Who we are
Nebula is an animation studio making short-form documentaries about the startups, scientists, and ideas changing the world. Most fascinating stories in tech never get told. The founders are too busy. Journalists can't get access. The format doesn't fit. We built Nebula to fix that. Every video we make is fact-checked before we animate a single frame. We'd rather make fewer videos and get them right.
About the role
As a 3D Animator, you take a rough AI prototype video and rebuild it as a finished piece in Blender. We hand you the approved prototype cut, the script, and the storyboard, and you follow the prototype shot for shot. AI drafts the base meshes and textures to give you a fast start, but you are the creator. You finalize every asset in Blender, where the quality is under your control, then assemble the scene, match the camera, light it, run simulation where a shot needs it, animate, and render. The ideal candidate has spent years in Blender, uses AI to move faster without letting it set the bar, has strong attention to detail, and cares about every frame.
What you’ll do
Before we dive into the technical aspects of the role, here are the character traits we look for in a new hire:
Candor. You value honesty and problem-solving over the appearance of politeness. You're not afraid of confrontation but understand the value of each interaction. People respect you because you use candor as a tool to build them up, not a weapon to break them down.
Conscientiousness. You genuinely like other people. In particular, you understand that the people who work with you are more than disposable assets. You aspire to be an unblocker, working to help others succeed and trusting them to return the favor.
First-principles thinking. You're allergic to dogma, habitually question institutional knowledge, and never fall back on "common sense" to explain anything. You make your decisions based on credible evidence. You only start working on a project if you can explain why you're doing it.
Responsibilities
Asset creation: Draft the base mesh and textures with AI, using Tripo AI as the primary image-to-3D tool and falling back to Microsoft TRELLIS.2 for the mesh and Hunyuan3D-Paint for retexturing only when Tripo misses. Finalize every asset in Blender by fixing the geometry, cleaning the topology, and bringing the textures up to the required quality bar, so the quality is yours rather than the model’s. Pull your references from the rough AI prototype and the storyboard frames.
Scene assembly: Build the scene from your finalized assets in Blender and animate it to follow the prototype.
Camera matching: Match the camera to the mockup shot so the framing and timing hold and the edit does not change.
Lighting and render: Light the scene, run simulation where a shot needs it, and render the finished piece in Cycles.
Craft: Catch the flicker, the shape that changes between cuts, the light that drifts across a sequence. The finish is what separates a Nebula video from a rough cut.
Who you are
You embody candor, conscientiousness, and first-principles thinking. You prioritize problem-solving and respectful confrontation. You question the status quo and make decisions rooted in evidence.
You treat generative AI as a craft, not a shortcut. You know the difference between a prompt that gets you 80% of the way there and the small set of moves that close the final 20%. You don’t romanticize older tools, and you don’t fetishize newer ones. You pick what works for the shot.
Required qualifications
5+ years of hands-on Blender experience across modeling, scene assembly, camera work, lighting, and rendering.
Hands-on experience drafting 3D assets with AI image-to-3D tools like Tripo AI, Microsoft TRELLIS.2, and Hunyuan3D-Paint.
You can take generated assets and a storyboard and turn them into a finished video that makes a viewer feel something in a short format. This is the skill we value most.
You have a strong, specific aesthetic point of view and can defend it without being precious about it.
You are proficient in written and spoken English.
What we offer
A high-trust, remote-first studio culture
Close collaboration with the Creative Director and the story team
A team that values clear thinking, craft, and direct communication
Competitive compensation based on experience and impact
At Nebula, we seek team members who are creative, proactive, and unafraid to speak their minds. We welcome diversity of thought and cultivate a unique company culture founded on the principles of low power distance and radical candor. If your skills and inclinations align, please apply.
