Company: Waterproof Studios

Lighting Artist Job Summary Position Title Unreal Engine Lighting Artist Company Waterproof Studios Location / Eligibility North American Applicants Only Core Engine Unreal Engine 5 (Lumen / Path Tracer) Primary Focus Photorealistic Cinematic Lighting & Mood Composition Key Skillsets Color Theory, Technical Optimization, Visual Storytelling Company Overview At Waterproof Studios, we are masters of cutting-edge digital storytelling. We blend the boundary between traditional cinematic quality and real-time innovation to create breathtaking, immersive experiences. Our pipeline thrives on pushing technology to its limits, and our team is made up of passionate industry veterans who live for the details. We are currently seeking a visionary Unreal Engine Lighting Artist to join our elite cinematics team. If you are an artist who understands how to transform a raw 3D environment into a stunning, emotionally charged masterpiece using the power of light, shadow, and color, we want to build something incredible with you. The Role We are looking for a Lighter who does not just illuminate a scene, but breathes life and narrative purpose into it. In this role, you will be responsible for crafting stunning, photorealistic lighting that elevates our cinematic storytelling to AAA feature standards. Light is the ultimate storytelling tool; it guides the viewer’s eye, establishes the passage of time, and dictates the emotional weight of a scene. Working within Unreal Engine 5, you will take beautifully animated and modeled scenes and shape them into final, polished cinematic frames. You will collaborate closely with Art Directors, Technical Directors, and Compositing Leads to establish the definitive look and feel of our projects. Key Responsibilities Cinematic Lighting Design: Create compelling, photorealistic lighting setups for characters and environments within Unreal Engine 5, ensuring visual consistency across entire sequences. Narrative Continuity: Maintain a strong understanding of story beats to ensure that the lighting dynamically supports the mood, tension, and focus of the cinematic narrative. Mastery of UE5 Features: Leverage advanced Unreal Engine 5 rendering features—including Lumen, traditional baked lighting pipelines, and the Path Tracer—to achieve the highest possible visual fidelity. Technical Optimization: Collaboration is key. You will optimize lighting setups, manage render settings, and troubleshoot technical pipeline issues to ensure smooth playback and efficient render times. Post-Process & Color Grading: Fine-tune post-processing volumes, exposure settings, atmospheric effects, and basic color grading within the engine to deliver a polished, filmic final product. What We Are Looking For To truly excel in this position, you must bring a high level of proficiency and an uncompromising artistic eye to the following areas: Unreal Engine 5 Mastery: Deep, hands-on experience navigating UE5’s lighting architecture. You understand how to manipulate light types, reflection captures, and global illumination to achieve photorealism. Cinematic Eye for Composition: A sophisticated understanding of traditional film cinematography, including three-point lighting, color theory, value contrast, and atmospheric perspective. Photorealistic Aesthetic: A portfolio demonstrating a keen eye for real-world references—understanding how light interacts with different material properties, surfaces, and skin textures. Problem-Solving Mindset: The ability to balance artistic ambition with technical constraints, finding creative workarounds to keep scenes optimized without losing visual quality. Submission Requirements & Eligibility Important Note: This position is strictly open to North American Applicants only. Please ensure you meet this geographic requirement before applying. To apply, please submit your resume alongside a link to your current lighting portfolio or showreel. Your reel should showcase: High-end cinematic lighting examples demonstrating a strong grasp of mood, depth, and photorealism. Before-and-after breakdowns (gray-shaded vs. lit renders) to clearly highlight your specific lighting contributions. A diverse range of environments and characters, displaying flexibility in both interior, exterior, daytime, and stylized/moody setups. If you are ready to shape the look of next-generation real-time cinematics, apply to Waterproof Studios today!

Unreal Engine 5 Job Summary Position Title Realtime FX Artist Company Waterproof Studios Location / Eligibility North American Applicants Only Core Engine Unreal Engine 5 (Niagara) Primary Focus AAA-Quality Real-Time Visual Effects & Simulation Key Software Assets Houdini, EmberGen, Photoshop/Substance Company Overview At Waterproof Studios, we are masters of cutting-edge digital storytelling. We blend the boundary between traditional cinematic quality and real-time innovation to create breathtaking, immersive experiences. Our pipeline thrives on pushing technology to its limits, and our team is made up of passionate industry veterans who live for the details. We are currently looking for a highly skilled, visionary Realtime FX Artist who specializes in Unreal Engine 5 to join our elite creative crew. If you are an artist who loves the intersection of technical logic and stunning visual artistry, we want to build something incredible with you. The Role Waterproof Studios is seeking an artist to craft AAA-quality real-time visual effects that don’t just sit in a scene, but actively elevate our cinematic narratives. In this role, you won’t just be placing stock assets; you will be authoring bespoke, jaw-dropping phenomena. From massive, chaotic explosive simulations to the subtle, ambient atmospheric dust that grounds an entire environment, your work will define the mood, weight, and energy of our projects. You will work closely with Art Directors, Technical Directors, and Cinematic Leads to ensure all FX integrate seamlessly into the final frame while maintaining optimal real-time performance. Key Responsibilities as a Unreal Engine 5 FX Artist VFX Design & Implementation: Design, author, and implement high-fidelity real-time FX using Unreal Engine 5’s Niagara system, matching the aesthetic and scale of AAA cinematic projects. Simulation & Baking: Utilize external simulation tools to generate complex fluid, smoke, fire, and destruction data, baking them efficiently into real-time formats (flipbooks, vector fields, static meshes). Material & Shader Creation: Write and optimize complex HLSL/node-based shaders within Unreal Engine to drive dynamic, responsive visual effects. Environmental Artistry: Craft rich ambient atmospheric elements—such as fog, weather systems, embers, and magical energies—that enhance world-building and composition. Performance Optimization: Collaborate with the technical team to profile and optimize FX assets, ensuring they hit rigid real-time performance targets without compromising visual integrity. What We Are Looking For To truly excel in this position, you must bring a high level of proficiency and technical curiosity to the following areas: Unreal Engine 5 Mastery: Absolute fluency in UE5 is a strict requirement. You must have deep, hands-on experience navigating its rendering pipeline and maximizing the Niagara framework. Advanced Toolset Knowledge: While the final output lives in Unreal, strong proficiency in Houdini and EmberGen is incredibly valuable. We look highly upon artists who leverage these tools for advanced physics, pyro, and fluid simulations. Cinematic Eye: A sophisticated understanding of timing, scale, weight, color theory, and lighting. You know how to make an impact look devastating and a magical flare look organic. Problem-Solving Mindset: The ability to look at a complex creative request and figure out the smartest, most efficient technical route to achieve it in real time. Submission Requirements & Eligibility Important Note: This position is strictly open to North American Applicants only. Please ensure you meet this geographic requirement before applying. To apply, please submit your resume alongside a link to your current FX reel. Your reel should showcase: High-end, real-time FX work demonstrating a mix of both simulation (pyro/destruction) and stylized ambient work. Clear breakdowns detailing your exact workflow, including software used (e.g., Houdini to UE5 pipeline). Examples demonstrating an eye for cinematic composition and realistic physics. If you are ready to craft the future of real-time cinematics, apply to Waterproof Studios today!