3D Artist

Studio Iowa is seeking a 3D Artist to join our multidisciplinary creative team.  This is a full time, in-person, permanent position located at our office in Des Moines, Iowa.  As the ideal candidate for this position, you will have a demonstrated ability to craft polished industrial or mechanical renderings and animations. Candidates must have a proven background as a 3D generalist, with experience in hard surface modeling, photo-realistic lighting and materials, and a familiarity and understanding of modern render engines.

The ideal candidate also possesses a curiosity about how things work, and is able to quickly absorb and communicate complex technical concepts.

We aren’t just seeking a technical operator; we need you to be a visual storyteller. You will be responsible for look development, taking raw CAD files or concepts and turning them into polished visuals. While you will work in a "siloed" pipeline - owning your visuals from start to finish on 3D projects, you will often collaborate closely with our tight-knit team to ensure your work integrates seamlessly into larger video productions.

In addition to a primary focus as a 3D artist, the ideal candidate will be able to context shift to other projects as the workload demands, including real-time visualization and interactive experience design (via Unreal Engine, TouchDesigner, or other technologies) or non-3D motion graphics projects. While demonstrated experience with these technologies is not required, any experience and/or a willingness to learn them is helpful.

Responsibilities

• 3D Production: Model, texture, light, and render photorealistic industrial/manufacturing products and environments using  3ds Max.
• Look Development: Define the visual style of a project, from material properties to cinematic lighting environments.
• Motion Graphics: Design and animate high-level 2D/3D graphics in After Effects to support technical storytelling.
• Creative Contribution:  Actively participate in brainstorming and ideation sessions, working with team members to identify visual solutions that meet client objectives.
• Collaborative Handoff: Package and deliver assets (renders, overlays, and animations) that are optimized for editors to drop into Premiere Pro sequences.
• CAD Conversion: Translate engineering data into animation-ready 3D models.
• Quality Control: Ensure all technical renders meet the high aesthetic standards of Studio Iowa and our clients.

Requirements

• Experience: 4–7+ years of professional experience as a 3D artist. Professional-level proficiency in 3ds Max is strongly preferred. Candidates experienced in other major 3D applications (e.g., Cinema 4D, Maya) are welcome, but must be willing and able to rapidly transition to the Studio Iowa 3ds Max/V-Ray pipeline.
• Understanding of principles of technical animation, including rigging techniques, scene optimization, and management of large datasets.
• A portfolio demonstrating mastery of hard surface modeling, lighting, and texturing for industrial or product-based 3D.
• After Effects: High-level motion design skills, including typography
• Adobe Suite: Basic knowledge of Premiere, Illustrator, and Photoshop for cross-platform collaboration and asset preparation.
• Strong technical problem-solving skillset
• Pipeline Literacy: Experience working with modern render engines (e.g., V-Ray,) and understanding of how to export multi-pass renders for compositing.
• Independence: Ability to manage your own workflow and deadlines while working to support a larger team goal.
• Communication: Strong ability to explain technical 3D concepts to non-technical team members or clients.
• Degree: A Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., Animation, Graphic Design) is preferred but not required.

Additional Helpful Things

• Any experience with Unreal Engine, including realtime visualization, development of UI elements, Blueprint Scripting, and Sequencer
• Familiarity or past exposure to video production and motion graphics workflows in a professional context
• Familiarity with or interest in learning interactive development tools and techniques such as TouchDesigner, Notch, MadMapper, or other realtime digital interactive tools

Expectations

• Treat all client information as confidential.
• Uphold a high level of professionalism, work efficiency, and collaboration.
• Meet all deadlines or communicate inability to do so with sufficient notification to the project manager.
• Ability to function in an aggressive production schedule environment.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Attention to detail.
• Provide constructive feedback to ensure quality standards and set project goals are achieved.
• Protect the professional interests of Studio Iowa, be it internal communications, client lists and information, equipment and software, and any and all proprietary information and processes belonging to and related to Studio Iowa.