Overview

ABOUT IMAGE ENGINE
Based in Vancouver BC, we are a world-class visual effects studio led by a team of creative and passionate individuals who are committed to furthering the art of visual storytelling, and helping our exceptionally talented crew to push the boundaries of artistic and technical achievement.

Well known for our Academy Award Nominated work on Neill Blomkamp’s District 9, we have gone on to create numerous incredible creatures, epic environments and extraordinary digital effects for a broad range of feature films including; Zero Dark Thirty, Jurassic World, Game of Thrones, and Independence Day Resurgence.

We can do this because we place awesome new tools in the hands of our artists. R&D is central to our philosophy of driving creativity through innovation, with a focus on continually evolving our robust production pipelines and pioneering in the area of proprietary software development.

POSITION PURPOSE
The Senior Matte Painter is responsible for delivering high quality photo-real environments in a quick and efficient manner. They will be flexible in their approach and open to feedback from other departments when creating solutions. They will use their experience to interpret and apply briefing notes with minimal direction from team Leads or Supervisors. They will quality check all of their work and occasionally will assist the Leads to quality check the work of junior artists should the workload require it.

The Senior Matte Painter will take the initiative to resolve technical and creative issues while executing shots at a high level of difficulty. In addition, they will help the Leads and Supervisors to flag issues. They will potentially assist in the Lead role on a short term basis in the event of an absence or if production needs require it. They will participate in team meetings when necessary.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Create final photo-real environments with minimal supervision and within the studio pipeline
Integrate live footage, CG elements, images and photography into film
Communicate successes and challenges faced by the team to Supervisors
Use time management skills to schedule meetings and tasks effectively
Manage time and resources to meet weekly targets
Overcome technical issues (day to day problem solving), in conjunction with R&D and the CG Supervisor
Communicate well with all members of the Matte Painting, Production and Supervision teams
Promote interdepartmental collaboration
Ensure all email correspondence and scheduling is up to date, responding to emails in a timely manner
Assist members of the Matte Painting team to learn and grow their skills
Attend dailies, reviews, and team meetings as required

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
5+ years’ of Matte Painting Experience experience with high end film
Demonstrated proficiency in defining and creating photo-real elements
Experience with rendering large datasets
Strong knowledge of 3D workflow, including Asset Modeling, Lookdev, Scene Assembly, Shading, Lighting, and Rendering.
Knowledge of traditional art skills and techniques: composition, color, lighting, depth, drawing, painting, and photography
Ability to balance quick turnaround while achieving a high degree of aesthetic quality

SKILLS AND ABILITIES
Technical skills
Ability to train and coach artists in Matte Painting and best practice
Experience with Matte Painting, 2D and 3D projection, and camera mapping set-ups for environments
Experience solving technical issues with complex 3D scenes, including render optimization
Strong software experience with Maya, Nuke, Renderman compliant renderers, Python or Mel scripting, and some Photoshop
Ability to come up with creative and efficient rendering solutions
Excellent attention to detail when finalizing, approving or quality controlling assets

Core skills
Ability to help with bidding; determine the timeframe and scope required for each project
Ability to troubleshoot and deal with competing priorities and projects
Ability to assess artist’s strengths and weaknesses to assign tasks and manage workflow
Ability to adapt quickly to new technologies and applications
Ability to teach new techniques and apply new approaches to push assets to the next level
Strong leadership skills
Excellent time management and communication skills