Technical Director, Character Shading

Job Description

A Characters Shading Technical Director is responsible for working with Art Designers and Lighters to realize a character in digital form. This includes coloring, texturing and the authoring of material responses for the character's 3D geometry and the delivery of a well-designed set of lighting and rendering controls.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Develops and implements texture, color, and material properties of characters, garments, and props
• Develops shaders using a wide range of techniques and resources, including 2D / 3D texture painting, procedural signals, reuse and modification of existing shading functions, and the creation of original algorithmic work
• Maintains asset stability for downstream departments
• Works closely with production designers and directors to iterate on the desired look
• Work may be expressed as drawings, paintings, photographics and motion picture references and/or actual reference objects or location
• May be asked to paint textures in programs like Adobe Photoshop or The Foundry's Mari
• Projects may also include technical development such as implementing procedurals in the Renderman shading language, writing Renderman DSOs and other graphics functionality, and optimizing existing pipelines and assets

QUALIFICATIONS:
• Work should exhibit a strong emphasis and work history in surfacing, demonstrating knowledge of how materials interact, change, and respond to illumination
• Color, composition, and render quality will also be evaluated
• Reel should include both turntables and animated shots; material and layer breakdowns a plus
• Experience using 3D animation software required
• Graphics programming, including: Renderman, Maya, SideFX Houdini and experience writing shaders with any major shading language (osl, rsl, glsl, C++)
• Personal artwork may be included, if relevant
• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Animation or Fine Arts preferred, or relevant work experience

Nice to Have:
• Groom experience a plus
• Knowledge of The Foundry's Nuke, & Katana a plus

To Apply:
• Resume
• Demo Reel should include both turntables and animated shots; material and layer breakdowns a plus

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-d50397-18-188-152-162-42 in your application.