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Senior Environment & Lighting Artist with 18+ years of experience across games, animation, and VR—primarily in Unreal Engine. I’m the Founder of Delzaar Studio (South Africa), an outsourcing game/animation studio focused on environment production and real-time visuals. I’ve led and contributed directly to environment design, asset creation, materials/shaders, lighting, VFX, and cinematics/trailers for international partners. I’m also an Epic MegaGrant recipient. I enjoy owning environments end-to-end: establishing visual targets, building modular sets and hero areas, lighting for mood and gameplay readability, and pushing scenes to a polished, optimized final (performance budgets, clean organization, and production-friendly workflows). I’m comfortable collaborating across disciplines—art direction, level design, tech art, and engineering—and I’m happiest when the world feels cinematic, cohesive, and shippable. Specialties: Unreal Engine environments, lighting & mood, composition/readability, PBR materials & shaders, UE optimization, Lumen/Nanite workflows, Sequencer cinematics, Niagara VFX, modular kits & set dressing, pipeline/tooling collaboration.…Senior Environment & Lighting Artist with 18+ years of experience across games, animation, and VR—primarily in Unreal Engine. I’m the Founder of Delzaar Studio (South Africa), an outsourcing game/animation studio focused on environment production and real-time visuals. I’ve led and contributed directly to environment design, asset creation, materials/shaders, lighting, VFX, and cinematics/trailers for international partners. I’m also an Epic MegaGrant recipient. I enjoy owning environments end-to-end: establishing visual targets, building modular sets and hero areas, lighting for mood and gameplay readability, and pushing scenes to a polished, optimized final (performance budgets, clean organization, and production-friendly workflows). I’m comfortable collaborating across disciplines—art direction, level design, tech art, and engineering—and I’m happiest when the world feels cinematic, cohesive, and shippable. Specialties: Unreal Engine environments, lighting & mood, composition/readability, PBR materials & shaders, UE optimization, Lumen/Nanite workflows, Sequencer cinematics, Niagara VFX, modular kits & set dressing, pipeline/tooling collaboration.

Mohammad Danial Atoofi

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Senior Environment & Lighting Artist with 18+ years of experience across games, animation, and VR—primarily in Unreal Engine. I’m the Founder of Delzaar Studio (South Africa), an outsourcing game/animation studio focused on environment production and real-time visuals. I’ve led and contributed directly to environment design, asset creation, materials/shaders, lighting, VFX, and cinematics/trailers for international partners. I’m also an Epic MegaGrant recipient. I enjoy owning environments end-to-end: establishing visual targets, building modular sets and hero areas, lighting for mood and gameplay readability, and pushing scenes to a polished, optimized final (performance budgets, clean organization, and production-friendly workflows). I’m comfortable collaborating across disciplines—art direction, level design, tech art, and engineering—and I’m happiest when the world feels cinematic, cohesive, and shippable. Specialties: Unreal Engine environments, lighting & mood, composition/readability, PBR materials & shaders, UE optimization, Lumen/Nanite workflows, Sequencer cinematics, Niagara VFX, modular kits & set dressing, pipeline/tooling collaboration.…Senior Environment & Lighting Artist with 18+ years of experience across games, animation, and VR—primarily in Unreal Engine. I’m the Founder of Delzaar Studio (South Africa), an outsourcing game/animation studio focused on environment production and real-time visuals. I’ve led and contributed directly to environment design, asset creation, materials/shaders, lighting, VFX, and cinematics/trailers for international partners. I’m also an Epic MegaGrant recipient. I enjoy owning environments end-to-end: establishing visual targets, building modular sets and hero areas, lighting for mood and gameplay readability, and pushing scenes to a polished, optimized final (performance budgets, clean organization, and production-friendly workflows). I’m comfortable collaborating across disciplines—art direction, level design, tech art, and engineering—and I’m happiest when the world feels cinematic, cohesive, and shippable. Specialties: Unreal Engine environments, lighting & mood, composition/readability, PBR materials & shaders, UE optimization, Lumen/Nanite workflows, Sequencer cinematics, Niagara VFX, modular kits & set dressing, pipeline/tooling collaboration.

Available to hire

Senior Environment & Lighting Artist with 18+ years of experience across games, animation, and VR—primarily in Unreal Engine. I’m the Founder of Delzaar Studio (South Africa), an outsourcing game/animation studio focused on environment production and real-time visuals. I’ve led and contributed directly to environment design, asset creation, materials/shaders, lighting, VFX, and cinematics/trailers for international partners. I’m also an Epic MegaGrant recipient.

I enjoy owning environments end-to-end: establishing visual targets, building modular sets and hero areas, lighting for mood and gameplay readability, and pushing scenes to a polished, optimized final (performance budgets, clean organization, and production-friendly workflows). I’m comfortable collaborating across disciplines—art direction, level design, tech art, and engineering—and I’m happiest when the world feels cinematic, cohesive, and shippable.

Specialties: Unreal Engine environments, lighting & mood, composition/readability, PBR materials & shaders, UE optimization, Lumen/Nanite workflows, Sequencer cinematics, Niagara VFX, modular kits & set dressing, pipeline/tooling collaboration.

Skills

Experience Level

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Language

English

Fluent

Work Experience

Art Lead at Ever Curious Entertainment (Witherbloom)

January 1, 2023 - December 31, 2024

Led the visual design team for the Witherbloom game, collaborating closely with the Art Director and development team to ensure the artistic vision is realized in gameplay visuals and world-building. Oversaw art direction, crafted lighting, shaders, and environment concepts to deliver immersive visuals that align with the game's aesthetic and technical goals.

Director / Lead Environment Artist / Lead Lighting Artist at Delzaar Studio

January 1, 2018 - December 31, 2023

Strategically directed lighting design ideas and cinematics, and served as senior environment artist and senior lighting artist for games and cinematic trailers. Analyzed lighting to enhance mood and readability, and guided asset creation for consistent art direction. Nominated the historical animation Farewell for SIGGRAPH 2020 Asia; earned Unreal Mega Grant for cinematic quality realtime animations and VR animations from Epic Games.

Senior Lighting Artist at Qorpo Studio (Citizen Conflict)

January 1, 2021 - December 31, 2022

Senior Lighting Artist for the AAA multiplayer shooter Citizen Conflict, crafting visually striking lighting across environments to elevate gameplay and cinematic sequences. Optimized lighting for performance, improved material quality, and collaborated to deliver high-quality cinematic shots that reflect the game's artistic vision.

Senior Environment Artist / 3D Modeling Artist / Shader Artist at Ablizmo Games Studio (Overlode)

January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2021

Senior Environment Artist / 3D Modeling Artist / Shader Artist, responsible for creating and refining environments, modeling assets, and developing shaders and materials to raise visual fidelity and performance for the game Overlode.

Senior Technical Artist / Cinematic Director at Stanon Studios (TideTurn)

January 1, 2018 - December 31, 2019

Senior Technical Artist / Cinematic Director; facilitated the production of high-quality environments for TideTurn, troubleshooted gameplay technical issues, and directed cinematic trailers to showcase the game's art direction.

Technical Director / Shader Artist / Lighting Artist at SkyFrame Studio (The Thunder TV animation series)

January 1, 2016 - December 31, 2018

Technical Director / Shader Artist / Lighting Artist; streamlined Unreal-based production for multiple animated series across broadcasters. Served as Technical Director and senior shader and lighting artist on The Thunder, delivering 1600 minutes of content rendered in Unreal Engine for Netflix Turkey and Chinese TV channels.

Art Director/GDD Writer/ Senior Lighting & Environment Artist/ Texture Artist at RSK Entertainment (Ambassador of Love)

January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2016

Art Director, GDD Writer, Senior Lighting & Environment Artist, and Texture Artist for a hack-and-slash title. Led art teams to produce realistic historical environments and aligned targets with technical and artistic trends.

Senior Technical Artist / Cinematic Director at Stanion Studios (TideTurn)

January 1, 2018 - December 31, 2019

Facilitated high-quality environments by troubleshooting technical issues and formed cinematic trailers for the game.

Art Director / GDD Writer / Senior Lighting & Environment Artist / Texture Artist at RSK Entertainment (Ambassador of Love)

January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2016

Led art direction and design documentation; delivered realistic historical environments and managed texture work.

Director/Lead Environment Artist/Lead Lighting Artist at Beauty Cold

January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019

Directed environment art and lighting for projects within Beauty Cold; improved cinematic quality and pipeline efficiency.

Technical Director / Senior Lighting & Environment Artist / Shader & FX Artist at VR -Karbala

January 1, 2017 - December 31, 2018

Supervised technical and art teams to achieve cinematic quality for VR project Karbala and mitigated technical issues.

Game Designer / Senior Technical Artist / Senior Shader Artist at Amytis Entertainment

January 1, 2013 - December 31, 2015

Designed gameplay and technical pipelines; delivered shader artistry and technical solutions for games.

Director / Lead Environment Artist / Lead Lighting Artist / Unreal Engine Mentor and Game Design Teacher at Beauty Cold

January 1, 2019 - January 1, 2019

Mentored and supervised teams to achieve cinematic quality for projects; taught game design concepts and Unreal Engine workflows, guiding both art and technical teams.

Mentor & Game Design Teacher at Unreal Engine Mentor and Game Design Teacher (Beauty Cold)

January 1, 2019 - Present

Supervised technical and art teams to achieve cinematic quality for VR projects and mitigated technical issues.

Mentor & Game Design Teacher at VR -Karbala

January 1, 2017 - January 1, 2018

Technical direction and mentorship for VR project development, focusing on lighting, environments, and shader work.

Unreal Engine Mentor and Game Design Teacher at Beauty Cold / Freelance

January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019

Mentored team members in Unreal Engine and game design; contributed to achieving cinematic quality for VR and realtime animations on projects such as Beauty Cold.