Compositing Supervisor

Job Summary

Swaybox Studios is seeking an experienced and hands-on Compositing Supervisor to oversee the seamless integration of our VFX elements. This is a studio-based role working onsite in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee the seamless compositing of multiple elements from different departments to maintain their visual integrity per shot and in the overall aesthetic of the film.
• Work closely with the CG, Character Comp, Tracking, and other team Supervisors and Leads to ensure a smooth handoff of elements to the compositing team.
• Maintain high artistic and technical standards/methodology, while ensuring efficient and timely delivery of shots; balancing quality with schedule requirements.
• Delegate and manage shot progress, with a sharp awareness of deadlines, as well as contribute to on-the-box work as needed.
• Provide technical support and troubleshoot artist files.
• Guide the compositing team, offering regular feedback, mentorship, and support to foster a productive and collaborative working environment.
• Collaborate with the Supervisors and TDs to determine best practices, diagnose technical problems, identify technical needs, and recommend new tools or workflow improvements.
• Recognize knowledge gaps and actively collaborate with the team to find solutions; taking a proactive approach to challenges.
• Stay up-to-date with emerging tools, technologies, and compositing methods to enhance efficiency and output.
• Collaborate in R&D and early visual development before full production rollout.
• Participate in reviews and team syncs, clearly communicating creative and technical goals and giving constructive feedback.
• Communicate with vendors, when needed.
• Independently translate and refine notes from VFX Supervisor/Director/Stakeholders with minimal oversight, while maintaining the fidelity and visual language of the film.
• Ensure the team interprets and applies feedback effectively and in a timely manner.
• Participate in recruitment, scheduling, bidding needs, and progress reviews with the VFX Supervisor and Production.
• Create clean, efficient, and well-structured scripts and templates that can be shared throughout the team to speed up workflows.
• Maintain up-to-date documentation for internal tools and compositing processes, helping ensure consistency across the team.
• Adhere to organized files and established pipeline standards and naming conventions.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience high-end, live-action film or episodic compositing experience, with a strong emphasis on environments and realism.
• Proven leadership or supervisory experience in a compositing team environment, including mentoring, feedback, and artist support.
• On-the-box compositing of complex shots (live action and CG); utilizing projections, warping, depth of field, and photographic optical effects.
• Great understanding of DMP and CG pipelines.
• Expert knowledge of Nuke, Gizmos & Group workflows, and advanced compositing techniques.
• OCIO/ACES Color config and management experience.
• Strong capacity to be flexible, adapt quickly, and thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment with evolving creative direction.
• Capability to revise work based on feedback in a timely manner.
• An artistic mindset and willingness to receive and implement constructive feedback, whether that’s with draw-overs, over the shoulder adjustments, or team meetings.
• Demonstrated ability to learn new toolsets and willing to expand knowledge of toolsets.
• Excellent communication, organization, attention to detail, and problem-solving skills with unique or proprietary workflows.
• Deep understanding of visual language- texture, color, dimension, scale, perspective, shade, motion blur, depth of field, proportion, spatial awareness, etc.
• Solid experience using lidar scans, HDRI’s, and photogrammetry.
• Strong comprehension of cinematography, photography, and color science; including understanding of lenses, lighting setups, and performance tracking.

Preferred Qualifications

• Nuke particles experience is great to have.
• Knowledge of KeenTools is a plus.
• Understanding of lighting workflows.
• Experience in Python scripting for Nuke or batch automation is a huge plus.
• Previous experience in developing or influencing pipeline tools in collaboration with Technical Directors.
• Familiarity performance-tracking pipelines, rotomation, or hybrid workflows.
• Basic experience with Unreal Engine or other real-time rendering tools.