Look Development Artist - Lead (Speculative)

Position: Look Development Artist - Lead

Hiring Range: $143,000 to $148,000/year for a 40 hour work week

Company Benefits: Extended healthcare from day 1, premiums 100% covered by Image Engine, up to 8 paid Health and Wellness days per year.

*Candidates are required to be based in British Columbia*

ABOUT IMAGE ENGINE

Image Engine is a world-class VFX studio based in Vancouver, BC, that has built a reputation for excellence in the visual effects industry since 1995. We specialize in crafting stunning visual effects for feature films and television with an award-winning portfolio that includes The Book of Boba Fett, The Mandalorian, Game Of Thrones, Lost in Space, Jurassic World, and District 9.

We offer a full range of visual effects services, from concept designs and pre-visualization to CG animation, compositing, and explosive volumetric digital effects. Our crew is passionate about storytelling and pushing the artistic and technical boundaries to deliver the highest quality work on every project. R&D is central to our philosophy of driving creativity through innovation and we're committed to continually evolving our robust production pipelines.

At Image Engine, we value diversity and teamwork, and we're proud to foster a workplace culture that is supportive, respectful, and empowering. We believe that our success is a reflection of our exceptionally talented team, and we're always looking for passionate and dedicated individuals to join us on our mission to create unforgettable visual experiences. Join our team and be part of something extraordinary.

POSITION PURPOSE

The Look Development Lead plays a very important role in the quality control and leadership of the Look Development team. The Lead is responsible for communicating internal and client notes/feedback to artists in a constructive manner. They will provide leadership, training, guidance, and support to the rest of the Look Development team while still handling most of the hero work on active shows. The Lead may sometimes need to assess Look Development tasks and delegate those tasks to the team.

The Lead will also contribute to the overall operation and improvement of the Look Development team by setting and maintaining department standards. This will include but will not be limited to, engaging in cross-department communication, flagging/providing solutions to critical issues, documentation, taking part in interviews and participating in the training for new employees. In addition, the Lead will develop new processes and stay up to date on innovative technologies to keep the Look Development team on the cutting edge.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Communicate the creative brief and real-world references from the VFX Supervisor and Director to the Look Development team.
• Address client and Supervisor notes to all assets with minimal guidance
• Create final look developed assets with minimal supervision and within the studio pipeline
• Determine the broad technical and creative approach in conjunction with the department and show Supervisors
• Work closely with the lighting department to ensure assets are working successfully once they are being used in production
• Communicate successes and challenges faced by the team to the Asset Supervisor and HOD
• Process requests from other departments within the pipeline
• Manage time and resources to meet weekly targets
• Write and/or modify custom Arnold/OSL shaders to realize the desired look for production integration.
• Define standard render passes.
• Overcome technical issues (day to day problem solving), in conjunction with R&D and other department leads and Supervisors.
• Work with our production team to effectively schedule tasks, including casting the work to the strengths of the individuals in the Look Dev team.
• Receive creative feedback from the VFX Supervisor and Director and translate those into more specific and technical notes for the Look Dev team
• Communicate well with all members of the Look Dev, Production and Supervision teams. Promote interdepartmental collaboration.
• Ensure all email correspondence and scheduling is up to date, responding to emails and Shotgrid notes in a timely manner.
• Assist members of the Look Dev team to learn and grow their skills
• Work with R&D and the Leads and Supervisors of other shows to guide the overall approach to Look Dev work at Image Engine
• Work closely with texture artists to create necessary texture maps for application to creatures, props and environments
• Attend dailies, reviews & team meetings and participate as required
• Work with a team of artists in a hands-on capacity to ensure technically and artistically proper implementation of look developed assets
• Communicate with the R&D/ shader developer in order to ensure all necessary parameters and functionality are included in production shaders

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• 10+ years' of Look Development experience with high-end film and high-end episodic projects
• 2+ years of experience leading teams (5+ people)
• Experience with rendering large datasets
• Experience working as a lighter on high-end film and or high-end episodic projects
• Thorough understanding of traditional art skills (Form, architecture, anatomy, topology, colour theory) and how to apply those skills in a digital medium
• Excellent attention to detail when finalizing, approving and quality controlling assets
• Ability to balance quick turnaround while achieving a high degree of aesthetic quality

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Technical skills

• Understanding of Lead best practices
• Ability to train and coach artists in Look Development techniques and best practices
• Senior level experience in Python / C++
• Thorough understanding of color spaces used in VFX
• Thorough knowledge of HDRI creation and processing workflow
• Demonstrated proficiency in defining and creating photo-realistic assets
• Senior level knowledge in Maya and a variety of rendering technologies including Autodesk Arnold
• Experience with Linux
• Strong understanding of texture creation. Familiarity with Mari, zBrush, Mudbox, or other texture and normal/displacement map generation
• Ability to come up with creative and efficient rendering solutions

Core skills

• Ability to help with bidding; determine the timeframe and scope required for each project
• Ability to troubleshoot and deal with competing priorities and projects
• Capable of managing a team of artists; setting expectations, and managing their time
• Ability to assess artist's strengths and weaknesses to assign tasks and manage workflow
• Ability to adapt quickly to new technologies and applications
• Ability to teach new techniques and apply new approaches to push assets to the next level
• Strong leadership skills
• Excellent time management and communication skills