MPC Motion
Picture VFX

Crafting photorealistic surfaces
for Hollywood VFX

At MPC (Moving Picture Company), I worked as a LookDev Artist responsible for developing the visual surface quality of hero CG assets destined for major film productions. LookDev sits at the intersection of art and technical craft — translating a director's creative vision into physically accurate, render-ready materials that hold up under the scrutiny of a cinema screen.

My workflow centered on Mari for high-resolution texture painting and Katana for look development and lighting. Working with Arnold as the primary renderer, I was responsible for dialing in physically based shading networks that behaved correctly across a wide range of lighting scenarios — from hard sunlight to complex interior bounce lighting, ensuring consistency with on-set lighting data and VFX supervisor approvals.

Each asset went through multiple rounds of review with VFX Supervisors and Compositing leads, requiring close attention to how materials interacted with the live-action plate. Getting subsurface scattering, specular response, and micro-surface detail exactly right was critical to seamless integration.

Key Contributions

• Hero asset texture painting in Mari — high-resolution diffuse, specular, and displacement maps
• Katana-based look development and shading network construction for Arnold renderer
• Physically based material development ensuring consistency across varied lighting rigs
• Subsurface scattering and micro-detail shading for organic and hard-surface assets
• Close collaboration with Lighting and Compositing teams for seamless plate integration
• Iterative asset reviews with VFX Supervisors — incorporating notes and refining to approval
• Contributed to internal LookDev pipeline documentation and shader library standards