Senior Environment Lighting Artist

Sony Interactive Entertainment; Santa Monica (CA); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 118,000; Full time

Job summary

Sony Interactive Entertainment's Naughty Dog studio in Santa Monica seeks a Senior Lighting Artist for a hybrid/onsite engagement. You will craft lighting schemes, color palettes, and post-processing effects to create compelling, cinematic environments and support performance goals.

You will collaborate with modelers, texture/shader artists, and external vendors to refine visuals, balance runtime constraints, and deliver high-quality lighting for AAA titles.

Qualifications

• 3-5 years of industry experience in Film or Games generating final picture.
• Has shipped at least one AAA game.
• Excellent competency in Autodesk Maya and knowledge of Global Illumination
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to work with little to no supervision
• Thorough understanding of direct/indirect light, luminance / exposure and color-theory
• Proven work experience with generating light-maps, pre-lighting or baked lighting is desired
• Excellent competency in multi-tasking, being able to handle their own workload as well as having the time to help out other artists where needed

Responsibilities

• Develop the lighting scheme, color-palette, post-processing-fx, and general visual mood that turns unlit 3-D environment models into awesome looking and visually compelling 3D game environments
• Work with modelers and texture/shader artists to optimize the visual look and run-time performance of the Environments
• Work with outsource vendors and lighting artists, collaborating on visual looks, tech, training, and workflows both giving and receiving feedback
• Additional responsibilities may be assigned as needed

Skills

3-5 years of industry experience in F+

Shipped AAA game

Problem-solving skills

Ability to work with little Super‑v

Color theory knowledge

Tools

Autodesk Maya

Job description

This position is for temporary engagement through our staffing partner, Yoh Enterprise Solutions. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States for this position.

This is a hybrid / onsite position.

For nearly 40 years, Naughty Dog has been crafting best-selling, critically acclaimed games that constantly push the boundaries of narrative, gameplay, and technology. Naughty Dog recently released The Last of Us Part II Remastered as well as a current generation remake of The Last of Us Part I for the PS5. We're also proud to say that The Last of Us Part I and Part II are now available for the first time on PC. Currently, we're busy at the kennel working on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, and we'd love to find talented individuals to join us!

Naughty Dog games have long been lauded for their evocative, character-driven stories and attention to detail. We are committed to innovation within our games and as such have curated some of the top creative and technically innovative minds in the industry. We welcome diverse candidates and believe that a broad range of cultural and life experiences contribute to the overall well-being and success of the studio and the titles we craft together.

Senior Level Lighting Artist will be creating lighting and post effects for background lighting but also be integral in achieving looks that are applied across the game.

What you will do:

• Develop the lighting scheme, color-palette, post-processing-fx, and general visual mood that turns unlit 3-D environment models into awesome looking and visually compelling 3D game environments
• Work with modelers and texture/shader artists to optimize the visual look and run-time performance of the Environments
• Work with outsource vendors and lighting artists, collaborating on visual looks, tech, training, and workflows both giving and receiving feedback
• Additional responsibilities may be assigned as needed

What skills you will use:

• 3-5 years of industry experience in Film or Games generating final picture
• Has shipped at least one AAA game
• Excellent competency in Autodesk Maya and knowledge of Global Illumination
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to work with little to no supervision
• Thorough understanding of direct/indirect light, luminance / exposure and color-theory
• Proven work experience with generating light-maps, pre-lighting or baked lighting is desired
• Excellent competency in multi-tasking, being able to handle their own workload as well as having the time to help out other artists where needed

As a part of the Naughty Dog application process, candidates will be expected to provide a portfolio or demo reel of their work and may be asked to complete an art test.

At SIE, working with our partners, we consider several factors when setting each role's base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location.

Please note that the individual base pay range may vary based on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location.

In addition, this role is eligible for benefit offerings that include medical, dental, and vision. Click hereto learn more.

The estimated base pay range for this role is listed below, this is an hourly rate.

$69.09 - $86.35 USD

Please note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks.

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