3D Render Pipeline Lead

About Nick Scali Limited

With over six decades of excellence, Nick Scali Limited stands as a leader in luxury furniture design and retail in Australia and New Zealand. Having acquired Plush Sofas, the company now operates over 115 showrooms and plans further expansion by 2027. This role offers an opportunity to join an iconic, internationally-listed company that supports career growth within a collaborative marketing and e-commerce environment.

Role Overview

This position entails leading the 3D render pipeline that produces photorealistic CGI lounge furniture images for use online. Each configuration is rendered in full 360° views at 4K resolution, showcasing every fabric and leather option. The pipeline is semi-automated and churns out hundreds of SKUs weekly for distribution across Nick Scali and Plush digital platforms.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee weekly render releases managing the entire process from initial setup through render farm submission, processing, and uploading.
• Manage render farm operations to optimize job priorities, monitor spending, prevent failures through pre-testing, and control cost per SKU efficiently.
• Perform thorough quality assurance on each batch, confirming correct naming conventions, frame counts, framing precision, accurate material representation, and artifact elimination.
• Automate routine manual steps including scene setup, pass generation, file handling, and upload routines to increase throughput.
• Develop tools enabling retrospective application of new materials to existing models and batch re-rendering without manual intervention.
• Maintain comprehensive documentation, version control, and stability of scripts and render setups.
• Lead and coordinate freelance 3D modellers by briefing them with supplier images, specification sheets, and dimensions; ensure timely progress and adherence to quality standards.
• Assess freelance models for topology, scale, UV mapping, detail, and naming conventions before approval.
• Ensure all approved models are correctly archived within the Digital Asset Management system for sustained availability.
• Create new fabric and leather materials in Corona Renderer, replicating supplier swatches and matching colors to physical samples.
• Provide weekly progress reports to the E-Commerce Manager highlighting output metrics, challenges, render farm expenditure, and future plans.

Initial 90-Day Milestones

• Within 30 days: Achieve full understanding of the pipeline, consistently deliver scheduled releases, and assume responsibility for freelancing coordination and quality checks.
• By day 60: Map all manual processes with time analyses, implement first automation improvement, and outline plans to re-render models with new materials.
• By day 90: Deliver a functioning workflow for retrospective material application, demonstrating increased SKU output and/or reduced rendering costs.

Success Metrics

• Number of SKUs delivered weekly and punctuality of releases.
• Render farm spending efficiency per SKU.
• Percentage of renders passing quality checks on the first attempt without rework.
• Freelancer model acceptance rates and turnaround times.
• Size of backlog for applying new materials to existing models.

Required Qualifications and Skills

• Proven production-level experience scripting with Python for batch file processing, renaming, validation, image resizing and conversions, file transfers, and error logging.
• Automation expertise in 3ds Max using MAXScript and/or pymxs for scene assembly, material assignment, camera and pass generation, and batch exportation.
• Background managing large-scale rendering pipelines generating hundreds to thousands of consistent images weekly with multiple scene variants.
• Hands-on experience administering cloud render farms, including job prioritization, cost control, failure recovery, and efficiency optimization.
• Advanced skills in 3ds Max and Corona Renderer for photorealistic furniture visualization.
• Strong modelling skills in hard-surface and soft-goods furniture components, focusing on clean quad topology, real-world scaling, and detailed features like seams and stitching.
• Ability to create physically based materials within Corona using fabrics and leather textures with tileable maps and color correctness.
• Meticulous quality assurance skills for processing large volumes of images, including automation of checks and manual error detection.
• Experience managing freelancers or outsourced artists with clear briefing, constructive feedback, and enforcing deadlines.
• Familiarity with Jira or comparable project management tools to maintain task tracking and status updates.

Preferred Additional Skills

• Knowledge of Digital Asset Management platforms, metadata standards, and naming conventions.
• Experience with product configurators or catalog-scale CGI for furniture or retail products.
• Competence in Substance Designer or Sampler for material creation.
• Use of Git or similar version control systems for managing scripts and tooling.

Application Instructions

• Submit your CV.
• Provide a portfolio featuring product CGI work, preferably furniture-related, along with wireframes and render breakdowns.
• Include a brief note describing a pipeline automation you implemented, detailing the manual processes replaced, the automation created, and the benefits gained.

Technical Assessment

Shortlisted candidates will undertake a paid assignment involving modelling a sofa module from a supplier's specifications, applying provided materials, and scripting a render folder renaming tool according to given naming protocols.