Lighting Technical Director (All Levels) - ILM London

The Walt Disney Company (France); City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading animation and visual effects company based in London seeks a Lighting Technical Director. This role involves producing high-quality CG lighting and rendering for complex shots. The ideal candidate has strong VFX knowledge, collaboration skills, and expertise in tools like Katana and Renderman. This is a hybrid position requiring a minimum of two days on-site each week.

Qualifications

• Experience in Lighting and Rendering in a VFX environment.
• Strong aesthetic eye and problem anticipation.
• Ability to pick up new techniques quickly.

Responsibilities

• Produce CG lighting and rendering for complex shots.
• Critique and replicate real-world lighting.
• Collaborate with supervisors to solve CG challenges.

Skills

Lighting and Rendering experience

Understanding of VFX pipeline

Knowledge of lighting techniques

Expertise in lighting and photography

Communication skills

Ability to collaborate

Katana knowledge

Knowledge of Python and/or Lua scripting

Tools

Renderman

Nuke

Maya

Houdini

Job description

Position Summary

We are looking for Lighting Technical Directors who reflect the creative talent, collaborative mindset and passion for great filmmaking that defines ILM.

Lighting Technical Directors are responsible for producing high-quality CG lighting and rendering for complex shots for high-end photo-realistic visual effects.

What You’ll Do:

• Critique the colours and directions of all light sources in the real-world scene and replicate them in CG.

• Design and create the lighting and look of computer-generated objects and scenes.

• Responsible for the final CG scene assembly, lighting and rendering of very complex shots.

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

• Creates lighting setups and/or works within current setups.

• Creates efficient rendering setups in order to optimise render farm usage.

What We’re Looking For:

• Demonstrable advanced Lighting and Rendering experience within a VFX environment.

• In-depth understanding of the VFX pipeline from modelling through animation, texturing, rendering and compositing.

• Strong knowledge of lighting techniques and a good understanding of colour-space.

• Real-world expertise in lighting and photography.

• Previous experience performing in-shot Look Dev tasks.

• Exhibits excellent listening and communication skills, able to receive direction and feedback.

• Excellent aesthetic eye, anticipates potential problems and uses knowledge of how to use the tools to achieve the desired look.

• Ability to collaborate within a team while also being autonomous as needed.

• Katana knowledge is essential, Maya an advantage and Houdini beneficial.

• Basic knowledge of physically plausible shading techniques.

• Excellent knowledge of Renderman and other unbiased renderers.

• Experience using USD in production is beneficial.

• Knowledge of Python and/or Lua scripting is essential.

• Ability to pick up new techniques and the ability to learn new software quickly and easily.

• Can write plug-ins, set-up sequences, debug simulations and set up RenderMan surface shaders with proficiency.

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

• A solid understanding of Linux based operating systems.

• Pipeline scripting ability.

As part of your application please submit a demo reel, shot breakdown, or equivalent showcasing your work. A current resume is required.

This role is Hybrid, which means the employee will be required to work a minimum of 2 days on-site per week at a Company designated location, and occasionally from home.

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