3D Artist - Hard Surface

Blackbird Interactive; Vancouver; Hybrid; CAD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A creative game studio is seeking a passionate Senior Hard Surface Artist to help develop a new IP. You will explore visual styles for weapons and vehicles while collaborating closely with designers and programmers. The ideal candidate has over 6 years of experience, strong technical and aesthetic skills, and proficiency in tools like Unreal Engine and Substance Painter. This role offers opportunities for remote and hybrid work, as well as a four-day work week.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience as a hard surface artist.
• Strong technical execution and problem-solving skills.
• Experience with gameplay programmers for rapid prototyping.

Responsibilities

• Explore visual style for weaponry and machinery with the Art Director.
• Set best practices and document processes for your team.
• Collaborate with Designers and Programmers for rapid iteration.

Skills

Visual aesthetic sensibility

Technical execution

Problem solving skills

Collaborative mindset

Tools

Unreal Engine

Substance Painter

Maya

Blender

Zbrush

Photoshop

Job description

Overview

Blackbird Interactive is a creative-fueled, future-driven, independent game studio where the best talent in the industry can find long-term careers to help grow their abilities while working on a wide range of projects, which encompass world-class IPs as well as our own creations across multiple genres.

In 2022, we announced that our studio is implementing a four-day work week as well as supporting in-studio, remote within Canada, and hybrid work arrangements as permanent options to our employees.

Blackbird Interactive is seeking a passionate and experienced Senior Hard Surface Artist for a pivotal role to help develop a new IP. In this role, you’ll use your talents to both explore the visual style of the game and also rapidly work alongside designers and programmers to prototype a variety of vehicles and weapons. You’ll be part of a small, high-performing team that is responsible for setting the groundwork for a new IP. As a senior artist, you can collaborate well with others to solve problems and bring forward solutions, you can both help define a plan and also adapt it as the team learns through pre-production, and you thrive on collaborative creation. You are adept at rapidly generating ideas, prototyping with gameplay in mind, and implementing innovative solutions to challenging problems. A collaborative and experimental mindset is key for this role.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with Art Director and Concept Art to explore visual style for weaponry and machinery.
• Set the benchmark for exemplary machinery/weapon assets; showcase contemporary hard surface techniques and competency in Substance Painter.
• Collaborate with Designers and Programmers with a mindset for rapid iteration, testing quick block-out meshes in game, addressing feedback and testing changes.
• Work with Technical Artists in the development of the hard surface art pipeline and dependencies.
• Help establish best practices, and help write documentation/tutorials to further the goals of your team.
• Be a collaborative problem solver by presenting solutions.
• Proactively invest in growing your skills, knowledge and experience.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience as a hard surface artist, and a current demo reel/portfolio exemplifying your work on previous titles or personal projects.
• Strong visual aesthetic sensibility paired with strong technical execution and problem solving skills.
• Experience working with gameplay programmers to create art for rapid prototyping.
• Experience working in Unreal Engine and PBR shader pipelines.
• Maya, Blender, Zbrush, (Mudbox), Photoshop, Substance Painter experience or equivalent authoring software. Fusion 360 or Plasticity knowledge is a bonus.
• A desire to be highly collaborative and eager to give and take constructive feedback.