Lighting Artist (Contract)

ArenaNet

6d•$43 - $61•Hybrid

About The Position

ArenaNet is seeking a contract UE5 Lighting Artist with a strong eye for landscape photography or painting to own lighting and create sky art for large open-world levels. The company believes games are art and have the power to communicate ideas, tell stories, and move people. ArenaNet develops games for every kind of person and believes the best experiences come from working together, celebrating differences, and helping each team member shine.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience
3+ years of professional experience in real-time lighting, including hands-on experience working in Unreal Engine 5.
An exceptional eye for outdoor lighting for landscapes and natural environments with a portfolio that demonstrates it.
Understanding of light from a photographic standpoint - exposure, composition, and how real-world light informs believable in game lighting.
Demonstrated ability to own and take a level from blockout to polished lighting.
Strong grasp of PBR, color theory, value relationships, and color grading using Unreal Engine 5 toolset.
Solid understanding of atmospherics - fog, haze, scattering, and how they read at different times of day.
Experience creating materials & light functions in Unreal.
Experience creating skyboxes in Unreal using a combination of 3d and 2d assets.
Experience creating skybox assets such as clouds & celestial bodies using 3rd party DCC like Blender, Houdini, Terragen etc.

Nice To Haves

Experience with painting, photography or cinematography

Responsibilities

Light large-scale game environments in Unreal Engine 5, establishing mood, readability, and visual hierarchy across a full day/night cycle.
Own lighting for assigned levels from initial blockout through final polish.
Create and integrate sky art that transitions naturally and convincingly through a dynamic time-of-day system.
Balance lighting, atmosphere, color, and exposure to create cohesive and believable outdoor environments.
Use color, value, contrast, and composition to guide the player’s eye and reinforce the intended emotional tone of each space.
Create and work with atmospheric effects including fog, haze, scattering, clouds, and other environmental elements.
Create materials and light functions within Unreal Engine to support lighting and environmental goals.
Collaborate with senior artists, art leads, and other disciplines while incorporating feedback and maintaining ownership of assigned environments.
Optimize lighting and related systems to meet both visual quality and performance goals.