3D Lighting Artist

Job Summary

Scattermesh, a dynamic company in Herndon, VA, is looking for 3D Lighting artists to work full-time on client projects. The role requires a skilled artist with a strong understanding of lighting and rendering photorealistic images of primarily organic characters. The ideal candidate will have experience lighting scenes from photo references and a strong understanding of customizing shaders to replicate real interactions between surfaces and light.

• Realize the Vision – Elevate high quality 3D character models by optimizing textures and shaders to create realistic renders.
• Construct Reality – Create and maintain the overall look, color, and quality across multiple sequences to create storylines.
• Collaborate – Work alongside fellow artists and studio managers to meet today's needs while preparing for future challenges.

• 1–9+ years’ experience as a 3D artist or a relevant portfolio.
• Strong artistic fundamentals: scale, composition, perspective, proportion, mass & volume, light & color, and surface properties.
• Understanding of real-world lighting and photography, exposure, color grading, lens and camera behavior and HDR workflows.
• Mastery of standard art packages such as Maya, Arnold, Substance or Adobe Painter.
• Skilled in look development and lighting for photorealistic renders.
• Skilled in replicating physically accurate lighting environments in 3D.
• Understanding of P  rendering and optimizations using Arnold or similar engines.
• Experience working within an established studio pipeline and file structure.
• Self‑motivated and self‑reliant.
• Curious and willing to learn.
• Excellent organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• US citizenship required.

• Competitive market‑leading pay.
• 25–30 days paid time off (PTO) / holidays.
• 100% company‑paid medical, dental, vision plans.
• Health Savings Account (HSA).
• Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA).
• 401(k) matching with no cliff vesting.