Senior VFX Artist - Temporary
At Ember Lab, our goal is to create powerful, transformative experiences that impact people for a lifetime. Having released our debut game, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, in 2021 this journey is just beginning. We’re looking for collaborative team members who share our passion for storytelling and are eager to help us shape the future of Ember Lab.
Job Summary:
As a Senior VFX Artist, you will play a crucial role in bringing our games to life by creating high-quality visual effects that enhance the player experience. You will work closely with the Creative Director, designers, and other artists to develop and implement a wide range of effects, from environmental elements to character-specific abilities.
Key Responsibilities:
- Design, create, and implement visually stunning and optimized visual effects for characters, environments, and gameplay.
- Collaborate with team members to establish the visual style and quality standards for VFX.
- Develop VFX assets from concept to final implementation, including particles, shaders, textures, and simulations.
- Ensure all visual effects are in line with the artistic direction and gameplay requirements.
- Optimize effects to run efficiently on target platforms while maintaining high visual quality.
- Work closely with the animation, programming, and design teams to integrate VFX seamlessly into the game.
- Stay up-to-date with industry trends and techniques, continually improving the team's skills and workflows.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Art, Animation, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
- Minimum of 5-7 years of experience in creating visual effects for video games, with a strong portfolio demonstrating your skills.
- Proficiency at creating real-time VFX for Unreal Engine. Must have experience with Blueprints and Niagara.
- Experience with VFX optimization and performance profiling.
- Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
- Strong communication and collaboration abilities, with the ability to work effectively in a team-oriented environment.
- Experience creating stylized FX textures from scratch.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience working on AAA game titles.
- Familiarity with game development pipelines and processes.
- Experience creating both stylized and realistic VFX.
- Up-to-date knowledge of the VFX tools inside Unreal Engine 5, including Niagara Fluids and Chaos Destruction.
- Knowledge of other VFX creation tools such as Houdini, Maya, and Photoshop.
Location
- Onsite or Hybrid Preferred, Remote upon consideration
To apply:
- Please include a portfolio.
This is a short term contract position with an hourly rate of $47-$67 per hour based on location and experience.
Top Skills
What We Do
Founded in 2009 by brothers Josh and Mike Grier as an animation and digital content creator, Ember Lab’s vision is to create immersive and evocative stories with characters that resonate and worlds that inspire. Ember Lab originally specialized in character development for advertising. The studio’s commercial work includes ad campaigns and animated shorts developed from concept to completion for The Coca-Cola Company, Hisense, and Major League Baseball.
The company’s culture is based on a highly collaborative environment that melds the creative and production processes. In the studio, the lines between technical and artistic development tend to disappear as teams focus on delivering fantastic and innovative experiences.
Ember Lab produced the award-winning short film, Dust, and the acclaimed Majora’s Mask fan film, Terrible Fate. The success of their commercial and independent projects led them to develop their passion project and first game, Kena: Bridge of Spirits. Releasing August 24 on PS4, PS5, and the Epic Games Store, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is now available for preorder.
