I am a creative and technically skilled artist with over 13 years of experience specializing in Unreal Engine and Unity. I excel at developing performant visual systems, building shaders, optimizing lighting, and managing asset pipelines for games and simulations. Highly collaborative, I work effectively across art, technology, and VFX teams to create high-fidelity and optimized visuals. My expertise covers shader creation using node-based and HLSL techniques, lighting passes, Niagara/Cascade visual effects, and asset integration. I am also well-versed in GPU profiling, draw call management, and producing documentation to support workflows and quality control, always with a focus on both visual fidelity and performance.

Joshua Burts

I am a creative and technically skilled artist with over 13 years of experience specializing in Unreal Engine and Unity. I excel at developing performant visual systems, building shaders, optimizing lighting, and managing asset pipelines for games and simulations. Highly collaborative, I work effectively across art, technology, and VFX teams to create high-fidelity and optimized visuals. My expertise covers shader creation using node-based and HLSL techniques, lighting passes, Niagara/Cascade visual effects, and asset integration. I am also well-versed in GPU profiling, draw call management, and producing documentation to support workflows and quality control, always with a focus on both visual fidelity and performance.

Available to hire

I am a creative and technically skilled artist with over 13 years of experience specializing in Unreal Engine and Unity. I excel at developing performant visual systems, building shaders, optimizing lighting, and managing asset pipelines for games and simulations. Highly collaborative, I work effectively across art, technology, and VFX teams to create high-fidelity and optimized visuals.

My expertise covers shader creation using node-based and HLSL techniques, lighting passes, Niagara/Cascade visual effects, and asset integration. I am also well-versed in GPU profiling, draw call management, and producing documentation to support workflows and quality control, always with a focus on both visual fidelity and performance.

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Work Experience

Freelance Technical Artist at Self
December 31, 2023 - Present
Converted a high-fidelity prototype from a 45 FPS desktop experience into an optimized VR application running at 90 FPS, achieving a ~50% reduction in frame time. Optimized rendering, interaction systems, and scene complexity for real-time VR performance. Designed reusable Blueprint-based interaction templates to reduce setup time from hours to minutes and enable rapid iteration. Implemented scalable performance workflows to accelerate hardware testing.
Technical Producer / Shader & Lighting Support at Imerza
January 1, 2024 - January 1, 2025
Increased real-time project performance by 30–40% through GPU profiling and rendering optimization. Reduced master shader complexity by 15–20% while maintaining visual fidelity. Established lighting and post-process performance benchmarks for large-scale Unreal Engine environments. Built open-world landscapes using PCG and optimized lighting workflows for scalability. Implemented new project tracking and team communication systems to streamline pipelines.
Senior Technical Artist at The Glimpse Group
January 1, 2020 - January 1, 2023
Improved stability and visual fidelity across AR/VR and cinematic real-time experiences. Developed scalable asset and interaction templates to improve production efficiency. Streamlined outsourcing QA workflows, reducing asset rework. Authored studio technical documentation to accelerate onboarding and collaboration. Worked cross-functionally with engineering, art, production, and client teams. Identified integration blockers and coordinated resolutions. Mentored artists in Unreal lighting workflows and post-process tuning.
Technical Artist at Sector 5 Digital
January 1, 2017 - January 1, 2020
Integrated 2D/3D assets into UE4 and optimized visuals across multiple platforms. Developed advanced shaders (HLSL & UE Material Editor) for AR/VR and cinematic projects. Lit real-time and cinematic environments balancing mood and gameplay readability using photographic principles. Built animated materials, FX, and UI elements in interactive sequences. Managed LOD pipelines, lightmap baking, and shader debugging to improve performance.
QA Game Tester at id Software
December 30, 2015 - December 30, 2016
Identified and documented multiple instances of gameplay, rendering, and performance issues. Contributed to stability and performance certification during final production phases of DOOM (2016). Created standardized test case documentation improving QA consistency. Assisted performance verification across multiple hardware configurations.

Education

BS, Digital Media at East Tennessee State University
August 18, 2008 - May 5, 2013

Qualifications

Add your qualifications or awards here.

Industry Experience

Gaming, Software & Internet, Media & Entertainment