3D Tech Artist / Tools & Pipeline

Job Description

Job summary
We're looking for a proficient 3D Technical Artist who is able to understand technical problems the artist team may face from an artistic perspective, while working directly with all levels of 3D artists and programmers. The technical artist may be responsible for training artists in new production techniques and must ensure that those methods are scalable and compatible with all existing platforms for e-commerce.

Key job responsibilities
The 3D Technical Artist will be accomplished in working in production environments as well as having a strong knowledge of current rendering and lighting techniques, and be able to impact exciting and innovative experiences in 3D. The ability to work within and across large, interdependent teams is a must, so the right person will have an implicit understanding of the balance needed between artistry, technical development, communication, and partnership.

The ideal candidate will have experience automating workflow, creating plugins and apps, working with shaders, and will be able to work closely with the developer team to create innovative processes to implement in the 3D studio. The right candidate will be comfortable leading a team in a collaborative environment, working directly with technical program managers who will be building new tools and workflows, and consistently raising the bar on quality.
• Provide front-line support and development of tools and procedures to extend and enhance the pipeline.
• Optimizing our 3D content creation for both quality and scalability, including reconciling our financial and quantitative goals with our approach to 3D.
• Working with artists and the larger team to understand areas of our current process that have the biggest opportunity for automation and efficiency
• Identifying opportunities in our VFX workflows that are most ripe for innovation with engineering
• Having a POV on the kinds of 3D content we take on to optimize for sustainability and scalability
• Work with Art leads to establish and educate technical best practices to ensure content is being built in the best and most efficient way to hit our Art style and quality bar
• Maintaining of tools including troubleshooting and optimization
• Thorough documentation of all development and updating as necessary
• Ongoing research to recommend improvements to workflows in order to improve productivity or communication

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
• Minimum 5 years of working experience as pipeline engineer and/or TD in the VFX or Gaming industry
• Strong communication skills, particularly in conveying technical concepts in a manner that is easy for clients and non-technical partners to understand
• Ability to establish priorities, work independently or within a group, and work with minimal supervision
• Experience with tool integration into existing or new pipelines.
• Excellent Python, Maya and Linux skills
• Experience developing for a 3D application such as Maya or Houdini
• Experience in real time game engines such as Unreal, Unity
• Basic knowledge of ARKIT
• Leadership and problem solving abilities
• Excellent communication and documentation skills
• Ability to drive cross discipline strike teams to collaborate on visual targets and rendering technology
• Broad knowledge/experience with Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, Substance Designer, Photoshop and ability to quickly learn new DCC software
• Comfortable fully scripting pipelines and executing workflow suggestions/needs.
• Expert with at least one of Shotgun/NIM/Ftrack, and the workflow automation that can be implemented on the backend of a project management system.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
• Knowledge in MEL scripting
• Be able to excel in a fast-paced collaborative production environment
• Innovative and self-directed
• Experience working in a photo realistic production environment working across an array of clients including e-commerce
• Experience automating steps in creating a 3D model from as little as one 2D image
• Experience automating workflow and building apps and plugins for Maya
• Experience/knowledge with product photography and lighting
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills (both written and verbal)

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Jobcode: Reference SBJ-r1px9m-18-190-156-80-42 in your application.