Senior CG Lookdev and Lighting Artist

Swaybox Studios•New Orleans, LA

About The Position

Swaybox Studios is rewriting the rulebook of visual storytelling. As we collaborate with DC Studios/ Warner Bros Pictures Animation and Matt Reeves’ 6th and Idaho on a revolutionary new project, you’ll help bring bold creative visions to life through hands-on artistry and performance. This is your chance to be a part of a production that’s equal parts innovative and unforgettable. Job Summary: Swaybox Studios is seeking a creatively driven and technically adept Senior CG Lookdev and Lighting Artist to integrate CG facial performances into our cross-department workflows. This role is central to maintaining the emotional fidelity and character consistency of our hybrid puppetry performances, ensuring the final output meets the high artistic standards of the studio. The Senior CG Lookdev and Lighting Artist will focus on facial performance replacement with a handoff to the compositing team. This person will play a hands-on role in bringing our characters to life, improving workflows, resolving creative challenges, and collaborating with Supervisors and Technical Directors to evolve tools that enhance production efficiency. This is a perfect position for a VFX artist who understands the subtle art of expression, character performance, and hybrid storytelling.

Requirements

5+ years experience in high-end, live action VFX films, with a strong emphasis on beauty lighting and lookdev.
Proficient in UV, texture, shading, and lighting within all of the following programs: Substance, Mari, Photoshop, Houdini, and Maya.
Expert knowledge of Houdini and rendering in Arnold.
Basic knowledge of compositing in Nuke to create and refine slap comps for presentation and handoff to the compositing team.
In-depth knowledge of texture mapping techniques.
Deep understanding of visual language- texture, color, dimension, scale, perspective, shade, motion blur, depth of field, proportion, spatial awareness, etc.
Strong problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and the ability to adapt quickly to unique or proprietary workflows.
Prior experience with photogrammetry, shooting your own HDRIs, and scanning.
An artistic mindset and willingness to receive and implement constructive feedback, whether that’s with draw-overs, over the shoulder adjustments, or team meetings.

Nice To Haves

Understanding of CG modelling and rigging workflows.
Experience with ZBrush and other 3D software is advantageous.
Familiarity with scripting or tool development (e.g. Python, MEL, etc.) to support pipeline enhancements.
Background in traditional art.
Working knowledge of on-set camera work, including understanding of lenses, lighting setups, and performance tracking.
Prior experience in both stylized and realistic texture and shading creation of digital faces is great to have.
Familiarity with hybrid workflows that span traditional VFX and digital puppetry.

Responsibilities

Implement best practices in our face replacement pipeline, ensuring poses and expressions are seamlessly matched to animation and puppet facial performances.
Demonstrate a strong understanding of surface characteristics to create, adjust, and match textures and shading to our fabricated puppets.
Replicate lighting from live action plates onto our characters with an emphasis on fine details, performance nuances, and the overall aesthetic of our film.
Collaborate with VFX Supervisor, MoMo Art Supervisor, and TDs to identify areas of improvement in the pipeline, including tool and workflow development.
Maintain output quality and momentum in a fast-paced environment.
Preserve cohesive character consistency across facial replacements and ensure smooth integration of our internal puppet performances, animation, and live action plates.
Communicate effectively with production and creative leads to align visual performance with narrative goals.

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