Mighty Yeti Studios is a premier creator-owned indie animation house specializing in high-quality kids and family entertainment. We are currently in active episodic production for our flagship preschool series, Classtronauts, and are seeking a technically sophisticated Surfacing Artist to join our remote global team.

In our studio, surfacing is more than just applying textures; it is about building intelligent, sustainable systems. We prioritize a procedural-first approach to shading, focusing on the power of the Arnold shader tree to create flexible, memory-efficient, and art-directable materials. If you are an artist who prefers the logic of a node graph over the heavy footprint of massive texture maps, you will thrive in our pipeline.

At Mighty Yeti Studios, we believe in “Smart Surfacing.” In an episodic environment, speed and consistency are paramount. Our goal is to keep external texture dependencies to a minimum by leveraging Arnold’s Standard Surface and procedural nodes.

While Substance Painter remains a vital part of our workflow—particularly for hero characters and high-detail hero props—we look for artists who treat baked textures as a tactical choice rather than a default starting point. We value shader networks that are reusable, scalable, and optimized for our Linux-based render farm.

I. Procedural Shader Development

Your primary focus will be the creation of high-quality Arnold shader networks that define the look of the Classtronauts universe.

• Node-Based Mastery: Build and refine complex procedural shader networks for environments, hard-surface assets, and props. You should be an expert in using Arnold’s internal nodes (noise, utility, and math nodes) to create realistic or stylized wear, grime, and material variations.
• Layering Systems: Utilize material layering techniques (such as aiLayerRgba, aiMixShader, or custom OSL-adjacent logic) to build sophisticated surfaces that remain easy for the lighting team to adjust.
• Template Creation: Develop “Master Shaders” and templates that can be instanced across hundreds of similar assets, ensuring visual unity across an entire episode while drastically reducing setup time.

II. Technical Pipeline & Color Science

Surfacing is the bridge between modeling and lighting. Your technical precision ensures that bridge is stable.

• ACES Compliance: Work strictly within our ACES/OCIO color pipeline. You must possess a deep understanding of colorspace awareness—ensuring that your albedo values, specular weights, and utility maps are correctly interpreted by the renderer.
• Optimization: Maintain a “render-farm-first” mindset. You are responsible for ensuring your shaders don’t cause memory spikes or excessive noise. This involves understanding how to optimize sampling within the shader itself.
• Hybrid Workflows: While we favor procedurals, you will use Substance Painter selectively for character work or complex organic assets where baked UDIMs are the most efficient path forward.

III. Collaboration & Downstream Success

At Mighty Yeti, we value “pipeline-friendly” art.

• Clean Handoffs: Deliver assets that are “plug-and-play.” This means clean naming conventions for shading groups, organized node graphs, and zero orphaned nodes.
• Cross-Departmental Synergy: Collaborate with the Modeling team to ensure UVs are optimized for procedural stretching and with the Lighting team to ensure your surfaces react predictably under different HDRI and physical light setups.
• ShotGrid Integration: Maintain professional tracking of your assets via ShotGrid, ensuring that all versions are properly documented and reviewable by the Art Director.

Technical Requirements

• Arnold Expert: You should have a near-encyclopedic knowledge of the Arnold Standard Surface shader and its associated utility nodes in Maya.
• Procedural Mindset: A portfolio that showcases complex surfaces achieved through math and noise rather than just high-resolution image maps.
• Substance Proficiency: Ability to jump into Substance Painter for high-end character surfacing and export clean, ACES-compliant maps.
• UV Knowledge: Strong understanding of how UV layout affects procedural projection and material scaling.

Professional Experience

• The 3-Year Rule: A minimum of 3 years of experience in surfacing for episodic animated TV or feature films. We need artists who are used to the pace of active production.
• Independent Contractor Success: Proven ability to work remotely, manage your own time, and deliver high-quality assets on a per-assignment basis.

The “Yeti” Success Factors

• Systemic Thinker: You don’t just surface one rock; you build a “rock system” that can be applied to a thousand rocks.
• Detail Oriented: You care about the subtle “micro-surface” details that make a preschool show feel premium and tactile.
• Reliability: In an episodic pipeline, a delay in surfacing can stall lighting and compositing. We value artists who are realistic about their timelines and consistent in their delivery.