Senior Materials Artist

Description

PlayStation isn’t just the Best Place to Play —it’s also the Best Place to Work. We’ve thrilled gamers since 1994, when we launched the original PlayStation. Today, we’re recognized as a global leader in interactive and digital entertainment. The PlayStation brand falls under Sony Interactive Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation.

Sony PlayStation’s Visual Arts Services Group (VASG) on our San Diego campus provides world-class content, development and services to PlayStation Studios such as Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, Santa Monica Studio, Bend Studio Guerilla Games, and more! Our team is always at the cutting edge of technology and partners with the industry’s best minds and companies.

You're a creative and passionate artist who lives for world building and crafting textures and materials that tell a story within the game environment. You're inspired to achieve only the highest of quality in your work and want to contribute to the artistic vision and development of the industry's most anticipated AAA games.

We are looking for a highly talented and motivated Senior Materials Artist to work on an unannounced AAA project. Come work with our Art Lead and Studio Art Director to create both in-game and in-game cinematic quality materials within a range of styles.

Your ability to build materials from both detailed concepts and a single photograph is required.

Responsibilities:

• Create realistic game-ready physically based materials to project specifications.
• Build and maintain internal PBR material library. Assist with maintaining technical and quality standards.
• Collaborate with production artists on creating materials for in-game use.
• Create organized material workflows in Substance Designer and Painter.
• Problem solve production challenges with creative solutions.
• Ability to document production workflows and mentor production artists.
• Evaluate scope estimates to ensure material assets are in line with project schedules.
• Work with Environment Lead to revise and respond based on feedback for both aesthetic and functional purposes

Requirements:

• At least 5 years' experience as an Environment Artist, with 2 shipped AAA titles
• Strong understanding of PBR materials and workflows.
• Expert knowledge of Substance Designer and Painter workflows.
• History of strong understanding of game development with a focus on materials.
• Proficient at sculpting surface details and controlling shader features that represent a wide variety of material types
• Ability to work in new game engines and add material assets to game engine.
• Expert knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and High Resolution Texture baking.
• Ability to unwrap UVs for texturing meshes and lightmaps in Autodesk Maya.
• Experience optimizing games for performance and memory.
• An advanced understanding of in-game and in-game cinematic art asset creation

Pluses:

• Shader authoring a plus
• Photogrammetry experience a plus
• Experience working with external outsource vendors

As a part of the PlayStation application process, candidates will be expected to provide a portfolio or demo reel of their work and may be asked to complete an art test, in addition to a phone screen.

Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, legally protected physical or mental disability, covered veteran status, status in the U.S. uniformed services, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, genetic information or membership in any other legally protected category. 

We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond. 

We sincerely appreciate the time and effort you spent in contacting us and we thank you for your interest in PlayStation.