KAZ (Yoshida) SATO
Senior Lighting & Visual Development Artist
Lighting is a joyful and essential element in visual art, bringing a sense of magic and beauty that defines the quality of the final image.
With over a decade of experience in high-profile 3DCG productions, my greatest strength lies in my keen eye for beauty, enabling me to craft visually stunning, detail-rich works that consistently captivate both clients and audiences.
With over a decade of experience in high-profile 3DCG productions, my greatest strength lies in my keen eye for beauty, enabling me to craft visually stunning, detail-rich works that consistently captivate both clients and audiences.
Able to create efficient render setups tailored to the pipeline and compositors' needs. Skilled in adapting light rigs from still images to animation without compromising quality.
-EXPERIENCE-
Look Dev Artist at Ntropic, San Francisco, CA
Contract, Apr 2026 Remote
• Look Dev: Refined textures and shaders for fruit assets to achieve
hyper-photorealistic and "fresh/juicy" results. Utilized 3D painting tools to meet specific client aesthetic requirements with artistic precision.
• Agile Production Support: Provided critical look-dev and shading refinements during the final delivery phase of a high-profile sequence, ensuring all assets were production-ready and satisfied strict quality standards within an accelerated timeline.
Digital Artist at Apple (via Magnit), Sunnyvale, CA
Contract, Jul 2025 - Feb 2026 Remote
• Sequence Lighting: Created high-end lighting and look development for major product launch events and system-level OS sequences, ensuring "Apple-standard" polish and visual consistency.
• Technical Execution: Managed complex lighting setups and established render element workflows for compositors under strict technical specifications, consistently delivering high-quality assets within rigorous, event-driven deadlines.
Senior Lighting & Look Dev Artist at LOGAN, LA, CA
Full-Time On-Site 2015-2018, Freelance Remote 2022-2025
• Sequence Lighting: Delivered high-quality 3D lighting and optimized render performance for large-scale sequences. Developed integrated workflows in collaboration with art directors and compositors.
• Look Dev: Produced high-end look development and visuals for global brands in coordination with art direction teams.
3D Generalist at Entity FX, Santa Monica, CA
Full-Time On-Site, 2005-2015
• Award-Winning Visual Effects: Contributed to a series of Emmy and VES Award-winning and nominated productions, including the critically acclaimed Sport Science and Smallville.
• High-Pressure Execution: Delivered "best-in-class" visual quality under the rigorous pace of broadcast schedules, overcoming the technical rendering constraints of the time through constant workflow optimization and dedication to excellence.
• Technical Versatility: Managed full-shot production from modeling to final compositing, ensuring high-end polish and technical accuracy for complex, data-driven visual sequences.
• Pipeline Mastery: Gained a thorough understanding of the end-to-end VFX pipeline, consistently pushing visual boundaries to maintain award-worthy standards across all projects.
-SKILLS-
Lighting, Visual development and Painting textures
Excellent in details of products.
Excellent in details of products.
-SOFTWARE-
Autodesk Maya V-Ray, Arnold, Redshift
Nuke, After Effects, Photoshop, Mari, (Adobe Substance)
-ACHIEVEMENTS-
Outstanding Graphic Design
Issued by Sports Emmy Awards - 2008 and 2009
Associated with Entity FX
Outstanding Created Environment in a live Action Broadcast Program, Commercial or Music Video
7th VES Awards nominated
Associated with Entity FX
Outstanding Compositing in a live Action Broadcast Program, Commercial or Music Video
7th VES Awards nominated
Associated with Entity FX
-EDUCATION-
Tama Art University — Bachelor of Fine Art, Craft Design 1997
dhima(Digital Hollywood USA) — Autodesk Maya course, 2003