Furniture Environmental Rendering

Overview: We're a Bay Area commercial furniture brand producing our product catalog and supporting marketing assets. We're looking for a 3D artist who can turn CAD/SolidWorks geometry into photorealistic product renders that hold up at print resolution — especially on upholstery, wood veneer, powder-coated metal, and mesh. This role has two halves, and we need both: 1. You render. Studio and lifestyle imagery, built strictly to our product specifications. 2. You own the standard. You review and sign off on renders produced by our China-based render team, and you maintain the documentation that keeps everyone rendering the same product the same way. If you only want to make pretty pictures and not review anyone else's work, this isn't the right fit. A meaningful part of this job is catching the 3mm-off armrest and the veneer that's a half-step too warm — before it goes to print. This starts as a defined catalog project with a hard deadline, with strong potential for ongoing work across product launches and campaign assets. Scope of work: Spec-accurate rendering Build from the CAD/SolidWorks geometry we supply. No re-modeling by eye, no reproportioning for aesthetics. Materials built against our published finish library: upholstery grades, wood veneers, laminates, powder-coat colors, and mesh. Color matched to the physical fabric swatches and finish chips we ship you — not to screen swatches, vendor JPEGs, or memory. Hardware, edge profiles, seam and stitch placement, base and glide details rendered as specified, not approximated. Correct configuration per SKU: dimensions, available options, and valid part combinations must match the spec sheet exactly. Where geometry, spec sheet, and physical sample disagree — flag it to us. Do not resolve it silently. Studio and lifestyle imagery Studio renders on white/seamless: front, 3/4, side, back, and detail crops. Consistent camera, lens, and lighting setup across the full catalog so products sit together correctly on a spread. Lifestyle/environment scenes with realistic lighting and context. Print-ready and web-ready exports (300 dpi at placed size, color-managed), delivered to our file naming and folder convention. Quality control of the render team - Review incoming renders from our China-based render partner against the product spec and our visual standard. Produce written, markup-based feedback: annotated redlines that are specific and actionable. "Make it look better" is not feedback; "seat foam crown is reading 8mm too high vs. spec sheet, see markup" is. Build and maintain the standards documentation — material/shader reference, lighting and camera templates, naming and delivery conventions, and a QC checklist the team renders against. Track revision rounds and approval status so we always know what's locked and what's still open. Run or join review calls in the PT-morning / China-evening overlap window. Escalate schedule risk early. On a fixed catalog deadline, a late warning is worse than a bad render. Requirements Portfolio showing furniture, industrial, or interior product renders — not architectural exteriors. Proficiency in 3ds Max + V-Ray/Corona, Blender Cycles, or KeyShot. Demonstrated skill with fabric, mesh, and soft-goods shading. This is where most reels fall apart, and it's most of our product line. Comfortable working from real fabric swatch references to match color accurately, and able to explain your color-management workflow (working space, monitor calibration, proofing). Able to read and work from spec sheets, dimensioned drawings, and finish schedules — and to tell us when they conflict. Experience giving structured art direction or QC feedback to other artists or an outsourced team. Able to work in Pacific Time overlap for review cycles, and to hold a recurring early-PT window that overlaps with a China-based team. Reliable turnaround on a fixed catalog deadline. Willing to sign an NDA. You'll see unreleased 2026 product before launch. Nice to have Experience with contract/commercial furniture or workplace interiors. Familiarity with dealer/spec-driven product photography conventions. Ability to produce turntables or short motion loops. Working Mandarin, or prior experience managing a China-based production team. Experience maintaining a shared asset or shader library across multiple artists. Timeline & budget Project window: [start date] – [Oct 31, 2026] Volume: approximately [#] SKUs / [#] final images Budget structure: we expect to contract this as a per-image rate for production work plus a separate weekly or hourly rate for QC and documentation. Please quote both. To apply, please include Three examples of furniture or soft-goods renders you personally created — tell us specifically what you did on each (modeling, shading, lighting, comp, all of it?). One example of QC or art direction: a render you reviewed and the feedback you gave. Redlines, annotated screenshots, or a checklist are ideal. If you can't share client work, describe your process. Your software and render engine. Your per-image rate and your QC/review rate, plus realistic weekly capacity. Your time zone and the recurring hours you can hold for PT and China overlap. Shortlisted candidates will be asked to complete a short paid test: one product, rendered from our CAD and spec sheet against a physical swatch, plus a written QC pass on a sample render we provide.