3D Character Sculptor / Modeler

Why Work at This Company?:

Create the characters that define our world—sculpt compelling, production-ready characters and transform high-detail concepts into optimized game-ready assets in an agile indie studio.

Description:About Aevox Studios LLC:

Aevox Studios LLC is an independent game development studio dedicated to crafting immersive, mechanics-driven gaming experiences. Founded on a philosophy of autonomy, transparent communication, and technical agility, we skip the bureaucratic red tape of AAA studios to focus on what actually matters: building great games.

The Role:

We are seeking a talented 3D Character Sculptor / Modeler to join our character art team and help bring the characters of Aevox Studios' projects to life.

In this position, you will be responsible for creating high-quality 3D character models from concept through final implementation. You will work across the entire character creation pipeline, including digital sculpting, modeling, retopology, UV layout, texturing, baking, material setup, and preparation for integration into Unreal Engine 5.

You will work closely with concept artists, character artists, technical artists, animators, riggers, VFX artists, and designers to ensure characters meet both the artistic direction and technical requirements of the project.

The ideal candidate understands that great character art requires more than visual detail. Characters must be believable, readable, properly constructed, performant, deformable, and ready for gameplay.

Key Responsibilities:

• Character Sculpting: Create high-resolution digital sculpts with strong anatomical accuracy, proportions, silhouettes, facial structure, clothing, armor, equipment, and surface detail.
• 3D Character Modeling: Produce production-ready character models based on concept art, reference material, and established art direction.
• High-to-Low Workflow: Develop high-poly sculpts and optimized low-poly game meshes suitable for real-time rendering.
• Retopology: Create clean, deformation-friendly topology appropriate for animation, facial deformation, and gameplay requirements.
• UV Layout: Create efficient, organized UV layouts with appropriate texel density and minimal distortion.
• Baking: Produce high-quality normal, ambient occlusion, curvature, and other baked texture maps required for the character pipeline.
• Texturing: Create realistic and stylized character textures using physically based rendering workflows.
• Materials: Develop and configure character materials and material instances for use within Unreal Engine 5.
• Character Optimization: Optimize geometry, texture resolution, materials, LODs, and other character components while maintaining visual quality.
• Unreal Engine Integration: Import and configure character assets within UE5, ensuring proper scale, materials, collision, LODs, Nanite compatibility where applicable, and overall presentation.
• Clothing & Equipment: Model clothing, armor, accessories, weapons, backpacks, gear, and other character-specific equipment.
• Facial Detail: Create detailed facial structures and expressions capable of supporting high-quality character animation.
• Creature & Non-Human Modeling: When required, create creatures, monsters, animals, or other non-human characters using appropriate anatomical and design principles.
• Reference Development: Research and utilize real-world anatomical, historical, cultural, material, and mechanical references to improve character authenticity.
• Pipeline Collaboration: Work closely with technical artists, animators, and riggers to ensure character topology and construction support the project's animation pipeline.
• Iteration: Refine character assets based on feedback from art leadership, design, animation, and production.
• Asset Organization: Maintain clean naming conventions, file structures, source files, and versioned character assets.
• Documentation: Document character-specific workflows, technical requirements, and production considerations when necessary.

Qualifications:

• Strong proficiency in 3D character modeling and digital sculpting.
• Demonstrated ability to create high-quality characters from concept or reference through game-ready implementation.
• Strong understanding of human anatomy, proportions, musculature, facial structure, and silhouette design.
• Strong experience with high-poly sculpting and low-poly game-ready modeling workflows.
• Strong understanding of retopology and deformation-friendly topology.
• Experience creating optimized UV layouts and maintaining consistent texel density.
• Strong understanding of PBR texturing workflows.
• Experience with texture baking and creating normal, AO, curvature, and related maps.
• Strong proficiency with one or more major 3D packages such as ZBrush, Blender, Maya, or 3ds Max.
• Experience with texturing software such as Substance 3D Painter and/or Substance 3D Designer.
• Experience preparing and integrating character assets into Unreal Engine 5.
• Understanding of skeletal mesh requirements, material slots, LODs, and real-time character optimization.
• Strong understanding of how character topology affects rigging and animation.
• Ability to work from concept art, turnaround sheets, photographic references, and written descriptions.
• Strong artistic eye with attention to anatomy, proportions, materials, silhouette, and visual storytelling.
• Ability to receive and implement constructive feedback.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Self-motivated with the ability to manage assets independently and meet production requirements.

Nice to Haves:

• Experience shipping a commercial game.
• Professional experience creating characters for Unreal Engine 5.
• Experience with MetaHuman Creator, MetaHuman Animator, or MetaHuman-compatible workflows.
• Experience creating realistic digital humans.
• Experience creating facial topology and blendshape-based facial systems.
• Experience with facial sculpting and expression libraries.
• Experience creating creatures, monsters, animals, or other non-humanoid characters.
• Experience with realistic clothing, fabric, leather, metal, armor, and hard-surface character equipment.
• Experience with Marvelous Designer or similar clothing simulation software.
• Experience with Substance 3D Designer and procedural material creation.
• Experience with Unreal Engine's Nanite workflow for character assets where appropriate.
• Knowledge of Unreal Engine's LOD and optimization systems.
• Experience creating modular character systems and interchangeable clothing/equipment.
• Experience developing character customization systems.
• Experience with hair cards, groom systems, or Unreal Engine Groom workflows.
• Experience with realistic skin, subsurface scattering, eyes, teeth, hair, and other advanced character materials.
• Experience with photogrammetry or scan-based character workflows.
• Experience with Python scripting or other tools for automating character production workflows.
• Experience collaborating with technical animators and character riggers.
• Understanding of character rigging and animation requirements.
• Experience creating assets for multiplayer games with appropriate network and performance considerations.
• Experience mentoring junior character artists or helping establish character-art standards.

What You'll Own:

• The creation and development of Aevox Studios' 3D character assets.
• High-resolution character sculpts and production-ready game meshes.
• Character topology, retopology, UVs, and texture preparation.
• Character clothing, armor, accessories, and equipment.
• Character materials and visual presentation within Unreal Engine 5.
• Character optimization and technical requirements for real-time gameplay.
• Collaboration with animation, rigging, technical art, concept art, and design.
• Maintaining consistent character quality and visual standards throughout production.
• Ensuring characters are not only visually impressive but also properly constructed, performant, animation-ready, and suitable for real-time gameplay.

What Success Looks Like:

A successful 3D Character Sculptor / Modeler at Aevox Studios understands that creating a great game character is a balance between artistic quality and technical execution.

Your characters should have strong silhouettes, believable anatomy, compelling visual identities, and high-quality surface detail while remaining optimized for real-time gameplay.

You will be expected to take characters from early sculpting and modeling through the complete production pipeline, collaborating with other disciplines to ensure the final asset performs correctly in-engine.

Your work should help establish a recognizable visual identity for Aevox Studios while creating characters that players can recognize, connect with, and remember.

This position is on a Profit Share, pay range does not dictate promised pay

Pay: $70,000.00 - $100,000.00 per year

Work Location: Remote