[PAID][Freelance] Technical Artist Needed — Custom Shaders & Volume Profile Template Creation
Hello,
I am an indie game developer working on a first-person 3D narrative game (mid-poly, atmospheric/stylized — not photorealistic) built in Unity 6 URP. The game spans five distinct environments ranging from warm domestic interiors to cold institutional facilities to overcast outdoor settings. The same room geometry is reused under multiple different lighting/atmosphere states, so I need a technical artist to help build a flexible rendering foundation that supports a wide tonal range while maintaining visual cohesion.
The 3D environment itself is in progress and I will handle all per-scene lighting and art direction myself. I need someone to build the rendering tools I'll use for the rest of production.
What I need:
1. Volume Profile Template — Reusable template with well-labeled exposed parameters for color grading (split-tone), fog, shadow tuning, bloom, vignette. Three example configurations showing the template's range: warm domestic, cold institutional, deep shadow horror.
2. Custom Character Shaders (Shader Graph) Ex: Desaturated, mostly-opaque figures with subtle inner emission and Fresnel-driven edge dissolution (solid at center, fraying at extremities). Must interact correctly with Volume Profile color grading and bloom.
3. Ice Material Shader (Shader Graph) — Environmental ice with subsurface scattering approximation and a color tint property (Ex: shifting from grey to blue to red). Variable thickness/opacity.
4. Mirror & Reflective Surface Shader — Mirrors are the central gameplay mechanic. The player character is visible and must appear in reflections. Only one mirror is ever visible at a time (one per room, rooms separated by walls). Mirrors need real-time planar reflection with stylized overlay such as dirt/scratches/color tinting. The same or similar system should extend to secondary reflective surfaces (puddles or windows) with heavier distortion and lower clarity per surface type.
5. Documentation — A brief guide on important exposed parameters, recommended ranges, known interactions between shaders and post-processing. This way I can handle the parameter adjustment and fine tuning for my environments.
Integration test session — Once I have a section of my 3D environment ready, I can confirm everything works on real assets. Adjustments from this session may be needed.
Requirements
1. Shader Graph as the primary framework, with Custom Function nodes for HLSL where needed. The shader structure should be visually readable in Shader Graph — I prefer to be able to follow the logic and adjust exposed parameters in the Inspector without writing code, but I'm comfortable reading HLSL in Custom Function nodes where pure Shader Graph is insufficient or more time-consuming than necessary (especially with reasonable documentation in place).
2. Realtime lighting only (no baked lightmaps).
3. Planar reflections must perform well at mid-poly fidelity (one reflective surface visible at a time).
4. All shaders must work correctly under all Volume Profile configurations.
Other notes:
I prefer to work in milestones (agree on a fixed price before actual work starts). Future integration support as new 3d environments finish build out can be charged separately (hourly, as-needed). I am open to working with people in other timezones, but prefer working with individuals only.
To Apply
1. Share relevant URP work from your portfolio — especially custom shaders (Shader Graph and/or HLSL), transparency handling, planar reflections, atmospheric or stylized rendering.
2. Note your experience with URP's Volume/post-processing stack.
3. Estimated timeline and rate or fixed-price range.
4. Any questions you have for me
I've linked a small set of reference images showing the tonal range the game needs to cover here
Contact
Feel free to message me through Polycount or to my email: tentimestenplusone@gmail.com
If you may be a good fit, I'll reach out to you with a more detailed breakdown of what I need.
Thanks for reading!