About the role
What Does a VFX Houdini Artist do at WPP Production?
At WPP Production, this role combines advanced Houdini expertise, strong knowledge of dynamics and simulations, and generalist skills in lighting and product animation to create high-end automotive and product visualizations for advertising. Responsibilities include delivering premium-quality work under tight deadlines, optimizing and troubleshooting Houdini scenes, providing technical support, and contributing to workflow improvements, pipeline development, best practices, and knowledge sharing across the studio.
Key Responsibilities
• Create high-end VFX for automotive and product advertising, from concept through final delivery
• Build and manage Houdini-based setups for dynamics, simulations, and procedural workflows (e.g. rigid bodies, Vellum, fluids, particles)
• Develop efficient, artist-friendly procedural systems that support iteration and scalability
• Apply strong generalist skills with a focus on lighting in Houdini, look development, rendering, and product-focused animation
• Collaborate with CG supervisors, art directors, and producers to meet creative and technical goals
• Optimize scenes and workflows for performance, render efficiency, and production reliability
• Support shot troubleshooting and technical problem-solving across the pipeline
• Contribute to R&D and workflow improvements where appropriate
• Maintain visual consistency and high-quality standards across projects
Required Skills & Experience
• Strong professional experience with SideFX Houdini
• Solid technical understanding of dynamics and simulations (RBD, Vellum, FLIP, Pyro, particles)
• Strong lighting and look development skills in Houdini
• Rendering experience with V-Ray (required)
• Experience working with Maya and/or 3ds Max, particularly in an automotive or product pipeline
• Product-focused animation skills (mechanical motion, turntables, non-character animation)
• Strong eye for realism, scale, materials, and lighting, especially for automotive and product visuals
• Ability to balance technical problem-solving with creative execution
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced advertising environment with evolving briefs
• Good communication skills and ability to work collaboratively
Nice to Have
• Experience with Unreal Engine (real-time rendering, lookdev, or automotive/product visualization workflows)
• Python or VEX scripting experience
• Automotive and product-specific experience (vehicles, paint shaders, turntables, beauty lighting, mechanical animation)
• Familiarity with compositing workflows (Nuke or similar)
• Experience working across multiple DCCs (Maya, Cinema 4D, etc.)
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