DMP Lead - Feature Animation

For more than 35 years, Bardel Entertainment has led the animation industry through unwavering commitment to quality, creativity, and innovation. We are an internationally recognized, Emmy Award®-winning studio – in two prominent Canadian cities, Vancouver and Montreal – and the creative force behind top audience hits such as The Dragon Prince, Rick and Morty, Teen Titans Go!, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. 

As the Matte Painting Lead, you will be responsible for overseeing and executing the creation of stunning digital matte paintings that seamlessly blend with computer-generated environments. Your creative vision and technical expertise will be vital in shaping the visual direction of our project. You will work closely with the CG Supervisor, Art Director, and the Matte Painting team to ensure the highest quality and artistic integrity of our work. 

What you’ll be doing: 

• Lead the DMP team in delivering high-quality digital environments, ensuring creative and technical excellence in the style of the production. There will be regular reviews with both Directors and Supervisors that you should be comfortable with leading alongside the CG supervisor. 
• Create render base for painting overs.  
• Detail-match shots that might require touch up.  
• Help build an on-going library of painted elements that could be used for multiple matte paintings.  
• To work towards and foster a collaborative approach with the team and department - with this in mind paintings can be a team effort.  
• Have a solid understanding of the technical aspects of our matte paintings and various types.  
• Ensure the paintings meet the technical requirements for each show, with special attention to colour space management and conversion.  
• Work closely with the lighting, compositing and layout departments to ensure seamless integration of matte paintings with the rendered sequences.  
• Understand and adhere to technical specifications for the integration into the feature pipeline.  
• You will be working within a Photoshop-Nuke environment so in-depth knowledge of each package is essential.  
• The DMP workflow is supported by Pipeline, but the ability to script or provide insight for new show tools will be required. 
• You will be working under the show CG supervisors and have a small team of DMP artists. 
• Actively contribute to the creation of DMP assets, including hands-on execution of matte paintings and cycloramas. As such you will need to be comfortable balancing leadership duties with hands-on production work. 
• Collaborate closely with environment artists, layout, and compositing to integrate DMP seamlessly into the pipeline. 
• USD workflow experience would be helpful but not essential for the role. 

What you’ll bring: 

• 7+ years experience working on fully animated or hybrid feature films. 
• 2+ years experience in a lead role in fully animated or hybrid feature films.
• Expert level in Photoshop and Nuke; Working knowledge in Blender; Maya and Houdini knowledge is a plus.
• Experience / interest in developing procedural environments workflows.
• Strong artistic skills in digital matte paintings.
• Art background with an emphasis on environments is desirable.
• Understanding of a 2.5D workflow and an overall knowledge of an animation pipeline from assets to comp.
• Good problem solving and optimization abilities, able to work independently on a sequence.
• Able to get artistic directions and be part of a team.

Location: Only candidates based in BC or QC will be considered.

Start: ASAP

Pay Range: CAD $2,000 - $2,500 per week   

This salary range provided reflects our current expectations for these roles as of this posting’s date. Your final salary offer will consider various key factors, including your education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographical location, as well as the needs and requirements of the business. 

Flexible work environment, Extended Health and Wellness from day 1, RRSP matching are just some of the benefits. For more details, check out our website. 

If this seems like a good fit, what are you waiting for, get your application in!