On the tutorial/substance designer thing... After a number of years hiring material artists I can spot a tutorial jockey a mile off and I don't even bother interviewing them. Fwiw we employ specialists to operate designer - the average environment artist isn't allowed anywhere near it. If you want to be an environment…
Fellow student here, just wanted to chime in! I've been learning Designer too as of late, and something that really has been helping me is stopping myself from obsessing over tutorials. Instead, looking at how others create materials that are in the vein of what I'd like to produce and going from there seems to work…