Lead 3D Artist

Lemon Sky Animation Sdn Bhd; Malaysia; On-site; MYR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Fairview International School is seeking a Lead 3D Artist to steer a team in creating high-end characters, environments, props, and vehicles for our projects. You will translate direction into assets while maintaining visual quality across the production pipeline.

You will mentor artists, set look development standards, optimize pipelines for Unreal or Unity, and collaborate with designers and VFX to deliver cinematic visuals while meeting schedules.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of industry experience in games or animation.
• 2-3 years in a senior or lead role.

Responsibilities

• Artistic leadership and art direction across assets and environments.
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Skills

Experience: 6+ yrs

Artistic leadership

Soft skills

Communication

Problem solving

Collaboration

Shader creation

Scripting: Python

Version control

Tools

Maya/3ds Max

ZBrush

Substance Painter/Designer

Photoshop

Unreal Engine

Unity

Arnold/V-Ray

Job description

We are seeking highly skilled Lead 3D Artists with a passion for creative leadership, visual excellence, and technical innovation. In this role, you will lead a team of 3D Artists, bridging creativity with production execution to produce high-end characters, environments, props, and vehicles.

As a Lead 3D Artist, you will drive visual standards, mentor art talent, solve complex technical challenges, and collaborate closely with cross-departmental leads to bring extraordinary visuals to life.

Key Responsibilities

1. Artistic & Creative Leadership

• Art Style Leadership: Translate art direction, concept art, and narrative briefs into high-quality 3D models, environments, characters, and props while maintaining visual consistency across the entire project.
• Art Quality Control: Perform regular, constructive art reviews and feedback sessions to maintain top-tier aesthetic and technical standards across all 3D assets.
• Look Development: Drive the look-development phase by establishing visual benchmarks, shader setups, and material standards for hero assets and key environments.
• People Leadership: Direct, mentor, and inspire a team of 3D Artists, character artists, and environment artists, fostering a collaborative and growth-oriented studio culture.
• Task Allocation & Scheduling: Partner with Production and Art Directors to scope artwork, break down milestone requirements, assign tasks, and ensure on-time delivery without compromising visual quality.
• Career Development: Conduct regular one-on-ones, performance reviews, and skill-gap assessments to help team members advance their technical and creative capabilities.

3. Technical Execution & Pipeline Optimization

• Pipeline Management: Collaborate closely with Technical Artists, Riggers, and Developers to establish, document, and streamline art production workflows and asset pipelines.
• Engine Integration & Optimization: Oversee the successful integration of assets into real-time game engines (Unreal Engine / Unity) or rendering pipelines (Arnold / V-Ray). Ensure assets are optimized for performance, geometry budgets, draw calls, texture memory, and frame rates.
• Standardization: Create clear art documentation, style guides, and technical specifications (LOD strategies, UV density standards, naming conventions) for the internal team and external partners.

4. Hands-On Production

• Asset Creation: Maintain active hands-on involvement by sculpting, modeling, texturing, and lighting complex assets for key gameplay moments or cinematic sequences.
• Prototyping: Build quick, iterative visual prototypes to test artistic concepts, mechanics, or engine features in early production phases.

5. Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration & Outsourcing

• Interdepartmental Synergy: Work alongside Game Designers, Animators, VFX Artists, and Audio Teams to ensure art assets integrate seamlessly with gameplay, rigging constraints, and narrative cues.

Job Requirements

• Experience: 6+ years of industry experience in games or animation, with at least 2-3 years in a senior or lead capacity.
• Software Mastery: Expertise in industry-standard software including Maya/3ds Max, ZBrush, Substance Painter/Designer, and Photoshop.
• Engine Knowledge: Hands-on experience integrating assets into Unreal Engine or Unity and/or offline rendering pipelines like Arnold/V-Ray.
• Portfolio: A strong portfolio demonstrating high-level modeling, texturing, lighting, and a solid grasp of form, proportion, color, and anatomical detail across stylized or realistic art directions.
• Soft Skills: Excellent verbal and visual communication skills, strong problem-solving abilities, and a collaborative mindset.
• Technical Art: Experience with shader creation (HLSL/Node-based), scripting (Python/MEL), or procedural workflows in Houdini.
• Lighting & LookDev: Basic knowledge of lighting setups and cinematic rendering for portfolio-level presentation.
• Industry Knowledge: Familiarity with version control software (e.g., Perforce, Git).