Lighting TD(DNEG Animation Sydney)

DNEG Animation:

DNEG Animation is a world-class animation studio that crafts captivating worlds and compelling characters through beautiful animation. Our studio is fuelled by the passion and talents of our global crew, and through them we are delivering an exciting slate of major new projects, such as The Angry Birds Movie 3, The Cat in the Hat, and Bad Fairies.

We thrive on diverse styles of animation, from complex graphic novel adaptations to beautifully-stylized films. Each project is driven by our team's expertise in the craft of animation and we believe every role plays a huge part in the success of our shows.

Join a team where the only "house style" is quality and work alongside some of the best talent in the business to help bring iconic characters and unique worlds to life. Stories that we are honored to be a part of include The Garfield Movie, Nimona, Under the Boardwalk, Entergalactic, and Ron's Gone Wrong.

Always striving to further the art of animation, we are currently in production on a number of major animated features and are looking for new talent to join our incredible team. If you thrive on collaboration and the creative energy it provides, together we will create spectacular visuals and breathe life into unforgettable characters and enchanting animated worlds.

Job Description / Key Purpose of the Job:

We rely on our team of Lighting TDs to light and composite shots for our animated films. You will have the ability to take creative direction to set the mood and look for animated sequences. In addition to bringing shots from lighting production through to finalising on schedule, you will also be required to

troubleshoot technical issues such as render noise, render times and memory usage in a modern path-tracing renderer.

Working as part of a team, you’ll use modern lighting and compositing tools to create beautiful work, maintaining continuity across all shots.

Key Responsibilities / Job Duties

• Technical Problem Solving & Tool Development: Diagnosing and resolving complex technical issues that arise during the lighting and rendering process. They develop, maintain, and optimize tools, scripts and workflows to automate tasks and improve efficiency for the lighting department.
• Workflow & Pipeline Integration: Collaborating with the Pipeline team and other departments (Look Development, Compositing, FX) to ensure seamless integration of lighting tools and processes into the broader production pipeline.
• Rendering Optimization: Managing and optimizing render setups (e.g., using render passes or AOV's) to meet specific render budgets and reduce farm usage without compromising quality.
• Look Development Support: Working with look development and surfacing artists to ensure that shaders and assets work correctly within the lighting and color pipeline requirements.
  
  

Job Requirements / Must Haves

• Previous high-end experience in a similar role
• Good working knowledge of sequence-based lighting
• Strong knowledge of node-based lighting and compositing tools and path-trace rendering
• Strong knowledge of lighting and compositing techniques
• Familiarity with feature animation pipelines and pipeline issues
• Strong grasp of artistic principles, and cg techniques
• Demonstrable experience in shot lighting and compositing
  
  

Additional Skills / Nice To Have

• Professional experience in Katana, Renderman, and Nuke.
• A showreel featuring feature animation work