Lighting Technical Director

Job Description

Position at Industrial Light & Magic

Lighting Technical Directors are responsible for producing high-quality CG lighting and rendering for complex shots for high-end photo-realistic visual effects.

Primary Responsibilities
• Scrutinise the colours and directions of all light sources in the real-world scene and replicate them in CG.
• Design and create the lighting and the look of computer generated objects and scenes.
• Responsible for the final CG scene assembly, lighting and rendering of very complex shots.
• Works closely with Lighting Supervisors and CG Supervisors to determine the best approach to solving CG challenges and developing the final look.
• Creates lighting set ups and/or works within current set ups.
• Creates efficient rendering set ups in order to optimise render farm usage.
• Stays on schedule and meets set deadlines while maintaining the highest level of work quality.
• Ensures there is ongoing communication with Production and Leads regarding schedules and deadlines.
• Helps mentor Junior Artists within the Lighting/Look Dev team

Education / Experience
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Graphics or equivalent or previous professional experience in a related field.
• Experience of real-world lighting and photography.
• Demonstrable advanced Lighting and Rendering experience within a VFX environment.
• Previous experience performing shot Look Dev tasks

Required Skills / Competencies
• Exhibits excellent listening and communication skills, able to receive direction and criticism.
• Demonstrates an excellent aesthetic eye, anticipates potential problems and uses knowledge of how to use the tools to achieve the desired look.
• Demonstrates the ability to help and teach more junior-level artists.
• Demonstrates the ability to prioritise tasks and provide Production / Lead with accurate time estimates on task completion.
• Demonstrates excellent presentation/communication skills in dailies/shot review by clearly and briefly outlining what has been accomplished and what should be addressed next in a shot.
• Demonstrates the ability to work within a team environment with minimal supervision to complete a shot.
• Can write plug-ins, set-up sequences, debug simulations and write set up and Renderman surface shaders with proficiency.
• Solid compositing ability, can wrangle blue-screen extractions, working knowledge of Nuke.
• Demonstrates the ability to work with minimal supervision to complete a shot.
• A thorough understanding of the VFX pipeline from modelling through animation, texturing, rendering and compositing.
• Ability to pick-up new techniques and the ability to learn new software quickly and easily

Required Technical Skills
• Knowledge of Katana is essential, Maya an advantage and Zeno beneficial.
• Knowledge of Python and/or MEL scripting is essential.
• Shader writing ability is essential.
• A good knowledge of Nuke or similar compositing package, including how to use layers and passes to tweak a shot after it has been rendered.
• A strong understanding of Linux based operating systems.
• Basic knowledge of physically plausible shading techniques.
• A strong knowledge of lighting techniques and a good understanding of colour-space.
• Excellent pipeline scripting ability.
• Excellent knowledge of Renderman and other unbiased rendering systems.
• Good knowledge of other disciplines within VFX including simulation, modelling and UV mapping, texturing and camera tracking

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-rjk62g-3-144-109-5-42 in your application.