Senior VFX Artist

Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (MSG Entertainment) is a leader in live entertainment, delivering unforgettable experiences while forging deep connections with diverse and passionate audiences. The Company’s portfolio includes a collection of world-renowned venues – New York’s Madison Square Garden, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, and Beacon Theatre; and The Chicago Theatre – that showcase a broad array of sporting events, concerts, family shows, and special events for millions of guests annually. In addition, the Company features the original production, the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes, which has been a holiday tradition for 90 years. More information is available at www.msgentertainment.com. 

Who are we hiring?

As a Senior VFX Art Specialist at Sphere Studios you develop entertainment that’s equal 
parts video game, amusement park ride, and spectacle. Your target platform is The Sphere – a 
massive 16K 4D theater with beam-formed audio – and the mobile phones of our guests.  You build 
from specifications and team objectives and iterate to eventual production-quality deliverables. You’re part of a veteran cross-functional team, learning from each other every day. As an ideal candidate you bring a solid artistic foundation in 3D art and a broad range of skills including gameplay, props and real-time and standard production art pipelines. You have a passion for gaming and can create immersive, exciting work. 

What will you do?

• Create photo-real particle systems for game environment.
• Work closely with the Creative Director and others to maintain stunning visual style and quality to bring levels and features to life 
• Design and simulate realistic fire, smoke, explosions, debris, clouds, energy, etc. that meet all technical and aesthetic standards for the project 
• Author real-time particle effects for the destruction of buildings, vehicles, natural environments, and everything in between 
• Set dress levels with ambient atmospheric effects that produce spectacular photo-realistic game moments 
• Create textures and/or meshes to use in particle effects with various 2D and 3D applications including flipbooks 
• Ensure industry leading quality and artistic fidelity for photo-real effects 
• Promote and enforce structure, such as naming conventions and documentation 
• Provide in-depth research, reference material, and develop conceptual ideas from scratch 
• This role is part of a production artist group exploring and developing a unique language for Sphere, in collaboration with a creative development team 
• Must be passionate for games 

What do you need to succeed?

• Minimum of 4 years in full-cycle AAA game development or equivalent film/tv experience
• Highly proficient with the Unreal Engine including Niagara and the material editor 
• Ability to simulate realistic fire, smoke, explosions, debris, clouds, etc. that meet all technical and aesthetic standards for the project 
• Passion for fluid dynamics pushing fidelity and refining techniques as technology changes 
• Excellent texture and flipbook creation skills 
• Aware of memory and technical constraints while working, and can balance visual quality with performance 

Desired Skills:

• Experience with simulation and VFX software like FumeFX, Houdini, Embergen, Fluid Ninja, Maya, Max, etc. 
• Demonstrate a strong eye for timing, weight, realism, color, volum