Concept artists take the first step toward realizing the vision of the story, translating ideas from words on the page into tangible visuals — illustrating key elements of films, video games, animation, and a lot more.

3D Modelers use geometry and computers to transform flat, two-dimensional objects like characters, creatures, and vehicles into three-dimensional models designed to live inside the story’s realized environment.

Look Development [Look Dev] Artists are responsible for developing the look and feel of 3D models. Their texture mapping work focuses on defining details from surface textures to colors.

Rigging is where 3D models meet motion — establishing an architecture of interconnected parts [“bones”] to collectively form a skeleton with a hierarchy of controls that work together to bring objects to life with movement.

3D Generalists create life-like scenes and landscapes, often filling a variety of roles by leveraging their expertise in lighting, look development, modeling, and texturing — affording 3D generalists the opportunity to produce an entire shot themselves.

Layout Artists develop how and where the things we see on-screen are placed by recreating live-action set-ups in a computer-generated environment. Their animated cameras within those CG environments help shape objects and landscape movements to provide a template for how a scene will be shot.

Motion Capture — sometimes referred to as mo-cap or mocap — is the process of digitally recording movements of actors on a stage to be translated into computer software, and translated onto computer-generated characters and creatures on-screen.

3D Animators take the elements built during modeling and rigging and manipulate them in concert in order to bring characters to life, allowing those previously inanimate objects to emote and act in a realistic way.

Lighting adds context and realism to scenes, often used to evoke emotion and set the mood. Lighting is also what helps seamlessly blend elements like computer-generated characters and objects into live-action scenes. 

FX Artists utilize their deep technical and aesthetic knowledge to recreate atmospheric elements on-screen — from the natural [fire, water, wind, and smoke] to the fantastical [hyperspace, fairy dust, and portals to other worlds].