Lighting TA - Feature Animation

OUR STORY

For more than 35 years, Bardel Entertainment has been growing and evolving, yet at our core, we remain grounded in the creative roots of the craft of animation.  Our pursuit of fresh ideas, techniques, and technologies is driven by the belief that together, through creativity and collaboration, we can accomplish anything!  If you want to be part of an environment that empowers you to experiment, learn, and contribute to exciting projects, come and join us.

Are you passionate about lighting in animated films and have a knack for technical problem-solving? We’re looking for a Lighting Technical Assistant (Lighting TA) to join our Vancouver or Montreal studio and support our world-class team on an exciting 3D animated feature. This role plays a vital part in ensuring the efficiency, stability, and quality of our lighting pipeline and tools, enabling artists to focus on bringing cinematic storytelling to life.

Responsibilities

• Test, maintain, and troubleshoot lighting systems, tools, and workflows in collaboration with artists and technical departments.
• Support the integration, optimization, and validation of lighting assets within production pipelines.
• Act as a key liaison between the lighting, compositing, rendering, and pipeline development teams.

• Develop a deep understanding of the lighting tools, workflows, and pipeline architecture.
• Monitor and assist with the integration of lighting assets into shot production.
• Ensure lighting files meet both technical standards and artistic direction.
• Diagnose and resolve scene performance issues, including render errors, broken assets, or incorrect file dependencies.
• Provide day-to-day technical support for lighters and troubleshoot render or scene issues.
• Document tools, workflows, and best practices to ensure efficient knowledge transfer.
• Research and evaluate new lighting-related tools, render technologies, and workflow enhancements.
• Propose tool improvements or new scripts to optimize workflows and collaborate with the pipeline team to implement them.
• Monitor caching/render processes and flag bottlenecks or errors to relevant departments.
• Ensure naming conventions, data structures, and shot asset versions are properly maintained.

Qualifications

Skills and Knowledge

• Proficiency in Python and MEL scripting for automation and tool development.
• Strong understanding of lighting and rendering workflows, particularly in Autodesk Maya, Blender, or similar renderers.
• Familiarity with ShotGrid and asset-tracking systems.
• Basic knowledge of compositing tools (e.g., Nuke) and how lighting integrates into the final image.
• Solid grasp of scene optimization, file referencing, and render management.
• Ability to debug issues related to render layers, AOVs, and lighting setup.
• Strong documentation, organizational, and communication skills.
• Able to work effectively in fast-paced, deadline-driven production environments.
• Resourceful, proactive, and collaborative team player.

Location: Candidates based in BC will be prioritized.

Pay Range: CAD $ 1400 - 1500 $ per week   

This salary range reflects our current expectations for these roles as of this posting’s date. Your final salary offer will consider various key factors, including your education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographical location, as well as the needs and requirements of the business. 

Flexible work environment, Extended Health and Wellness from day 1, RRSP matching are just some of the benefits. For more details, check out our website. 

At Bardel, we recognize that flexibility is key to doing great work. Our hybrid work environment is a valued perk designed to support individual accountability and empower our teams to work where they’re most productive. We offer the choice to work remotely, balanced with intentional in-person time for collaboration, creativity, and team building. This role requires in-studio attendance at our Vancouver studio during onboarding and predetermined Rush Weeks. 

If this seems like a good fit, what are you waiting for, get your application in!