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Substance Designer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

PlayStation Global

Senior 3D UI Artist

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

Detail Authoring in Substance - Use Substance Painter and/or Substance Designer to add surface detail, material refinement, and finishing passes to 3D assets in support of the visual target * Codex ...

Framestore

Freelance: CG - Los Angeles

Santa Monica, CA · On-site

$600 - $900/day

Maya, Houdini, Substance Designer, Substance Painter, Mari, and/or Photoshop * A working knowledge of Arnold * High level ability to produce great looking imagery across a range of styles; from photo ...

St. Joseph Center

Substance Abuse Counselor

Venice, CA · On-site

$25 - $33.50/hr

The duties and responsibilities listed are designed to provide typical examples of the work ... or substance use. * Experience and general knowledge of working with individuals who, may be ...

St. Joseph Center

Substance Abuse Counselor

Venice, CA

$25 - $33.50/hr

The duties and responsibilities listed are designed to provide typical examples of the work ... or substance use. * Experience and general knowledge of working with individuals who, may be ...

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All JobsSubstance Designer JobsSubstance Designer Jobs in California

Substance Designer information

See California salary details

$35K

$82.1K

$108.6K

How much do substance designer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 24, 2026, the average yearly pay for substance designer in California is $82,059.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $57,200.00 and $107,600.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a substance designer?

A Substance Designer is a digital artist who specializes in creating procedural textures and materials using Adobe Substance 3D Designer. They develop high-quality, customizable materials for use in game development, visual effects, and architectural visualization. Their work involves designing node-based workflows to generate textures that can be easily modified for different projects.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a substance designer?

To thrive as a Substance Designer, you need a strong background in 3D art and material creation, with proficiency in texture authoring and an understanding of PBR (Physically Based Rendering) workflows. Expertise with tools such as Adobe Substance 3D Designer, Painter, and familiarity with game engines like Unreal or Unity is highly valuable. Creativity, attention to detail, and effective communication skills are important for collaborating with art teams and delivering visually compelling materials. These skills ensure the production of high-quality, efficient assets that meet both technical and aesthetic requirements in industries like gaming, film, and visualization.

What are common challenges faced by substance designers in game development projects?

Substance Designers in game development often encounter challenges such as balancing visual quality with optimization to ensure materials perform well in real-time environments. They may also need to adapt quickly to shifting art direction and feedback from multiple stakeholders, requiring both flexibility and strong problem-solving skills. Staying updated with rapidly evolving software tools and techniques is essential to remain competitive in the industry. Collaboration with environment artists, technical artists, and developers is a regular part of the role, which makes clear communication and teamwork crucial to project success.

Is it worth learning Substance Designer?

Substance Designer is a valuable skill for roles involving procedural texturing and material creation in game development, VFX, and 3D modeling. Learning this software can enhance your ability to create complex, customizable textures and is often complemented by knowledge of other tools like Unreal Engine or Maya. It is widely used in the industry, making it a worthwhile investment for those pursuing careers in digital content creation.

What does a substance designer do?

A Substance Designer is a professional who creates procedural textures and materials using specialized software like Substance Designer. They develop realistic or stylized surface details for use in video games, films, and visual effects, often requiring skills in texturing, shading, and understanding material properties. The role involves working closely with artists and developers to ensure seamless integration into digital environments.

What are the most commonly searched types of Substance Designer jobs in California?

The most popular types of Substance Designer jobs in California are:

What are popular job titles related to Substance Designer jobs in California?

For Substance Designer jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Substance Designer jobs in California look for?

The top searched job categories for Substance Designer jobs in California are:

What cities in California are hiring for Substance Designer jobs?

Cities in California with the most Substance Designer job openings:

Substance Designer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Substance Designer job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 80% Full Time, 16% Part Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 66% Physical, 1% Hybrid, and 33% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $82,059 per year, or $39.5 per hour.

Senior 3D UI Artist

Los Angeles, CA

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE)
1 - 5K employees
Learn more about Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE)external

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision

Posted yesterday

New

Job description

Why Sony Interactive Entertainment?

Sony Interactive Entertainment isn't just the Best Place to Play - it's also the Best Place to Work. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is the company behind the PlayStation brand. As a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation, we're part of a proud legacy of innovation and excellence. SIE is a dynamic technology company, delivering cutting-edge hardware and network services to more than 100 million people and an entertainment leader, home to some of the most beloved and recognizable intellectual properties (IP) in the world. Our role at SIE is to create and nurture the experiences under the PlayStation brand, a name synonymous with entertainment excellence and creativity.


Join the award-winning team that created God of War

Santa Monica Studio is seeking an experienced Senior 3D UI Artist to join our UI team on a short-term contract basis to help bring our current project across the finish line. In this role, you will work within an established pipeline to render and capture polished 3D UI art assets, populate in-game content systems, and contribute to late-stage UI work including icon creation and photo mode support.

The ideal candidate is a self-sufficient, execution-focused 3D artist who thrives in a structured, sprint-driven environment, can hit the ground running within existing workflows, and brings the technical range to handle both rendering and hands-on asset production. Join us in creating legendary games with PlayStation.

Responsibilities
  • 3D Rendering & Asset Capture - Render and deliver final 3D UI art assets within the established capture pipeline, working efficiently within the proven loop already in place. Adapt and apply art direction as it is refined throughout production
  • Detail Authoring in Substance - Use Substance Painter and/or Substance Designer to add surface detail, material refinement, and finishing passes to 3D assets in support of the visual target
  • Codex Image Population - Capture and deliver in-game images for all Codex categories, including Gear, Bestiary entries, and Codex Category Thumbnails, ensuring consistency of framing, lighting, and presentation across all entries
  • Test Bed Image Capture - Operate within an in-engine test bed environment to capture game images for UI integration, maintaining technical quality and visual consistency throughout
  • Icon Production - Create and refine UI icons across relevant game systems, maintaining visual coherence with established style and quality standards
  • Photo Mode UI Support - Contribute UI art assets and support visual polish work related to the game's photo mode feature.
Requirements
  • 4+ years of professional experience in 3D art for games, with a focus on UI, rendering, or real-time asset production on console or PC titles
  • At least one shipped AAA game credit in a 3D art or UI art capacity
  • Strong proficiency in Substance Painter and/or Substance Designer for material authoring and detail addition
  • Demonstrated experience with 3D rendering workflows and in-engine asset capture, including familiarity with lighting setups, camera framing, and render pass organization
  • Experience working within established pipelines and capture loops, with the ability to onboard quickly and execute with minimal ramp-up time
  • Solid understanding of UI art standards, including icon design principles, image framing for UI contexts, and asset organization
  • Strong ability to work independently, self-prioritize, and deliver high-quality assets consistently within a fast-moving, deadline-driven environment
  • Proficiency in Maya, Adobe Photoshop, and standard DCC tools for post-processing and asset prep
Preferred Experience
  • Prior experience populating in-game content databases or encyclopedic systems (e.g., bestiary, codex, inventory) with rendered or captured imagery
  • Familiarity with photo mode UI systems and the asset considerations unique to that feature space
  • Experience with icon design and light visual development within a defined art direction
  • Comfort working with Art Directors and Leads in an iterative feedback loop, incorporating direction quickly and adapting to evolving creative decisions late in production
  • Background working on narrative-driven AAA titles with high visual fidelity standards

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Avoid Recruitment Scams/Phishing Attempts:

Please be aware that any official outreach in response to your application will always be done from a@sony.com email address. Always make sure to double check the spelling on Sony is correct and the characters have not been replaced with any numbers/symbols before replying.

Anyone using an email that is not @sony.com isnot affiliated with usand should bereportedeithervia the platformthey are contacting youonordirectly to your email service as a phishing attempt/scam.

At SIE, working with our partners, we consider several factors when setting each role's base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location.
Please note that the individual base pay range may vary based on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location.
In addition, this role is eligible for benefit offerings that include medical, dental, and vision. Click hereto learn more.

The estimated base pay range for this role is listed below, this is an hourly rate.
$57.98-$86.92 USD

Please note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks.

Please refer to ourCandidate Privacy Noticefor more information about what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your data protection rights.

Equal Opportunity Statement:

Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.

We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond.

Sony Interactive Entertainment is a Fair Chance employer and qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment.

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