lighting and Cinematics teams to establish the visual target for future Motorsport releases, using industry leading workflows and technologies

    - Established technical specifications and best practices across a variety of track assets for internal artists and vendors.

    - Creation of 3D assets and PBR textures for next generation platforms, specializing in vegetation assets and pipeline

    - On-location track sourcing, reference trip planning and execution for vegetation

    - Photogrammetry for organic and hard surface assets. Creation of digital doubles of existing real world locations and establishment of an internal library of photorealistic assets.

    - Set decoration and worldbuilding vegetation across all tracks

    - Polish and optimization of internal and vendor assets for proprietary and third party engine

    - In conjunction with our procedural and tech art teams, developing new tools within Houdini and Substance to improve photogrammetry and biome workflows.

    - Testing and documentation of art pipeline improvements and integration with our proprietary engine

    - Reference and resource gathering for external art teams to support SoW deliverables

    - Daily feedback on asset submissions to ensure expected quality and performance requirements

  • Associate Environment Artist at Wargaming Seattle
    Seattle, US
    April 2016 - August 2018

    Project Excalibur (Unannounced Title)

    Environment Artist responsible for the creation and implementation of various assets including the creation of key hero buildings. Some of my responsibilities included

    - Full pipeline development for assets and maps from whitebox to polish phase

    - Creation of 3D assets and PBR textures for next generation platforms including tuning and optimization of vegetation, building and prop assets.

    - Responsible for the creation of key hero buildings. Worked closely with Level Design teams to establish gameplay requirements and best practices across these areas

    - Cross-team collaboration to establish rulesets to accommodate varying gameplay and performance requirements

    - Provided daily feedback for vendors to ensure the delivery of high quality assets - Documentation of workflows and systems for internal use

    - Assisted in onboarding interns and contract artists with tools and workflows

  • Freelance Environment and Level Design Artist at Wander
    Melbourne, Australia
    January 2013 - August 2015

    Environment and Level Design Artist responsible for the creation and implementation of various assets and level design of the core game world.

    - Creation of 3D assets and PBR textures for key gameplay assets

    - Optimizing project for VR playability

    - Extensive level design planning and creation of gameplay layouts

    - Set dressing and world building across all regions of the map

    - LOD creation and optimization for existing assets

    - Responsible for the organization and porting of all existing art assets from Unity to Cryengine as part of a engine transition mid-project.

    - Responsible for playtesting, providing feedback and identifying bugs

    - Presented in the Indie developer section at PAX Australia in 2013