Technical Surfacing Artist

Job Description

Technical Surfacing Artist (Houdini)

Are you a Technical Surfacing Artist interested in engaging in technical troubleshooting, developing workflows and prototyping complex looks?! This role will is also be responsible for giving models the visual surface qualities that make them appear believable. Surfacing can encompass texture painting, procedural texturing, shading networks, sculpting, grooming and UV layout.

What you'll get to do:
• Delve into the technical side of surfacing, supporting the creation of high-quality digital assets that meet the technical and aesthetic standards of the project
• Create photo-realistic (physically plausible) surfaces
• Troubleshoot issues with shaders, turntable renders, and surfacing tools
• Provide solutions to visual problems by creating photo-realistic textures, either hand painted or procedural, to the necessary level of detail for production assets
• Help create procedural rigs for Grooming and Instance distribution
• Work closely with the Lead and Supervisor to help achieve the project's visual goals
• Create and update technical documentation for surfacing workflows

What you bring:

Experience
• 3+ years' experience on feature films, TV, and/or animated features, with a focus in Surfacing
• Technical background with the ability to troubleshoot surfacing related issues, such as shaders, renders, and surfacing tools
• Experience working within Houdini, utilizing the technology for material and groom rig creation
• Proven ability to create HDAs (digital assets)

Software/Technical
• Production experience with Houdini
• Production experience in Maya and Mari
• Experience in a modern raytrace renderer
• Thorough understanding of, and experience working in, a physically based shading system
• Proven ability with node-based procedural shading
• Proven ability with node-based or procedural grooming and/or instancing tools
• BONUS: Working experience with Python and/or VEX
• BONUS: Experience with shader writing
• BONUS: Knowledge or experience with USD

Soft Skills
• Excellence in problem solving and balancing quick turnaround with long term quality
• Strong written and verbal English language skills
• Ability to work solo, as well as collaboratively, within a team environment
• Ability to take direction and feedback and apply this to assets or shots moving forward

What you should demonstrate in your demo reel/portfolio:
• Feature animation quality texturing, shading, lookdev, and grooming
• Complex assets that you've surfaced using HDAs that you've created
• Excellent attention to detail, with strong visual skills

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-gqw41g-3-141-31-209-42 in your application.