Senior Lookdev Artist - Expression of Interest

Repeatedly voted one of Montreal’s Top Employers and Employer of the Year for the 2022 Mercuriades Awards, Rodeo FX is a high-end creative company offering services in visual effects, advertising, animation, and experiential.

Nominated for multiple Emmy® Awards for its work on the series  Stranger Things  season 4,  Avatar: The Last Airbender  and  The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power,  the independent, Oscar®-winning company boasts close to 800 artists crafting from studios in Montreal, Québec City, Toronto, Los Angeles and Paris.

Rodeo FX is a creative partner to the world’s best storytellers including Netflix, HBO, Disney, Marvel, Amazon Studios, Warner Bros. and Sony, and has collaborated on ads for YouTube, NBC and Apple. Current projects include  Dune: Prophecy, Silo  Season 2  and  Sonic 3 . Recently released projects include  The Rings of Power S eason 2 , Venom: The Last Dance,  Taika Waitit's  Time Bandits,  and  House of the Dragon  Season 2.

Work arrangements:

As an artist-founded and artist-led company, creativity is at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is to give our talent the freedom, resources, and environment they need to produce high-quality work and thrive in a stimulating, collaborative, and supportive setting.

With this in mind,  employees are expected to work from the studio at least three days per week . The remaining days may be worked under flexible arrangements, when the nature of the role, production needs, and work organization allow. This balance helps us support collaboration, preserve our studio culture, and encourage the in-person exchanges that are essential to the way we create.

Job Description

This role requires expertise in realistic texturing. The artist must be able to create high-quality textures using photographic references, scans, digital painting, or procedural materials.

The Look Development Artist creates and refines the look of 3D models to achieve photorealistic rendering, combining textures, shading, and surface properties. They contribute directly to the artistic and technical quality of delivered assets, ensuring they meet Rodeo FX’s high standards and integrate seamlessly into sequences. 

Working closely with Texturing, Lighting, Compositing, Supervision, and Production teams, they actively contribute to the pipeline and the achievement of creative and technical goals.

Key Responsibilities:

Master your craft

• Develop complete looks by combining textures, shaders, and validation lighting tailored to production needs.
• Create or refine textures to ensure visual and technical consistency of assets.
• Produce validation renders (turntables, AOVs, benchmarks) to support dailies reviews.
• Deliver robust, lighting-ready assets within deadlines and established standards.

Creative Quality

• Propose clear and effective artistic solutions based on a strong understanding of materials and surfaces.
• Ensure visual consistency across texturing, shading, and lighting for all assets.
• Achieve a high level of realism through attention to micro-details and surface variation.
• Interpret and enhance visual references with critical thinking and artistic judgment.

Technical Quality

• Design physically plausible shaders optimized for production and pipeline compatibility.
• Create, adapt, or fix textures (UVs, tiling, displacement, color space) to ensure performance in lookdev.
• Build clean and efficient setups that support Lighting and Compositing workflows.
• Quickly identify and resolve technical issues to avoid production bottlenecks.

Communication

• Collaborate closely with upstream and downstream teams to ensure smooth asset continuity.
• Partner with Lighting and Compositing to ensure consistency in the final render.
• Clearly communicate technical requirements related to textures and shading.
• Actively participate in dailies and integrate feedback proactively.

Teach, learn and grow

• Contribute to continuous improvement of workflows between Texturing and Lookdev.
• Share knowledge on materials, shaders, and advanced techniques with the team.
• Support the development of tools, templates, and best practices to improve production efficiency.
• Stay up to date with advancements in rendering, shading, and texturing.

Qualifications

Position Requirements

• Minimum of 6 years of experience in lookdev and/or texturing in VFX or animation.
• Strong proficiency in Houdini (Solaris/Karma) and/or Maya, as well as Nuke.
• Solid knowledge of rendering engines such as Arnold and/or Karma.
• Advanced expertise in texturing with Mari and/or Substance Painter/Designer.
• Strong understanding of PBR workflows, UVs, color management, and displacement.
• Good understanding of the interaction between textures, shaders, lighting, and rendering.
• Ability to deliver clean, optimized, production-ready assets.
• High level of autonomy, strong organizational skills, and ability to manage priorities effectively.
• Strong technical and artistic rigor, with great attention to detail.
• Collaborative mindset, clear communication, and constructive attitude.

Nice to Have

• Experience with USD pipelines
• Familiarity with ShotGrid or similar production tracking tools.
• Experience in tool development or scripting (Python).
• Experience in hybrid environments (feature film, advertising, series).

Additional Information

• The artist must also have strong expertise in realistic texturing to produce high-quality textures from photographic references, scans, digital painting, or procedural materials.
• Start date ASAp for 4 months with flexibility.
• Must be based in Montreal.
• Canadian citizenship, permanent residency or open work permit is required.
• Sick/personal days ;
• Group Insurance, access to Dialogue online support and to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP);
• RRSP with employer contribution ;
• Discounts on public transports, several spas, sports classes, art center, cafes, furniture and several other local businesses.

Diversity : At Rodeo FX, diversity is a core value. We’re committed to creating an inclusive, equitable workplace where different perspectives are embraced. Every team member brings unique insight that strengthens our creativity, challenges our thinking, and helps us deliver better work.

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