Write the playbook. Leads know things nobody publishes.
Write the playbook. Supervisors rarely share their process.
Lookdev Artist: every tier, every band, every signal
The lookdev path covers shader authoring, material response, and look management under any lighting condition. At bigger studios, lookdev is distinct from texturing. You build the material, not the textures that feed it.
Milestones 6
Est. arc 7-10 yrs
Junior Lookdev (US) $60k - $80k
Lookdev Supervisor (US) $180k - $260k+
What you actually do
You watch turntable reviews, organize the studio's reference library, set up basic test rigs, and shadow the senior on hero asset reviews. You learn that PBR theory and production shaders live in different universes.
Show up. Read every spec the show has. Render a sphere on a grey card before you touch a hero asset. Do not pretend you understand a roughness note you do not.
What to study
- PBR fundamentals: BRDFs, energy conservation, Fresnel
- Reference reading: macro and micro surface detail
- Studio shader library and naming conventions
- Cranking subsurface to fix a texture problem
- Lookdev'ing in a single light setup
- Comparing to artstation instead of physical reference
- Hiding when stuck instead of asking
Signals you're ready for the next tier
- A senior trusts you with a secondary asset
- You can describe what is wrong with a shader without help
- You are asked back for the next show
Annual salary band by region
US Los Angeles / NYC $60k - $80k
CA Vancouver $62k - $82k
UK London £32k - £42k
EU Paris / Stuttgart / Madrid €34k - €46k
What you actually do
Secondary props and set-dressing assets end to end. You author the shader, set up the lookdev rig, render the turntable, present in dailies, iterate. You learn the show's master shader library and you copy from it before inventing.
Hit the deadline. Match the show's shader spec before improvising. Take notes the first time. Render lookdev under at least three lighting conditions before signing off.
What to study
- Substance / Mari handoff: what comes from texture, what from shader
- Color management end to end: ACES, OCIO, working space
- Lookdev rig discipline: HDRI, grey ball, chrome ball, macbeth
- Cranking diffuse to fix a wrong texture
- Skipping the multi-light review pass
- Ignoring the show's master library
- Hiding render-time blowouts from the lead
Signals you're ready for the next tier
- You own a sequence of secondary assets without supervision
- You spot a bad texture before the lead does
- A lead asks your opinion on a hero shader
Annual salary band by region
US Los Angeles / NYC $80k - $115k
CA Vancouver $82k - $112k
UK London £44k - £60k
EU Paris / Stuttgart / Madrid €46k - €63k
What you actually do
Mid-tier assets end to end including hero props and supporting characters. You build clean shader networks, debug shaders that do not behave under lighting, and you push back on textures that do not match the spec.
Independent execution. Bring upstream texture problems to the texture artist, not to Slack. Estimate before starting. Mentor juniors on request.
What to study
- OSL or shader-graph fundamentals at the BRDF level
- USD / MaterialX: where lookdev fits in the modern stack
- Cross-department contracts: texture spec, lighting expectations
- Render-time profiling: what your shader costs the farm
- Cranking subsurface to mask a wrong texture
- Refusing comp / lighting feedback you disagree with
- Building bespoke networks that do not survive a re-spec
- Ignoring the show's master shader library
Signals you're ready for the next tier
- Juniors copy your shader networks
- Lead asks you to plan an asset group, not just shade it
- You ship a shader that the team adopts
Side branches that compound
- Texturing Fluency. Speak Mari and Substance. Fix your own textures.
- Rendering Math. Understand BRDFs, not just slider values.
Annual salary band by region
US Los Angeles / NYC $115k - $155k
CA Vancouver $112k - $148k
UK London £60k - £80k
EU Paris / Stuttgart / Madrid €58k - €80k
What you actually do
Hero assets. Skin, eyes, hair, hero cloth, reference-matched hard-surface for camera-front shots. You write custom OSL, you build the shader libraries the show inherits, and you mentor juniors through their first hero asset.
Raise the team. Document every shader you ship to the library. Estimate realistically and hold the estimate. Hold the line on look quality without becoming the bottleneck.
What to study
- Skin, eyes, hair: hero-asset surfacing at production scale
- Custom OSL or DSL shading for show-specific looks
- Mentorship: notes that change behaviour, not just the shader
- Pipeline integration: USD, MaterialX, shader publish
- Doing the junior's asset because teaching takes longer
- Becoming the bottleneck on every hero character
- Building shaders only you can read
- Treating mentoring as a distraction from your asset
Signals you're ready for the next tier
- Lead asks you to plan an asset group's lookdev
- Producers ask for you on the next bid
- You sign off junior assets without the lead checking
Side branches that compound
- Hero Asset Lookdev. Skin, eyes, hair, cloth close to camera.
- Shader Tooling. Build the studio's shader library, not just shaders.
Annual salary band by region
US Los Angeles / NYC $145k - $195k
CA Vancouver $140k - $185k
UK London £78k - £105k
EU Paris / Stuttgart / Madrid €72k - €98k
What you actually do
You hold visual consistency across a hero asset group. You review every shader that ships, plan asset assignments by artist strength, and align with lighting and texturing on what each asset must survive in production.
Protect the crew. Give clear notes that improve the shader, not just the look. Plan three weeks ahead. Bring upstream texture or model problems to the right department directly.
What to study
- Asset planning at the group level
- Reporting and ShotGrid / Ftrack discipline
- Still shading hero assets because it is faster than reviewing
- Vague notes that cost the artist a day
- Hiding shader-budget overruns from the sup
- Refusing to push back on impossible schedules
Signals you're ready for the next tier
- Sup signs off your group reviews without checking each asset
- Producers come to you for lookdev questions
- Other leads copy your asset templates
Side branches that compound
- Lighting Collab. Work with lighting to protect the look.
Annual salary band by region
US Los Angeles / NYC $180k - $260k+
CA Vancouver $170k - $230k+
UK London £100k - £145k+
EU Paris / Stuttgart / Madrid €90k - €120k+
What you actually do
You set the surfacing language of the whole show. Every hero shader, every material library, every shading bid clears through you. You align with the lighting sup, the texture sup, and the CG sup on how the show's materials will read.
Hold the surfacing language across hundreds of assets. Hire the team you actually need. Sell scope cuts when the schedule is real. Be the calm voice in director review on hero assets.
What to study
- Bidding lookdev from concept and reference
- Vendor management and crew right-sizing
- Library and pipeline architecture across shows
- Micro-managing leads instead of trusting them
- Being precious about a hero asset when ten others are slipping
- Hiring seniors when leads were what you needed
- Letting one impossible asset eat the entire crew
Signals you're ready for the next tier
- CG sup asks you to mentor the next sup track
- You run two shows in parallel without dropping either
- Producers ask for you on the next bid by name
Side branches that compound
- Director Reviews. Present hero assets to the director.
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