About the role
Company Overview
Megalis is a global VFX studio founded in 2017 in Japan with the ambition to become the reference for visual effects in Asia. The studio operates as a full production studio across all aspects of content creation. Based in the heart of Tokyo with a satellite office in the south of France, the team is international and multicultural, with approximately one quarter of staff being Japanese and three quarters from across the world.
Role Overview
The Layout Artist will play a vital role in creating visually compelling and technically accurate shots through camera animation, staging, composition, and scene assembly. This role requires collaboration with leads and other departments to maintain storytelling, scale, and continuity across sequences, working from storyboards, previs, plates, and references. The ideal candidate is a detail-oriented, positive, and independent professional who remains calm and dependable under tight production schedules.
Key Responsibilities
- Camera & Composition: Create visually striking compositions and originate entirely CG camera animation based on shot descriptions, storyboards, previs, and client briefs.
- Continuity & Integration: Stitch plate-based shots into full CG environments and vice versa, preserving accurate camera perspective, screen direction, and spatial relationships to ensure technical legitimacy and sequence continuity.
- Scene Assembly & Staging: Assemble the correct combination of published assets, block out scenes for downstream departments, and perform basic set dressing to support depth and storytelling.
- Storytelling Enhancements: Supplement shots with simple but convincing animation, lighting, or FX to convey key story points.
- Delivery & Workflow: Prepare clear playblasts and layout scenes for review, create clear scale references, and independently manage your workload to meet established targets.
- Matchmove Support (Bonus): Utilize matchmove experience, including camera and rigid object tracking, actor match-animation, lens-distortion solving, and photogrammetry-based proxy modelling.
Qualifications
- Industry Experience: 3 to 5 years of professional layout and matchmove experience in VFX or episodic production, supported by a strong demo reel demonstrating expert camera work and sequence continuity.
- Technical Mastery: Advanced knowledge of Maya and 3D tracking software (e.g., 3DEqualizer, PFTrack, or SynthEyes), with comfort working in Windows and Linux.
- Cinematic Expertise: A strong understanding of cinematography, perspective, plate photography, and how different lenses affect an image.
- Pipeline & Scripting: Familiarity with modern VFX pipelines (e.g., USD scene assembly) and basic scripting (Python/MEL).
- Education: A degree or diploma in animation, VFX, film, or a related discipline. For candidates living outside Japan, a bachelor degree or 10 years of experience is required.
- Communication Skills: Confident communication skills in English; Japanese language proficiency is a plus.
- Personal Attributes: Genuine enthusiasm for films, TV series, or anime; reliable team player who embraces feedback and works proactively with peers.
Position Details
- Location: Tokyo (Hybrid)
- Employment Type: To be agreed with the successful candidate
- Experience Level: Experienced