Senior Previs Artist (Generalist)

About ILM

Founded by George Lucas, ILM is the leading effects facility in the world, with studios located in San Francisco, Vancouver, London, Sydney and Mumbai. ILM has created visual effects for over 325 feature films and has played a key role in seven of the top 10 worldwide box-office hits of all time and has contributed to 25 of the top 50. ILM has set the standard for visual effects, creating some of the most stunning images in the history of film. At the forefront of the digital revolution, the company continues to break new ground in visual effects, VR, AR, and Immersive Cinema. You can see some of our current projects here.

Position Summary

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Senior Previs Artist with a strong generalist background and a critical focus on Unreal Engine to join our visualisation team. 

This role is essential for helping the Director and Cinematographer establish the creative vision, shot design, and technical feasibility of complex sequences early in the production pipeline. The ideal candidate excels in rapid iteration, has a keen eye for cinematic storytelling, and possesses the technical generalist skills (modeling, texturing, basic environment setup) needed to build and modify assets quickly.

What will you be doing?

• Previsualisation & Post-visualisation: Work directly with the Director and key creative leadership to translate storyboards, scripts, and creative concepts into dynamic, fully realised 3D sequences

• Scene Layout and Cinematography: Design and animate camera work, blocking, and staging to establish clear action, narrative flow, and emotional intent

• Generalist Asset Creation: Rapidly model, texture, and rig basic environment, prop, and character assets necessary for shot completion

• Unreal Environment Setup: Set up, optimise, and manage preliminary environments, lighting, and set extensions within Unreal Engine to define the scale and mood of a sequence for visualization and immediate review

• Technical Implementation: Maintain continuity and technical accuracy by incorporating practical set dimensions, camera lens data, and virtual production requirements

• Pipeline and Workflow: Establish and adhere to efficient workflows for asset iteration, scene versioning, and export to facilitate handoff to downstream departments (e.g., Layout, Post-vis)

• Mentorship: Provide guidance and feedback to junior artists, helping to elevate the overall quality and efficiency of the Previs team

What we’re looking for:

• Experience: 5+ years of experience working as a Previs, Post-vis, or Layout Artist in feature film, high-end television, or AAA game cinematics

• Cinematic Literacy: Knowledge of visual storytelling, film language, cinematic composition, camera movement, and editing principles.

• Software Proficiency:

  • Autodesk Maya (Proficient in animation, camera, and scene assembly)

  • High proficiency with modeling and texturing tools within common 3d packages (e.g.Maya, Blender, Substance Painter, ZBrush, or similar)

  • Unreal Engine Able to assemble an aesthetically pleasing environment, manage levels and sequencer, and ensure all assets are correctly imported

• Generalist Skills: Demonstrated ability to quickly create low-to-mid resolution 3D assets (props, geometry, basic character adjustments) that are clean and suitable for scene assembly

• Technical Acumen: Deep understanding of camera settings (lenses, focal length, depth of field), motion principles, and scene scale

• Communication: Excellent verbal and visual communication skills, with the ability to take complex feedback and rapidly iterate on shots or sequences

• Experience with motion capture integration and cleanup.

• Familiarity with scripting or coding (Python/MEL) to streamline workflows

• Previous experience in Virtual Production (VP) environments.

• Expertise in advanced lighting and look development within a real-time engine.