Senior 3D Environment Artist

About Us

AEXLAB is a virtual reality technology studio. We create meaningful technologies that make people feel present and connected in virtual worlds for gaming, training, simulation and more. Our mission is to apply our technologies to further virtual reality as a first-class social experience.

In active development, we are building the ultimate VR first person shooter experience, VAIL VR. Our flagship title emphasizes tactical gunplay, high-caliber combat, and collaborative teamwork. Featuring social and matchmaking systems, players can find games for casual or competitive play. Forge lasting friendships and work together with your teammates to achieve victory.

The Role

The Senior 3D Environment Artist will contribute to the artistic vision and development of AAA content. You will work as a key member of the art team, collaborating closely with the Lead Environment Artist in creating high quality, modular and detailed environment models. The ideal candidate should be constantly envisioning the experience of the end user and be actively proposing and developing features that enhance that experience.

Responsibilities:

• Generate art assets ranging from hard surface structures to organic foliage that meet the high-quality bar set for the environment art team both visually and technically

• Influence asset creation pipelines with your understanding of optimized low poly asset creation, such as modular kits, to take into account efficiency, speed, and cross dependencies

• Create fully functional and integrated assets that can be shared across the project and that respect the technical and artistic constraints of the project

• Produce top quality and technically sound materials and shaders, from hand-painted diffuse to PBR workflows, that complement and enhance the 3D models

• Work closely with technical art to develop new or improve upon current techniques in order to enhance visual quality

• Understand the game design documents in regards to the environments, objectives, atmospheres, story and style and use them to create various artistic elements

• Stay on top of and share knowledge of project tools and their functions, the project file classification system and the process of updating engine data

• Troubleshoot and provide solutions to issues related to asset creation, performance, and technical requirements

• Interpret and push concept designs to the next level while taking into account technical and design constraints such as draw calls, poly counts, texture memory limits, and gameplay boundaries

• Communicate with various other disciplines to ensure all assets are optimized and performant

• Serve as a mentor to more junior environment artists on the team

• Assist the Lead Artist in regards to finding solutions to more complex artistic and technical issues that arise

• Proactively stay on top of new software, processes and industry trends and share the knowledge with the team

Qualifications:

• Accomplished visual artist with 5+ years in the video game industry, with credits on multiple titles using high quality 3D content with highly detailed environments

• Experience with the production of optimized, game-ready 3D models using Maya, 3DSMax, or equivalent

• Experience and skills in sculpting using ZBrush, Mudbox, or other sculpting software

• Strong understanding of Substance and PBR workflows

• Proven understanding of the Unreal Engine 4 material and shader system

• Experience with Unreal Engine 4 level creation tools including BSP, level streaming and lighting

• Strong artistic sense of scene composition, as well as shape, proportion and color

• Proven problem-solving/prototyping ability while working closely with technical artists, programmers and lead artists

• Strong gameplay and level design knowledge

• Ability to work collaboratively within a multi-disciplinary art team to help bring environments to life within the vision of the game design

• Familiarity with data management software (such as Perforce)

• Excellent organization and communication skills

• Strong ability to adapt to new tools, processes, and unexpected challenges

• Highly motivated and proactive, consistent productivity with minimal supervision

Bonus, but not required:

• Formal Art Education

• In game and baked lighting experience

• Drawing/Painting ability

• Previous work in VR and/or a passion for VR

AEXLAB is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace that seeks to hire, develop and retain the most talented people from a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. If you are passionate about the future of gaming, VR, and community, we’d love for you to join us.