Character Artist

Job Description

We are looking for an artist who reflects the innovative spirit, creative talent, production excellence, inclusive mindset and passion for great storytelling that define ILM & ILMxLAB.

The Character Artist is a key member of the art team at ILMxLAB who works closely with Concept and other Character Artists to define and refine distinctive, memorable characters. You proactively seek opportunities to elevate the game, enjoy finding emerging technologies that improve the pipeline, embrace constructive feedback, and thrive in a fast-paced environment.

What You'll Do
Partner with Concept, Design, and the Senior Character Artist to conceptualize and model characters along with their hard surface accessories based on original art and photographic reference
Work closely with our look-development team to create and apply textures and materials with aesthetic appreciation for real-world references, run-time lighting and story driven aesthetics
Create high quality character models and materials/shaders including in-game and high-resolution assets
Partner with the character technical directors to help define modeling standards for rigging, deformation, and simulation within performance budgets, and other run-time requirements
Become familiar with new tools, performance capture hardware, software and data, and other emerging modeling techniques
Work within deadlines and display strong time management skills

What We're Looking For
3+ years of professional experience as a character artist in games, film, feature animation, or other related fields
MFA or equivalent experience required
Previous experience as a Character Artist on at least one released title
Proficient in Maya, ZBrush or Mudbox and Photoshop; knowledge of Mari a bonus; Unreal experience preferred
Able to work with a high degree of self-direction and balance multiple tasks at once
Self motivation and a passion for the VR/AR industry is essential
Portfolio showing the following:
Detailed knowledge of human and animal anatomy, with example character and costume designs across multiple styles or genres
Aesthetic appreciation for composition, proportion, mass and volume, light, lighting and color
3D sculpting and modeling abilities interpreting 2D concept
Strong paint skills, multi-layered materials and effective texture layout
Clear examples of how to emulate real-world materials in CG while considering hardware performance
Knowledge of garment tailoring, cloth simulation and mesh construction built to deform in a realistic manner in real-time
Extra points for facial blendshapes and correctives, pose space deformation shapes, animated wrinkles and normal maps, hair and fur, body kits and accessories
*A portfolio / reel submission - including a detailed breakdown of your work in each section - is required with all artist applications*

JoinILMxLAB

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-rzee92-3-15-151-214-42 in your application.