Lighting Artist - Temporary Contract

Rodeo FX; Montreal (administrative region); Hybrid; CAD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Rodeo FX is seeking an experienced Lighting Artist to design and implement lighting and shading solutions for 3D environments, aligning with the project’s artistic vision. You will deliver final renders to the Compositing department while maintaining visual quality and performance.

The role requires 10+ years in lighting for VFX or animation, strong Houdini expertise, and collaboration with Lighting, CG, and Compositing Supervisors to support storytelling and realism.

Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years of lighting experience in a VFX or 3D animation environment.
• Advanced knowledge of Houdini lighting workflow, shading, and scene optimization.
• Solid understanding of render engines (Arnold, Karma, RenderMan) and pipeline integration.
• Strong grasp of 3D/2D workflows including lookdev and compositing.

Responsibilities

• Create solid lighting setups tailored to the needs of each shot and sequence.
• Master lighting tools and workflows in Houdini with rigor and autonomy at every stage.
• Refine renders to ensure seamless integration with CG elements and compositing.
• Develop efficient solutions to address technical and artistic challenges in production.
• Provide realistic time estimates, communicate promptly about issues or delays, and coordinate with production.
• Attend team meetings, turnovers, and briefings to align with project needs and be a reliable lighting contact.
• Document setups and methods to foster collaboration and task handovers.

Skills

Houdini lighting workflows

Lighting artistry

Render optimization

Cross‑department collaboration

Tools

Houdini

Arnold

RenderMan

Karma

Python scripting

ShotGrid

Job description

Repeatedly voted one of Montreal’s Top Employers and Employer of the Year for the 2022 Mercuriades Awards, Rodeo FX is a high-end creative company offering services in visual effects, advertising, animation, and experiential. Nominated for multiple Emmy® Awards for its work on the series Stranger Things season 4, The Witcher season 2 and The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power season 1, the independent, Oscar®-winning company boasts close to 900 artists crafting from studios in Montreal, Québec City, Toronto, Los Angeles and Paris.

Work Arrangements

As an artist-founded and artist-led company, creativity is at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is to give our talent the freedom, resources, and environment they need to produce high-quality work and thrive in a stimulating, collaborative, and supportive setting.

With this in mind, employees are expected to work from the studio at least three days per week. The remaining days may be worked under flexible arrangements, when the nature of the role, production needs, and work organization allow. This balance helps us support collaboration, preserve our studio culture, and encourage the in-person exchanges that are essential to the way we create.

Job Description

The Lighting Artist designs and implements lighting and shading solutions that enhance 3D environments and CG elements, closely aligned with the project's artistic vision. They deliver the final renders to the Compositing department while maintaining a high level of visual quality, technical optimization, and cross-department collaboration. As a key player in the 3D pipeline, they contribute to the standard of excellence expected at Rodeo FX.

Key Responsibilities

Master your craft

• Create solid lighting setups tailored to the needs of each shot and sequence.
• Master lighting tools and workflows in Houdini with rigor and autonomy at every stage.
• Refine renders to ensure seamless integration with CG elements and compositing.
• Develop efficient solutions to address technical and artistic challenges in production.

Creative Quality

• Translate the project’s visual direction into inspiring and coherent lighting.
• Collaborate closely with Lighting, CG, and Compositing Supervisors to support the artistic vision.
• Propose visual adjustments that enhance storytelling and reinforce scene depth.
• Maintain high standards of realism, clarity, and subtlety in the final render.

Technical Quality

• Optimize scenes to reduce machine load without compromising quality.
• Follow naming conventions, scene structure, and versioning protocols established by the department.
• Identify and fix rendering issues or artifacts prior to submission.
• Actively participate in QC passes and quickly address dailies notes.

Communication

• Provide realistic time estimates, communicate promptly in case of issues or potential delays, and collaborate with production to adjust priorities if needed.
• Ensure accurate progress tracking and flag technical issues to Production.
• Attend team meetings, turnovers, and briefings to align with project needs.
• Be a reliable point of contact for other departments regarding lighting render status.
• Document setups and methods to foster collaboration and facilitate task handovers.

Teach, learn and grow

• Stay up to date on CG lighting advancements and best practices.
• Share discoveries, tools, or scripts with the team via Confluence or technical dailies.
• Engage in internal training initiatives and embrace new studio approaches.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement with openness and adaptability.

Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years of experience in lighting within a VFX or 3D animation environment.
• Advanced knowledge of Houdini (lighting workflow, shading, scene optimization).
• Solid understanding of render engines (Arnold, Karma, RenderMan, etc.) and pipeline integration.
• Strong grasp of 3D/2D workflows: modeling, lookdev, compositing.
• Knowledge of Universal Scene Description.
• Keen sense of light, color, and staging.
• Ability to work independently and rigorously within a multidisciplinary team.
• Proactive, solution-oriented, and constructive mindset.
• Assets: knowledge of ShotGrid, Python scripting, in-house tool development.

Additional Information

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

At Rodeo FX, diversity is a core value. We’re committed to creating an inclusive, equitable workplace where different perspectives are embraced. Every team member brings unique insight that strengthens our creativity, challenges our thinking, and helps us deliver better work.

Use of Artificial Intelligence in Recruitment

Rodeo FX may use AI-based tools to support certain steps of the recruitment process, such as interview transcription or preliminary application analysis. These tools may be operated by third-party providers, and data may be processed outside Quebec. These tools never replace human decision-making: all final hiring decisions are made by our recruitment team and hiring managers. To learn more about how we protect your personal information and your rights, please consult our Privacy Policy.