Look Development Artist

Employment Details

• Role: Senior Lookdev Artist - Multiple Positions
• Department: Rodeo FX - Accessoires 3D / Assets
• Employment Type: Full-time
• Compensation: CAD 98,000 - CAD 148,000 yearly
• Work Arrangements: Employees are expected to work from the studio at least three days per week. The remaining days may be worked under flexible arrangements.
• Contract Type: Multiple temporary contracts available, with a strong possibility of extension.
• Start Date: Flexible

Company Description

Rodeo FX is a high-end creative company offering services in visual effects, advertising, animation, and experiential. As an artist-founded and artist-led company, the organization focuses on providing talent with the freedom, resources, and environment to produce high-quality work. The company is a partner to storytellers including Netflix, HBO, Disney, Marvel, Amazon Studios, Warner Bros., and Sony.

Job Description

The Look Development Artist creates and refines the look of 3D models to achieve photorealistic rendering, combining textures, shading, and surface properties. The role requires expertise in realistic texturing, including the ability to create high-quality textures using photographic references, scans, digital painting, or procedural materials. Artists contribute directly to the artistic and technical quality of delivered assets, ensuring they integrate seamlessly into sequences.

Key Responsibilities

• Master your craft
  • Develop complete looks by combining textures, shaders, and validation lighting tailored to production needs.
  • Create or refine textures to ensure visual and technical consistency of assets.
  • Produce validation renders (turntables, AOVs, benchmarks) to support dailies reviews.
  • Deliver robust, lighting-ready assets within deadlines and established standards.
• Creative Quality
  • Propose clear and effective artistic solutions based on a strong understanding of materials and surfaces.
  • Ensure visual consistency across texturing, shading, and lighting for all assets.
  • Achieve a high level of realism through attention to micro-details and surface variation.
  • Interpret and enhance visual references with critical thinking and artistic judgment.
• Technical Quality
  • Design physically plausible shaders optimized for production and pipeline compatibility.
  • Create, adapt, or fix textures (UVs, tiling, displacement, color space) to ensure performance in lookdev.
  • Build clean and efficient setups that support Lighting and Compositing workflows.
  • Quickly identify and resolve technical issues to avoid production bottlenecks.
• Communication
  • Collaborate closely with upstream and downstream teams to ensure smooth asset continuity.
  • Partner with Lighting and Compositing to ensure consistency in the final render.
  • Clearly communicate technical requirements related to textures and shading.
  • Actively participate in dailies and integrate feedback proactively.
• Teach, learn and grow
  • Contribute to continuous improvement of workflows between Texturing and Lookdev.
  • Share knowledge on materials, shaders, and advanced techniques with the team.
  • Support the development of tools, templates, and best practices to improve production efficiency.
  • Stay up to date with advancements in rendering, shading, and texturing.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 6 years of experience in lookdev and/or texturing in VFX or animation.
• Strong proficiency in Houdini (Solaris/Karma) and/or Maya, as well as Nuke.
• Solid knowledge of rendering engines such as Arnold and/or Karma.
• Advanced expertise in texturing with Mari and/or Substance Painter/Designer.
• Strong understanding of PBR workflows, UVs, color management, and displacement.
• Good understanding of the interaction between textures, shaders, lighting, and rendering.
• Ability to deliver clean, optimized, production-ready assets.
• High level of autonomy, strong organizational skills, and ability to manage priorities effectively.
• Strong technical and artistic rigor, with great attention to detail.
• Collaborative mindset, clear communication, and constructive attitude.
• Must have strong expertise in realistic texturing to produce high-quality textures from photographic references, scans, digital painting, or procedural materials.

Nice to Have

• Experience with USD pipelines.
• Familiarity with ShotGrid or similar production tracking tools.
• Experience in tool development or scripting (Python).
• Experience in hybrid environments (feature film, advertising, series).

Additional Information

• Final compensation will be determined based on the candidate’s relevant experience, skills, qualifications, and the scope of responsibilities.
• Candidates whose experience aligns more closely with a different level may be considered for an appropriately leveled position.
• Rodeo FX values diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive, equitable workplace.
• Rodeo FX may use AI-based tools to support certain steps of the recruitment process; however, all final hiring decisions are made by the human recruitment team and hiring managers.