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Senior Digital Matte Painter Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Magnopus

AI Artist

Los Angeles, CA

$100K - $160K/yr

A background in compositing, digital matte painting, LookDev, animation or another relevant production art discipline. * Experience delivering visual assets within feature film, VFX, AAA game, or ...

Magnopus

AI Artist

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

$100K - $160K/yr

A background in compositing, digital matte painting, LookDev, animation or another relevant production art discipline. * Experience delivering visual assets within feature film, VFX, AAA game, or ...

TheLab

Compositing Artist

Manhattan, NY · On-site

$150K/yr

Paint & cleanup * Matte extraction * Color grading * Digital photography principles * Render pass integration Color Management * ACES * OCIO * Linear workflow * HDR imaging Emerging Technologies * AI ...

TheLab

Compositing Artist

Manhattan, NY · On-site

Paint & cleanup * Matte extraction * Color grading * Digital photography principles * Render pass integration Color Management * ACES * OCIO * Linear workflow * HDR imaging Emerging Technologies * AI ...

TheLab

Compositing Artist

Manhattan, NY · On-site

Paint & cleanup * Matte extraction * Color grading * Digital photography principles * Render pass integration Color Management * ACES * OCIO * Linear workflow * HDR imaging Emerging Technologies * AI ...

thelab

Compositing Artist

Manhattan, NY · On-site

Paint & cleanup * Matte extraction * Color grading * Digital photography principles * Render pass integration Color Management * ACES * OCIO * Linear workflow * HDR imaging Emerging Technologies * AI ...

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Senior Digital Matte Painter information

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How much do senior digital matte painter jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 9, 2026, the average hourly pay for senior digital matte painter in the United States is $51.33, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $41.11 and $53.85 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a senior digital matte painter?

To thrive as a Senior Digital Matte Painter, you need advanced skills in digital painting, a strong understanding of perspective, lighting, and composition, and typically a degree in art or a related field. Mastery of tools such as Adobe Photoshop, 3D software like Maya or Blender, and compositing programs like Nuke is essential. Creativity, attention to detail, and the ability to collaborate effectively with VFX teams are key soft skills. These abilities are crucial for producing realistic backgrounds and environments that seamlessly integrate into visual effects for films, television, or games.

What is the difference between Senior Digital Matte Painter vs Digital Matte Painter?

AspectSenior Digital Matte PainterDigital Matte Painter
Required CredentialsTypically requires 5+ years experience, advanced skills, and portfolioEntry to mid-level experience, basic to intermediate skills
Work EnvironmentFilm, TV, high-end visual effects studiosSimilar environments, often as junior or mid-level artists
Employer & Industry UsageUsed in major studios for complex projectsUsed across various production levels, including freelance work
Comparison Search IntentOften searched for career progression or senior rolesOften searched for entry-level or general roles

The main difference between a Senior Digital Matte Painter and a Digital Matte Painter lies in experience, skill level, and project complexity. Senior Digital Matte Painters have extensive experience, handle more complex tasks, and often lead projects, while Digital Matte Painters are typically entry to mid-level artists working on foundational tasks.

How does a senior digital matte painter typically collaborate with other departments in a visual effects studio?

As a Senior Digital Matte Painter, you will work closely with various departments such as compositing, 3D modeling, lighting, and visual effects supervisors. Effective communication is essential, as your matte paintings often serve as the backdrop for scenes and must integrate seamlessly with 3D assets and live-action footage. Collaboration involves attending review sessions, receiving feedback, and making adjustments to ensure continuity and visual coherence. This role often requires balancing artistic vision with technical requirements, making teamwork and adaptability important for success.

What does a senior digital matte painter do?

A Senior Digital Matte Painter is responsible for creating highly detailed digital backgrounds and environments for films, television shows, and video games. They use specialized software to blend 2D and 3D elements seamlessly, ensuring that the digital landscapes match the visual style and lighting of the live-action footage. In addition to painting static backgrounds, they may also work on animated or moving matte paintings as required by the project. Senior Digital Matte Painters often collaborate closely with visual effects supervisors, art directors, and other VFX artists to achieve the desired look and feel for a scene.
What cities are hiring for Senior Digital Matte Painter jobs? Cities with the most Senior Digital Matte Painter job openings:
What are the most commonly searched types of Digital Matte Painter jobs? The most popular types of Digital Matte Painter jobs are:
What states have the most Senior Digital Matte Painter jobs? States with the most job openings for Senior Digital Matte Painter jobs include:
Senior Digital Matte Painter jobs near you

AI Artist

Magnopus

Los Angeles, CA

$100K - $160K/yr

Full-time

Posted 10 days ago

Job description

Magnopus is looking for an AI Artist to create high-quality, photorealistic imagery and motion content for a major new project.

As a spatial design and innovation company, we work at the intersection of technology, creativity and emerging experiences. Our teams bring together artists, engineers, designers and producers to create visionary work using both established production techniques and rapidly evolving technologies.

In this role, you'll combine a strong artistic eye with hands-on experience using generative AI tools to create and refine characters, environments and motion assets for production.

You'll work with image and video generative AI tools, node-based workflows and more conventional creative techniques to take work from initial generation through iteration and refinement to production-ready output.

This is first and foremost an artist role. We're looking for someone with excellent visual judgement who can use generative AI effectively as part of their creative toolkit, working within innovative workflows to deliver consistently high-quality results.

Contract
This is an initial fixed-term project hire through the end of September 2026, with an anticipated extension through February 2027, subject to project requirements.
Location
This role requires working onsite at our Downtown Los Angeles studio five days per week. The project is highly collaborative and fast-moving, with the team working closely together in person throughout production.
What you'll do
  • Create feature-film quality character elements, environments and motion assets for use in production.
  • Use generative AI image and video tools to create, explore and iterate visual ideas against a clear creative brief.
  • Work within node-based generative AI workflows to generate and refine production assets.
  • Use conditioning and control techniques to shape composition, pose, character consistency and overall visual style.
  • Create and refine image-to-video, video-to-video and other generative motion outputs, maintaining visual quality and consistency across sequences.
  • Adjust lighting, perspective, composition and other visual elements using multimodal editing tools and established creative techniques.
  • Identify and correct artifacts, inconsistencies and other visual issues in generated content.
  • Perform light compositing, paint and finishing work where needed to deliver polished, production-ready assets.
  • Collaborate with other artists, technical artists and production teams to maintain the creative vision and quality of the project.
  • Test emerging tools and techniques, providing feedback to help improve the workflows used by the wider team.
What will help you succeed in this role
  • A strong artistic foundation and excellent visual judgement, particularly when creating photorealistic imagery.
  • Strong professional experience creating high-quality visual content within film, VFX, animation, games or another relevant creative production environment.
  • Hands-on experience using generative AI tools to create and refine high-quality, photorealistic imagery.
  • Experience using node-based generative AI workflows such as ComfyUI or similar graph-based tools.
  • Experience using conditioning and control techniques within generative AI workflows to manage composition, pose, character and stylistic consistency.
  • Strong hands-on experience with generative video tools, including image-to-video and video-to-video workflows.
  • A strong understanding of composition, lighting, color, perspective, camera and lens characteristics, continuity and visual consistency.
  • The ability to critically evaluate generated output, identify visual issues and iterate efficiently towards a clear creative target.
  • Experience refining generated assets using multimodal editing tools, compositing, digital painting or similar techniques.
  • A strong portfolio demonstrating high-quality visual work across generative imagery and motion content.
  • The ability to collaborate effectively with artists, technical artists and production teams in a fast-moving production environment.
 
Even better if you also have
  • A background in compositing, digital matte painting, LookDev, animation or another relevant production art discipline.
  • Experience delivering visual assets within feature film, VFX, AAA game, or another high-end production environment.
  • Experience working with rapidly evolving generative AI tools and adapting established creative workflows as new capabilities emerge.
Think you could be a great fit?
If you have strong artistic experience, hands-on expertise with generative AI image and video workflows, and believe you could make an immediate impact on the project, we'd love to hear from you.
$100,000 - $160,000 a year
About Magnopus

Magnopus is an experience-focused technology company founded by a team of Oscar-winning artists, designers and engineers from the worlds of film, games and immersive media.

We create experiences that bring together storytelling, creativity and technology in new ways - from immersive attractions and interactive installations to virtual production, spatial computing, AI-powered experiences and emerging technologies. Our work helps some of the world's most recognisable brands and organisations connect with audiences in ways that weren't previously possible.

We've built experiences for millions of people around the world and continue to explore what's possible at the intersection of creativity, technology and human connection.

Though we've delivered a lot of incredible work, here are just a few examples you can explore yourself:

 
Metallica: Music Experience in UEFN
Mission: ISS
Alo Moves XR
World of Fallout
Daft Punk Experience, Fortnite
The Wizard of Oz at Sphere

We're proud of the work we create, but we're equally proud of how we create it. Magnopus is built around collaboration, curiosity and respect. We believe great ideas can come from anywhere, and we strive to create an environment where talented people can learn, grow and do some of the best work of their careers.

You'll join a multidisciplinary team of artists, designers, engineers, producers and technologists who specialise in bringing ambitious ideas to life. Studio work at Magnopus is varied, collaborative and often unlike anything you've worked on before, giving you the opportunity to contribute to projects that push creative and technical boundaries.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process - for example, to transcribe interviews and generate summaries. These tools are not used to review applications or analyse resumes, and they do not replace human judgement. All hiring decisions are made by people. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.
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