Meet Trey of Santa Monica, California

Today we’d like to introduce you to Trey.

Hi Trey, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My name is Trey McNair. I’m a 3D environment artist, game developer, and photographer, and I currently work at Lightspeed LA in Los Angeles. Over my career, I’ve had the opportunity to build amazing gaming experiences for players across major franchises, including Battlefield and Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4), alongside other talented developers.

I got my start in the industry at 20 years old while studying for my B.F.A. at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). I drove across the country to California for an internship at Insomniac Games. Since then, I’ve worked at AAA studios including Electronic Arts, Insomniac Games, and Tencent, contributing to titles like Battlefield: Hardline and Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4).

Along the way, I also took a detour from the traditional AAA path and moved to Tokyo, where I lived and worked as a Lead Environment Artist on an indie title. Living abroad shaped my worldview as an artist, and it pushed me to grow creatively outside of games. Photography became a parallel practice, and it’s still a major part of my life and creative work.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I wouldn’t call it a smooth road, but in hindsight I benefited from great mentors, a clear vision for my career, and some good luck.

Early on, the biggest challenge was getting a foothold in the industry. There weren’t many game studio opportunities in the Southeast, so while I was still in school I worked in web development at a small firm in South Carolina. That experience ended up being valuable. It gave me technical intuition that still helps me collaborate with engineers and understand the technical side of making art for games.

At SCAD, I put a lot of energy into game jams, industry events, and applying for internships and contract roles. Landing an internship at Insomniac Games was a major turning point and helped launch my career.

Later, moving to Tokyo was another big challenge and a personal risk. I left a stable role for the dream of a start-up. It taught me how to work in a smaller, resource-constrained environment, adapt to different cultures, and navigate a challenging environment all in another language.

Another challenge is balance creative work and personal life, without burning out. AAA game projects are long, and require extended periods of creative energy toward a single complex project. Pursuing photography as a hobby has been a good counterbalance for me, and allowed me to creatively grow as a more well rounded artist without burning out strictly doing digital art.

More recently, the broader uncertainty in the industry and fast-moving technologies like AI have been a new kind of challenge. My approach is to stay adaptable and open-minded for the future.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Primarily, I’m a 3D Environment Artist focused on building immersive, authentic worlds that support gameplay and tell an interesting story. Most of my career has been in AAA development, where I’ve worked across the full environment pipeline, from early blockout and modular kits to final set dressing, materials, lighting collaboration, and optimization. I use Autodesk Maya to build virtual architecture and environments. I also specialize in game engine software like Unreal Engine. On top of that, I spend a lot of time improving how our team builds environments, which usually means partnering with engineers and tech art to create new or better tools.

One of the projects I’m most proud is working on Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4). We had an amazing team at Insomniac who were undertaking a huge challenge at the time. I worked on the opening mission where you take down Fisk in his ivory tower. We also developed technology that was influential to the game industry like procedural generation of environment art for the vast virtual city of New York.

What sets me apart is my technical background. It gives me a stronger intuition for solving the technical challenges of video game development. It also helps me collaborate with engineers on cross department challenges. Also I’m constantly learning new workflows, tools, and pipelines. That combination helps me not only make environments that look good, but also make them shippable, scalable, and efficient to build.

What’s next?
In the near term, I’m focused on our current project at Lightspeed LA. I’m excited for players to finally get their hands on what we’ve been building. On top of that, I’m excited to see where the game industry is heading and how other teams and artists are embracing new technologies that can help us make better games more efficiently.

Outside of games, I’m focused on my photography. I have several ongoing projects and exhibitions, and I’m finishing a photo book that I plan to publish this year. I’ll be exhibiting my work at Whitebox in Shinjuku, Tokyo on May 23–24.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://modsoft.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modsoft.art/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/modsoft/
• Other: https://www.modsoft.art/

Image Credits
Trey McNair
Insomniac Games
Electronic Arts