Lighting TD - Junior

Framestore Limited; City of Melbourne; On-site; AUD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Framestore is seeking a Lighting TD for a six-month contract in our Melbourne studio. You will be responsible for lighting and rendering elements to complete photorealistic VFX shots, working closely with CG Supervisors and the compositor.

Duties include scene assembly, lighting per brief, rendering passes, and optimizing render farm usage while staying on schedule and delivering high-quality visuals.

Qualifications

• Proficient in lighting for high-end VFX shots.
• Knowledge of Houdini and Maya for lighting workflows.
• Understanding of colour-space and lighting techniques.
• Basic shading and compositing knowledge (Nuke or similar).
• Familiarity with renderers like Renderman/Arnold.

Responsibilities

• Assemble CG scenes with correct assets from departments.
• Light shots per supervisor or sequence lead.
• Collaborate with CG Supervisors to determine best approaches.
• Work with shot Compositor to develop final look.
• Render non-lighting passes as required by the compositor.
• Create lighting setups and optimise render farm usage.
• Ensure schedules and deadlines are met with high quality.

Skills

Houdini

Maya

color-space

lighting techniques

Nuke

Python/Mel scripting

Linux/Unix

time management

Tools

Renderman

Arnold

Job description

The multi-Oscar-winning creative Film & Episodic studio, at Framestore has worked with some of the greatest storytellers in film today. Collaborating with directors and producers across the complete filmmaking process to help design, plan and create beautiful images, we focus on finding innovative creative solutions to support their vision and set new standards for visual effects in cinema.

Framestore combines talent and technology to bring life to everything we create. Driven by creativity and inspired by the future, we set out every day to reframe the possible.

This role is a six month contract October 2026 - March 2027 and would require candidates to have work rights in Australia.

About the role

Lighting TDs areresponsible for the lighting and rendering of elements required to complete visual effects shots for high-end photo-realistic VFX films.

What you’ll do

• CG scene assembly including the correct assets from applicable departments

• Lighting shots as briefed by the Visual Effects/CG Supervisor or Sequence Lead

• Working closely with CG Supervisors to determine the best approach to solving CG challenges and developing the final look

• Developing shots in collaboration with the shot Compositor

• Rendering non-lighting passes as required by the shot Compositor

• Creating lighting set ups and/or working with current set ups

• Creating efficient rendering set ups in order to optimise render farm usage

• Scrutinising the colours and directions of all light sources in the real-world scene and replicating them in CG

• Staying on schedule and meeting set deadlines while maintaining the highest levels of quality

• Ongoing communication with Production and leads regarding schedules and deadlines

• Other duties as required including wrangling assets or elements of a shot from another department to ensure shots are completed to schedule

• Submit shots for review and follow through with notes as required

Essential Skills:

• Knowledge of Houdini and Maya

• A good understanding of colour-space

• Knowledge of lighting techniques

• A basic knowledge of Nuke or similar compositing package, including how to use layers and passes to tweak a shot after it has been rendered

• Basic knowledge of other disciplines within VFX including simulation, Modeling and UV mapping, Texturing and Camera Tracking

• Excellent organisation, communication and interpersonal skills

• Creative problem solving and attention to detail

• Able to work well under pressure and meet deadlines

• Reliable, with good time keeping and the ability to meet deadlines

• Flexible and adaptable with the ability to work within a pre-set workflow or pipeline but also have the creativity and problem solving skills to work around issues

You might also have

• Basic knowledge of either Renderman, Arnold or similar production renderer

• Basic knowledge of physically plausible shading techniques

• Basic knowledge of Python and/or Mel scripting

• An understanding of Linux/Unix based operating systems

Accessibility Statement

Our Melbourne studio is fully accessible, with step-free entry and quiet spaces available. We are committed to supporting disabled colleagues and providing an inclusive workplace for everyone.