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Absurd Ventures

Lead Technical Artist

Absurd Ventures, Santa Monica, California, United States, 90403

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Summary

We are seeking a highly skilled Lead Technical Artist to bridge the gap between art and technology in our cutting-edge open-world video game. In this role, you will collaborate with artists, engineers, and designers to develop tools, optimize workflows, and ensure the seamless integration of assets in a large-scale, dynamic game environment. This is a pivotal position that will shape the visual fidelity and performance of our game world.

Core Responsibilities Collaborate with art, engineering, and design teams to create and maintain tools, pipelines, and workflows for asset creation and implementation. Optimize game assets and environments to ensure high-quality visuals and smooth performance on console hardware. Develop and implement prototype material, animation and gameplay framework respecting efficiency and utilizing Unreal best practices. Troubleshoot and resolve technical challenges related to art integration, performance, and visual consistency. Proactively research and implement new techniques and technologies to push the visual boundaries of the open-world genre. Work closely with QA and other teams to debug and resolve technical issues in production. Provide technical guidance and support to the art team, including training and documentation on tools and best practices. Core Qualifications

Minimum of 7 years in a Technical Artist role or equivalent experience in game development. Proven experience working on at least one shipped console title, preferably in the open-world genre. Proficiency in 3D software such as Maya, Blender, or 3ds Max. Proven experience with Unreal Engine and scripting languages (Python, MEL, etc.). Expertise in shader creation and optimization, with a focus on performance for consoles. Familiarity with profiling tools to optimize assets and scenes for target frame rates. Strong understanding of modeling, texturing, lighting, and rendering pipelines. A keen eye for detail and a strong sense of aesthetics in real-time visuals. Excellent communication and problem-solving skills. Ability to collaborate across disciplines in a fast-paced development environment. Plus if...

Experience with procedural content generation tools like Houdini. Familiarity with Unreal Engines Procedural Content Generation (PCG) Tools and Graphs. Familiarity with open-world development challenges, such as streaming, LOD systems, and dynamic environments. Knowledge of additional scripting/programming languages (C++, C#). Familiarity with Unreal Engine's skeletal mesh system. Description

Full-time job with benefits. Role is on-site in Santa Monica, CA. Office is located near downtown Santa Monica - near metro and freeway.

The base pay range for this position is $150,000 to $190,000 per year. Actual compensation is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. We also offer a competitive package of benefits including paid time off, sick time, company holidays, parental leave, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.