Freelance: Houdini Lighting & Look Dev TD

Job Position(s): Freelance: Houdini Lighting & Look Dev TD

Framestore is staffing a Freelance Houdini Lighting and Look Dev TD for their New York team, with the engagement running from approximately January 2027 through March 2027. This role sits within the CG department and is responsible for building physically plausible lighting environments and defining the surface qualities of assets that carry a shot from raw render to finished, believable image. It suits a TD who moves comfortably between the technical and artistic sides of the VFX pipeline and has a track record delivering high-quality work under production deadlines.

About the Role

The Houdini Lighting and Look Dev TD works inside Framestore’s New York VFX pipeline, collaborating daily with CG Supervisors, Sequence Leads, and adjacent departments to pull individual shot elements into cohesive final frames. The position is freelance and covers a focused three-month window on active production, meaning the work is deadline-driven and the feedback loops are short. Remote work within the United States is acceptable, though hybrid is encouraged and candidates should expect occasional on-site requests, making New York area availability a genuine advantage.

Key Responsibilities

• Assemble CG scenes by pulling the correct versioned assets from upstream departments and ensuring all elements are properly integrated before lighting begins.
• Light individual shots according to briefs from the VFX Supervisor, CG Supervisor, or Sequence Lead, maintaining consistency across a sequence.
• Build new lighting setups and iterate on existing rigs to match onset reference material and supervisor direction.
• Troubleshoot rendering performance and efficiency issues within Arnold Render, finding solutions that keep the shot on track without sacrificing image quality.
• Maintain ongoing communication with Production and Supervisors to flag technical issues, report progress, and stay aligned with the production schedule.
• Meet all set deadlines while holding the quality bar expected of a senior VFX post-production workflow at a facility of Framestore’s level.

What You Bring

• Demonstrated experience as a Lighting and Look Dev TD within a VFX pipeline, with credits on feature film production, episodic television, or comparable high-end content.
• Proficiency in Houdini as a primary working environment for lighting and look development tasks.
• Hands-on experience with Arnold Render, including optimization and troubleshooting in a production context.
• Strong working knowledge of the broader CG pipeline and how lighting and look dev interact with modeling, rigging, FX, and compositing departments.
• Valid US work authorization at time of hire, with no sponsorship available for this engagement.

Why This Role

Framestore is one of the most consistently credited VFX studios in the industry, with a New York presence that works across major feature film and episodic television productions. For a Freelance Houdini Lighting and Look Dev TD, this engagement offers direct access to experienced supervisors and a production environment where the craft is taken seriously. The contract timeline is defined and the scope is focused, which suits a TD who wants concentrated, high-quality work rather than an open-ended engagement.

Apply now for the Freelance Houdini Lighting and Look Dev TD role at Framestore and bring your lighting and look development work to one of the industry’s most recognized VFX houses.