As we have all witnessed, Substance Designer is taking the game industry by storm. Almost anyones portfolio now working on textures and materials in games has a library of Substance materials they have worked on. There are so many different techniques and ways to create exactly what you want and even multiple ways to achieve the exact same thing. The more tools and tips we are aware of though, the greater the possiblities for us to solve those tough shapes or ideas that we want to create. Checkout a few of the ways Shray Khanna approaches texture creation in Substance Designer.

Also checkout more of his work here. 
https://www.artstation.com/shray

As the Unreal Engine continues to release new updates, the potential for creating beautiful lit interior and exteriors is always advancing. There are many new features that can be easy to miss with each new update and we may be stuck in our old ways lighting our level without realizing that we are missing the incredible new ways to capture that realistic lighting we are going for. Recently, Epic Games Lead Artist Jerome Platteaux provided us all with some excellent tips and tricks for UE4.

     Ben Mauro has always been extremely helpful to those thinking of pursuing a freelance career. He's back again talking a bit about the pro's and cons of Freelance vs. working In-House at studios. These are some great guidelines to follow when quoting freelance work to studios. Many people don't consider all of the extra costs that come with working freelance. Many of these costs are usually taken care of by the studios when you work In-House, so we don't immediately consider them when we work from home. 
     Too many people aren't getting paid what they should for Freelancing. So definitely don't forget about all of this when you're quoting work for a contract!
     - Jacob