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Entry Level Animation Lighting Artist Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Technical Artist

Manhattan, NY

$139.20K - $166.60K/yr

The ideal candidate will have a thorough understanding of art and animation pipelines in general ... Lighting - Be well versed in the various lighting techniques in Unreal and instruct the artists in ...

Technical Artist

Manhattan, NY · On-site

$139.20K - $166.60K/yr

The ideal candidate will have a thorough understanding of art and animation pipelines in general ... Lighting - Be well versed in the various lighting techniques in Unreal and instruct the artists in ...

3D Artist Must Have Technical/Functional Skills • Good 3D design experience with 3DS Max or Maya ... Lighting creation and rendering • Simple Animation • Knowledge in render engines V-ray and ...

Overview: 3D Artist Must Have Technical/Functional Skills • Good 3D design experience with 3DS ... Lighting creation and rendering • Simple Animation • Knowledge in render engines V-ray and ...

Senior Technical Artist (Contractor)

Orlando, FL · On-site

$118.60K - $141.90K/yr

Work with 3D models, textures, shaders, and animations to ensure efficiency and high performance in ... Strong understanding of Unity or Unreal Engine, including lighting, shaders, materials, and ...

VFX Artist

Minneapolis, MN · Remote

$105.60K - $144K/yr

This is a fantastic opportunity for entry-level candidates eager to make their mark in a dynamic ... Degree in Animation, Graphic Design, or a related field * Basic understanding of visual effects ...

Technical Artist - Monopoly GO!

Culver City, CA · On-site +1

$139K - $166.30K/yr

Scopely is looking for a Technical Artist to serve on and elevate our casual game, Monopoly GO ... animation controllers, particle systems, timeline sequences, lighting, game logic and using ...

Teach 3D courses covering animation previsualize, animation, motion capture, lighting, rendering ... artist or designer statement (or statement of practice and creative activity) * a statement of ...

Creative Positions (Intern)

Fort Lauderdale, FL · On-site

$14.25 - $19/hr

They use their artistic and technical skills to bring characters and scenes to life through ... simultaneously. * Entry-level experience in Graphic Design, Animation, or a related field is ...

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Entry Level Animation Lighting Artist information

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$9

$24

$40

How much do entry level animation lighting artist jobs pay per hour?

As of May 30, 2026, the average hourly pay for entry level animation lighting artist in the United States is $24.65, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $17.55 and $27.88 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as an Entry Level Animation Lighting Artist, and why are they important?

To thrive as an Entry Level Animation Lighting Artist, you need a solid grasp of lighting principles, color theory, and visual storytelling, often supported by a degree or coursework in animation, fine arts, or a related field. Familiarity with industry-standard 3D software such as Maya, Houdini, or Blender, and rendering engines like Arnold or RenderMan, is typically required. Strong collaboration, attention to detail, and the ability to take creative direction are valuable soft skills in this role. These competencies ensure that lighting artists contribute effectively to the visual quality and mood of animated productions, aligning with the project's artistic vision.

What are some common challenges faced by entry level animation lighting artists, and how can they overcome them?

Entry level animation lighting artists often face challenges such as understanding the creative vision of a scene, mastering complex lighting software, and balancing technical constraints with artistic goals. It can be daunting to interpret feedback from supervisors and integrate it quickly while maintaining consistency across shots. To overcome these challenges, new artists should actively seek feedback, practice with industry-standard tools like Maya or Blender, and collaborate closely with other departments such as modeling and compositing to ensure their lighting enhances the overall story.

What does an Entry Level Animation Lighting Artist do?

An Entry Level Animation Lighting Artist is responsible for adding lighting to animated scenes to create mood, atmosphere, and visual depth. They work closely with other artists and technical teams to ensure that lighting supports the story and artistic vision of a project. Tasks often include setting up light sources, adjusting shadows, and rendering scenes while learning industry-standard software. Entry-level artists typically receive guidance from senior team members and may handle simpler shots as they build their skills. Attention to detail and a good understanding of visual storytelling are important in this role.

What is the difference between Entry Level Animation Lighting Artist vs Entry Level 3D Modeler?

AspectEntry Level Animation Lighting ArtistEntry Level 3D Modeler
Required SkillsLighting techniques, rendering, basic animation principlesModeling, topology, texturing
Work EnvironmentVFX studios, game development, animation studiosGame studios, animation studios, VFX companies
Common CertificationsBasic 3D software proficiency (Maya, Blender)3D modeling certifications, software proficiency
Industry UsageUsed in lighting scenes and visual effectsUsed in creating 3D assets and characters

While both roles require proficiency in 3D software and are employed in similar industries, the Entry Level Animation Lighting Artist focuses on lighting and rendering to enhance visual scenes, whereas the Entry Level 3D Modeler specializes in creating 3D assets and models. Understanding these distinctions helps job seekers target the right roles based on their skills and career goals.

More about Entry Level Animation Lighting Artist jobs
What cities are hiring for Entry Level Animation Lighting Artist jobs? Cities with the most Entry Level Animation Lighting Artist job openings:
What are the most commonly searched types of Animation Lighting Artist jobs? The most popular types of Animation Lighting Artist jobs are:
What states have the most Entry Level Animation Lighting Artist jobs? States with the most job openings for Entry Level Animation Lighting Artist jobs include:
What job categories do people searching Entry Level Animation Lighting Artist jobs look for? The top searched job categories for Entry Level Animation Lighting Artist jobs are:
Infographic showing various Entry Level Animation Lighting Artist job openings in the United States as of May 2026, with employment types broken down into 17% Internship, 49% Full Time, 17% Part Time, and 17% Contract. Highlights an 100% In-person job distribution, with an average salary of $51,263 per year, or $24.6 per hour.
Technical Artist - High Moon Studios

Technical Artist - High Moon Studios

Activision Blizzard, Inc.

Carlsbad, CA • On-site

$131.70K - $157.70K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Posted 7 days ago


Activision Blizzard rating

8.9

Company rating: 8.9 out of 10

Based on 7 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

4th of 64 rated media


Job description

Job Title:
Technical Artist - High Moon Studios
Requisition ID:
R027379
Job Description:
Great Games Start with Great People! This is a significant time in our company's history - and one of the most exciting times to join us! We are seeking an imaginative, skillful, and versatile Technical Artist to join our team in Carlsbad, California. If you want to work with a fun, collaborative team on the world's most popular game franchises, then this may be the position you've been waiting for!
As a Technical Artist at High Moon you'll be joining a team that's passionate about high-quality content creation, who think outside the box, and are dedicated to creating optimal pipeline and optimization tools in different areas of content development. The areas of content development can be physically correct art development, lighting and shaders, rigging, animation, or effects.
Our team is a multidisciplinary group serving as a bridge between art, design, and engineering. We provide our teams with effective implementation tools, complex assets templates, and final content which must not only meet the high-quality standard but also be optimized to be as efficient as possible. Our team is also responsible for analyzing content performance, advise on, and provide processes to ensure the final content runs at the expected frame rate.
This role is based in our Carlsbad, CA office and follows an onsite work schedule of four days per week. Work arrangements may change at the company's discretion to meet business needs.
What you'll do...
  • Help define the technical quality standards, overseeing the development of art pipelines
  • Contribute to the development of artistic techniques and processes utilized to define and achieve a product's visual style and encourage artistic technical evolution within the studio
  • Provides input on the technical methods to achieve the artistic goals and vision through all phases of the game development cycle
  • Create tools and processes that assist in authoring environment art, VFX, destruction simulations, animation, lighting, and post process effects
  • Stays current on industry standard content creation tools and techniques
  • Create and maintain technical documentation
  • Work with other tech artists/engineers to identify and implement art-pipeline optimizations and to create technical benchmarks to be used in production
  • Offer technical support to the art team in day-by-day production issues
  • Assist in game profiling and generating report to help content creators get their assets within budget

To succeed you should have...
  • 5+ years' experience working in technical art or technical animation roles
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills catering to engineers and artists as needed
  • Thorough knowledge of content creation tools with the ability to create both content and tools to expedite content creation, these can include Photoshop, Maya, Max, Houdini, Substance Designer, etc.
  • Excellent time management skills, with the ability to break down tasks and assignments and prioritize them into workable pieces on a daily, weekly basis
  • Object oriented software design skills using Python, C#, C++, or similar languages.
  • Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent work experience

We'd love it if you also have...
  • Working knowledge of linear algebra (vector math) as it pertains to 3d environments
  • Programming experience in Python and C++
  • Experience building Houdini assets

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! At Activision Blizzard, we are committed to crafting a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.
High Moon Studios
Founded in 2002, High Moon Studios is an award-winning studio developing for the Call of Duty® franchise, with past development on over 15 titles including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Black Ops Cold War and Warzone 2.0, Bungie's Destiny 2: Forsaken, and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. We employ more than 170 people in Carlsbad, CA, a seaside city in San Diego County.
Our pride is our people and the experiences we have optimally crafted for our fans. High Moon's talent is comprised of gifted entertainment and technology professionals responsible for some of the most successful games ever made. We have award-winning developers, published artists and specialists recognized as among the best in their fields. Our studio has a history of using innovative techniques crafted to boost efficiency and product quality, which in turn enhances our studio's quality of life.
High Moon Studios is wholly owned by Activision. To learn more about our studio, please visit us at www.highmoonstudios.com.
Our World
At Activision, we strive to create the most iconic brands in gaming and entertainment. We're driven by our mission to deliver unrivaled gaming experiences for the world to enjoy, together. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, Crash Bandicoot™, Tony Hawk's™ Pro Skater™, and Guitar Hero®. As a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and products, our "press start" is simple: delight hundreds of millions of players around the world with innovative, fun, thrilling, and engaging entertainment experiences.
We're not just looking back at our decades-long legacy; we're forging ahead to keep advancing gameplay with some of the most popular titles and sophisticated technology in the world. We have bold ambitions to create the most inclusive company as we know our success comes from the passionate, creative, and diverse teams within our organization.
We're in the business of delivering fun and unforgettable entertainment for our player community to enjoy. And our future opportunities have never been greater - this could be your opportunity to level up.
Ready to Activate Your Future?
We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.
We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to accommodationrequests@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.
Rewards
We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for 'Every World' - we've got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:
  • Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
  • 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
  • Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
  • Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
  • If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.
In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $29.81 - $55.14 Hourly. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role's range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.

Activision Blizzard logo

About Activision Blizzard

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™ and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

Industry

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

Company size

5,001 - 10,000 Employees

Headquarters location

Santa Monica, CA, US

Year founded

2008

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