Your creative journey starts here.
Founded in 2010, The Rookies is a community for non-professional digital artists. A place for artists with a passion for film, games, animation, immersive media, archviz, motion graphics, product design and other creative industries.
It doesn't matter whether you are a hobbyist, student, self-taught or even wanting to change careers. All that matters is you want to become a better artist, learn new skills and be surrounded by people on the same journey as you.
"The journey has been amazing so far, and I can't wait to see where I can go from here"
Share your work
Showcase your portfolio
The Rookies provides you with a slick way to showcase your work to the world. It's more than a generic page that other sites offer, it's a way to share your creative journey, archievements and how you've improved. The custom built tools allow you to upload everything you need: images, videos, galleries, ProcessView ™, Sketchfab viewer, formatted text and even GitHub repositories for your code.
See examples
Only we have Process View™
Digital media projects are complicated to show the true process behind the finished renders. This is why we created ProcessView™ which is designed to allow users to "scrub" between up-to 5 different images. Check out an example here. (Look for the yellow slider bar)
Follow along with Play by Play
We know everyone loves a good forum to share their work and allow people to follow along with updates. This is why you have two choices when creating a project: Standard or Play by Play. Choose Play by Play and keep adding updates to your projects as they become ready.
Achievements and Badges
Everyone needs a little encouragement, and who doesn't love a good badge or certificate. We have these fully integrated into our platform and award these to our members regularly. Members can then use these to show of their profile page and social media channels.
Lighting speed and mobile ready
It's no good having a great portfolio if no one can see it! This is why our team has optimised the delivery of member portfolios using a cloud based content delivery network that has been configured for both desktop and mobile viewing.
"I have my portfolio on every major website and I'm left absolutely frustrated by the process. With The Rookies, the way you've made adding images, text, videos - well, it's simply brilliant! I love it!"
Challenge yourself
Grow as an artist
Everyone needs a little challenge to push their skills. Come and join one of our contests and collect badges to share on your free portfolio page. We have huge annual contests and even small monthly jams - and prizes, lots of prizes.
View All Contests
• Featured Contest
Substance Texturing Challenge - Kombi
This texturing challenge requires you to texture a beautiful model of our Kombi van using any of the Substance apps (Substance Painter, Substance Designer or Alchemist).
Track your Journey
From the moment an artist realises they have a passion for creative media, up until the moment they secure their first big job, we’ve are here to help. Our community is full of creators on the same journey and we are setup and motivated to help push members to achieve your goals.
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01
Debut
This is the beginning of your journey. You are eager to learn everything you can. You are starting to dabble with software and tools. You don't have much work to share just yet, but it's coming soon.
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02
Player
This is the learning stage of your journey. You are developing new skills and building your confidence. You are spending your time training online or at an educational facility.
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03
Contender
You have a portfolio that is ready to share with recruiters. You are creating industry level personal projects, developing your soft-skills, starting to network and applying for jobs. Your goal is to land that first big job offer.
Start first year of employment
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04
Rookie
You have reached the ultimate level. Just like in professional sports, you are officially a Rookie for your first year of employment. You still have plenty to learn, but you can see an exciting career ahead of you.
Complete first year of employment
• Reviews
People are talking about us…
… and they’re saying a lot of great things about us! It's super humbling for us to here these opinions, but our team truly enjoys helping everyone as we have all been on this same journey before.
Morten Jaeger
FlippedNormalsI personally think The Rookies is better than other sites, because it exposes you to the level of artists that you're competing against.
Pavani Boddapati
Weta DigitalWeta Digital is proud to partner with The Rookies, who are doing a fantastic job of supporting and promoting new talent.
Alexis Khouri
AllegorithmicThe Rookies the place for up-and-coming artists to show off their skills. I would encourage all amateur artists to join.
Lisa Schachner
RookieThe Rookies is an amazing opportunity to be seen by people in the industry and to get feedback.
Ben Macauley
RookieThe Rookies journey has been amazing so far. I can't wait to see where I can go from here.
Jake Burstein
RookieI can't thank The Rookies enough for creating a platform for amateur artists all over the world to showcase their work.
Start your journey today
Simple steps to get started
It only takes a few minutes to signup and create a profile. From your private dashboard you can upload work, get targeted news, find people to follow and track your creative journey.
Challenge yourself to submit an entry to a contest. It doesn't matter about winning, we have prizes and incentives all the way through, no matter what skill level. We have small contests and massive contests, pick the one for you.
Our Discord Channel is full of people just like you. People pushing themselves to become better artists and sharing their progress. There are no stupid questions in here because everyone understands we are all learning.
Everyone learns at a different pace. We also know everyone is interested in different creative fields. This is why we've setup Discover - a place to learn new skills, read interviews, find schools, look for jobs and even grab a special members deal.