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Lighting Artist II

Lighting Artist II | Maxis

Location: EA Redwood Shores | Toronto, ON | Open to Remote work for most US & Canada Locations

Welcome to Maxis, home to tinkerers, craftspeople, & storytellers. Our drive is to inspire everyone to make a better world through creative play. As the developer of the Sims, we create games and experiences for millions of people around the world and are always looking for new ways to inspire our players. Maxis is a place where you can do what you love and help others grow while doing it; a place where your unique voice can be heard and seen. We put creativity and inclusivity at the core of our work and don’t settle for seeing the world only as it is, but strive to build a world as it could be. Read on to see how you can join our team and dream big.

The Role

As a Lighting Artist, you will partner with the Technical Art Director, Art Director, Rendering Engineers and Senior Discipline Leads to define a cohesive, visionary look for Maxis titles. You will drive the quality and visual standards across multiple platforms and support the technical development for Maxis projects. You will also participate in research and development to support new Art and Design-driven features unique to our projects by leveraging current methods and pipelines. You will proactively seek opportunities to elevate the game, enjoy improving workflows using emerging technologies, embrace constructive feedback, and thrive in a highly collaborative environment.

You will report to a Studio Development Director.

Key Responsibilities

• You will partner with the Art Director and support the Senior Discipline Artists to develop and refine the lighting for our characters, environments, and gameplay modes
• You will create high-quality, real-time lighting solutions in-game using physically-based rendering
• You will research emerging technology and share suggestions with the Technical Art team on process and aesthetic improvements
• You will actively participate in milestone reviews
• You will review work from external partners and peers by participating in critiques

Qualifications

• Minimum of 4 years of production experience as a Lighting Artist
• A contributor on published titles from pre-production through to shipping
• An understanding of PBR lighting theory, current game tech and development methods, for example: PBR materials, real time workflows, and subsurface scattering
• A working knowledge of industry standard rendering methods (baked and real-time) for mobile and PC with an understanding of hardware scalability constraints
• Familiarity with optimization and tuning adjustments for performance to stay within technical budgets across multiple platforms
• Experience with lighting in the UE4 pipeline, including a desire to learn and develop hands-on skills working in UE5-Lumen
• An understanding of spatial composition and lighting techniques that influence mood, tone, and aesthetic within a scene (natural lighting, key lighting, three point, etc.)
• A demonstrated understanding of rendering principles for human skin, hair, and clothing
• Experience collaborating with object/character/environment modelers, VFX artists, and rendering engineers to develop new solutions/tools/tech/pipelines
• Some proficiency in industry-standard software such as Maya, ZBrush, Substance Painter/Designer, and Photoshop
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills

Bonus Qualifications

• A demonstrated sense of color theory, color grading, and correction
• A photography, cinematic, or traditional art background
• Shader authoring experience
• A passion for making and playing games

Materials required for Application

• A portfolio/reel that reflects strong sense for character and/or figurative lighting, including examples of lighting compositions within both natural and architectural scenes
• Resume/CV