Lead / Principal Lighting Artist
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Studio Gobo is an established AAA games studio, part of the Keywords family. Our team has worked on multiple world class projects for companies such as Guerrilla Games, Arkane, Warner Bros, Ubisoft, Disney and Tencent. Projects include LEGO Horizon Adventures, Redfall, Hogwarts Legacy, For Honor, Marvel Super Heroes: Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars: Rise Against the Empire playsets for Disney Infinity 3.0.Studio Gobo is looking for a talented Lighting Artist who possesses the ability to light environments, cutscenes and characters for a AAA character action console video game. This position has a large impact on many teams work and is responsible for creating atmosphere, realism, tone, depth, drama or narrative. They will also establish and clarify location, weather, time of day for all our game worlds. At Studio Gobo, we’re proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We offer a comprehensive benefits package and an award-winning environment that support your growth and well-being. We've been recognized seven times by GamesIndustry.Biz as one of the Best Mid-Sized Game Studios to work for in the U.K.
Key Activities
· Work closely with the Art Director, Lead Artist and Environment Team to establish the aesthetic and technical standards for the games lighting and cinematic style.
· Work with the client’s vision for lighting and tone and able to interpret feedback effectively.
· Able to reinforce gameplay interactions, readability, and traversal through lighting techniques.
· Being point of contact for lighting, work with the client to ensure lighting setup is authored according to their guidelines.
· Develop and maintain lighting pipeline and project workflow specific documentation.
· Create, set-up and maintain all elements of lighting i.e. dynamic, prebaked, interior and exterior for all game levels on our projects.
· Make a significant direct contribution to the lighting of all game environments. Responsible for placing, tweaking, balancing and optimising of light sources within all game levels.
· Creation of sky set-ups, mood, atmospherics, look and tone of our game worlds.
· Tuning of surface shading materials and textures to improve the perception of world lighting.
· Working to ensure the Art Direction and vision is delivered on and kept consistent with other lighters work across the project. Post processing; color grading, exposure, SSAO, GI etc.
· Contributing to the development and placing of special effects related to lighting and atmosphere.
· Prototyping the use of lighting technology to reach the visual targets defined by the art direction.
· Collaborate with the Technical Art and Engineering teams to develop tools and pipelines.
· Visually communicate lighting concepts through the creation of color scripts, mood boards and corrective paint over production pieces.
· Demonstrate, communicate, and exemplify clear expectations for quality of work, productivity, communication, and professionalism to the team.
· Partner closely with Technical Artists and TD’s to deliver an efficient and stable lighting pipeline.
· Perform special projects as assigned.
Essential Requirements:
· Several years of production lighting experience on a successful game, TV or film project
· Exceptional understanding of composition, lighting, color theory, colour space etc.
· Wide understanding of lighting/rendering technologies specifically PBR workflows (pre-render and real-time rendering), materials/shaders and their relationship to light.
· Pro-active in the use of lighting as a powerful tool in gameplay clarity and a positive champion for the Art Direction and its execution in game.
· Ability and willingness to accept and follow direction and work effectively with minimal levels of guidance when required.
· Prior experience working with current state of the art game engines for current console hardware. Experience with Unreal Engine a distinct advantage.
· Expert user of industry standard 3D packages, Photoshop, After Effects or similar and a high capacity to learn new tools when required.
· Good understanding of cinematography and dramaturgy; the use of camera technology, scene blocking and lighting to set the mood and tone.
· A reel demonstrating outstanding visual and technical ability.
· Must be responsive to deadlines and work well under pressure.
· Must be a passionate, enthusiastic, self-driven and a talented individual, with a genuine interest in playing games.
· Task driven with excellent time management skills with the ability to prioritise and schedule your own work.
Benefits
When you join Studio Gobo you can expect to enjoy a unique culture. Whether its relaxing with one of our wellness benefits, or discussing the latest games over lunch, cooked by our in-house chefs. The Studio knows that it’s the best people that make the best games and this is what Studio Gobo invests in. Below you will find all the benefits and perks you can enjoy as a Studio Gobo team member.
- Holidays - 22 days’ annual leave entitlement, plus 3 days’ studio closure over the Christmas period, giving a total of 25 days paid annual leave plus all 8 UK bank holidays.
- Bonus Anniversary Holidays - An additional day of annual leave for each year’s anniversary working at Studio Gobo, to a maximum of 5 extra days!
- Generous Team Project Bonuses
- Visa & Relocation Package - For qualified employees, we will pay for the visa costs for you and your family. We will also provide you with a relocation allowance.
- Company Pension Scheme – Employer contribution matching award-winning pension scheme provided by NEST under the UK governments automatic enrolment scheme.
- Employee Share Purchase Plan (ESPP) - ESPP is an easy way for staff to get involved in entry level company ownership or make a small profit on savings.
- Private Medical Insurance Scheme – Full private medical cover provided by BUPA Private Healthcare.
- Group Life Insurance
- Private Dental Insurance Scheme – Full private dental cover provided under our Dental plan company scheme.
- Group Income Protection
- EAP - Employee Assistance Program that assists employees with personal problems and/or work-related problems that may impact their work, health, mental and emotional wellbeing.
- Volunteer Time Off ‘Studio Gobo in the Community’ – Spend one day per year on full pay volunteering for the non-profit organisation of your choice.
- Cycle & Tech Scheme – Receive up to £3000 worth of goodies as part of this salary sacrifice scheme.
- Eye-care Vouchers – Free eye tests.
- Train Travel Season Ticket Loan – Interest-free company loan to spread the cost of an annual season ticket.
- Health and Wellbeing Allowance - £50 per month to spend on your choice of a range of healthy activities.
- Fast Growing Studio – Plenty of room for career advancement
- Industry Conferences Budget – A generous annual studio conferences budget. Many of our employees benefit from attending conferences such as GDC, UnrealFest or SIGGRAPH, THU, Develop etc every year.
Perks
- Inspire & Motive Programme - Offering training opportunities, inspiring workshops and industry conferences.
- Free locally roasted Coffee & Speciality Teas
- Gobo Cereal Bar – Extensive granola, muesli and breakfast cereal selections.
- Full Chefs Kitchen & Equipment – Free use of our large full-sized chef’s kitchen ideal for whipping up a quick snack or a culinary feast.
- World Famous Free Lunches – Every Friday our studio enjoys a studio lunch together. Cooked in-house by our very own chef with meat, vegan and gluten free options available every week.
- Fresh Fruit & Healthy Snacks – Provided every day, with a suggestion board for new treats!
- Pastries, Cakes & Doughnuts – For the odd naughty pleasure.
- Soft Drinks Fridge – A large range of free chilled soft drinks.
- Gobo Beer & Wine Fridge – Free beers, ales and wine and even the odd gin and tonic! Grab a beer at our end of week Show and Tell sessions and see what everybody else in the company has been up to!
- In-house Social Clubs – There are lots of ways to socialise with your colleagues here! From day one you’re invited to join in clubs for D&D fans, board games, bouldering, drawing nights, yoga, cooking club – the list goes on and there is always space open for new members!
- Extensive Video Game & Book Library – Borrow a game, a book or even a whole console.
- Spacious Industrial Chic Studio Space – Many visitors comment on what an amazing studio space we have. We’ve invested a lot of time, thought and money into our studio. And we get to work in this space every day. Our working environment makes an incredible difference in our mood and productivity.
- Dogs with Jobs – Studio Gobo is a dog-friendly employer. Bring doggo into the studio to meet and hang out with the rest of the team any time!
- Project Wrap Parties, Cinema Nights & Team Nights Out – We work hard together so it’s good to let off steam and spend some time together seeing what the wonderful city of Brighton & Hove has to offer.
- Monthly Studio Social Nights – Once per month the studio plays host to the biggest party in Brighton & Hove (probably). The drinks fridge is open for all. Invite a loved one to join us for food, drinks and anything in an array of board games, Smash Bros tournaments or even a bit of karaoke.
- Summer Festival – Every year on a hot summer’s afternoon, we all leave work early to enjoy the sun with company organised pop-up diner, cocktail shack, bouncy castle, face painting and other fun amenities. The whole family is invited to spend the day coming to socialise with us, on us :)
Keywords Studios is dedicated to following a well-established Equal Opportunities Policy. We endeavour to create a workplace which provides for equal opportunities for all employees and potential employees.
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