Game Development · RP-GD-0036

Eslam Zaki

SeniorTechnical Artist

Unity technical artist and 3D art lead: shaders, real-time VFX and rigging for XR, mobile and live events

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  • Remote Pro Ai team member · under contract
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  • 5yearsprofessional experience
  • SeniorSeniority level
  • UnityPrimary stack
  • DubaiBased in · United Arab Emirates · GMT+4

Eslam Zaki

Profile summary

Unity technical artist and 3D art team lead delivering shaders, real-time VFX, rigging, animation and optimized 2D/3D assets across mobile, PC, Quest 3 and holographic event hardware. At ODS Labs builds URP and Shader Graph content for GITEX, Expo City and enterprise activations; at EduVR and Digital Pen leads 3D art teams on XR learning products and the Steam title Car War Legends. Earlier shaped educational VR, AR and WebGL games at Nahdet Misr. Bridges art and engineering through Maya-to-Unity pipelines, light baking, pipeline documentation and C# support.

  • Sectors

    • Games
    • Education
    • Media

Eslam Zaki

10 roles

Experience

Most recent role first, with outcomes as stated in the CV.

  1. Senior Unity Technical Artist

    Option 1 Group (ODS Labs)

    – PresentExpo City, Dubai, UAE

    • Build and optimize real-time Unity content for live activations, exhibitions and launches on ODS Labs’ immersive hardware, including Dragon O volumetric displays, Holobox, Hypervsn, LED Sphere, transparent OLED, kinetic lights and interactive 3D AI avatars.
    • Author custom URP shaders, Shader Graph networks and real-time VFX for LED-wall virtual production and holographic brand installations, balancing visual impact with performance on event-grade hardware.
    • Develop XR applications for Meta Quest 3, mixed-reality headsets and projection installations supporting GITEX, Expo City and enterprise activations across the GCC.
    • Prototype AI-powered experiences (AI photo booths, interactive avatars, conversational 3D characters) as a core R&D team member, integrating sensors, motion tracking and RFID into Unity.
    • Maintain modular Maya, Substance Painter, Houdini, ZBrush and Unity pipelines and document tooling to speed onboarding across ODS Labs, ODS Films and ODS Creatives.

  2. Senior Unity Technical Artist

    EduVR

    – PresentDubai, UAE

    • Lead the 3D art team delivering game-ready assets to XR project requirements and performance benchmarks.
    • Create and optimize 2D/3D assets, rigs and animations (Maya, Spine 2D) and real-time VFX for Quest 3 and MR/VR devices.
    • Design interactive levels and environments optimized for Quest 3 and adaptable to Apple Vision Pro, HoloLens and other MR platforms.
    • Implement lighting and shader workflows and maintain documented pipelines for mobile, PC and Quest 3.

  3. Senior Unity Technical Artist

    Digital Pen

    – PresentSaudi Arabia (remote)

    • Improved in-game performance by 40% through asset-integration work, coding support and AI-assisted problem-solving.
    • Led the 3D art team on Car War Legends, linking Maya rigs to Unity animation controllers and implementing Shader Graph VFX across device profiles.
    • Created rigged and animated characters and props (Maya, Spine 2D) and real-time VFX for mobile and PC titles.

  4. Unity Technical Artist

    Nahdet Misr Publishing Group

    – Egypt

    • Improved cross-platform performance stability by 60% through real-time rendering techniques and optimized lighting setups.
    • Created and optimized 2D/3D assets, rigs, animations and VFX for educational games across VR, AR, WebGL, PC and mobile.
    • Developed AR/VR learning experiences with Unity’s XR Toolkit, including a VR cybersecurity serious game and a VR construction-safety game.
    • Provided Unity 3D technical solutions to instructional designers as part of the R&D team.

  5. Unity Technical Artist (project-based)

    FitNot

    – Egypt

    • Improved cross-device gameplay smoothness by 20% through geometry, texture and material optimization and light baking.
    • Directed 3D modelers, built production shaders and real-time VFX, and rigged and animated assets.
Show earlier roles (5)Hide earlier roles

  1. VFX Artist (project-based)

    Bananas XR

    – Germany

    • Created projectile, explosion and impact VFX and interactive shield shaders for a VR first-person shooter, improving gameplay smoothness on VR headsets by 20%.

  2. Unity Technical Artist (project-based)

    Arcon

    – Dubai, UAE

    • Optimized lighting, light baking, retopology, shaders and VFX for an educational science VR game, and designed its VR levels.

  3. Unity Technical Artist

    Dosos X

    –

    • Built optimized PC game assets, lit scenes, and created storyboard-driven Timeline animations and custom shaders.

  4. Unity Technical Artist

    D2D Art

    – Dubai, UAE (remote)

    • Retopologized, rigged and animated assets for Kinect-based motion-tracking games.

  5. Unity Developer

    Nahdet Misr Publishing Group

    – Egypt

    • Developed 2D educational games in Unity, including oral and silent reading templates and a Grade 3 math tracing game, with Spine 2D character animation.

Eslam Zaki

5 projects

Selected projects

Shipped titles and products, with the role played on each.

  • Car War Legends

    3D art team lead and technical artist

    Steam title (Digital Pen): Maya-to-Unity animation workflows, real-time VFX and lighting optimization.

    • Unity
    • Maya
    • Shader Graph

  • Fananees Jump & Fananees Run

    Unity technical artist

    Mobile games on Google Play and the App Store (FitNot): rigging, custom shaders, VFX, light baking and environment layout.

    • Unity
    • Maya

  • VR Cyber Security (serious game)

    Technical artist and level designer

    VR cybersecurity puzzle game for Nahdet Misr: GDD, modular levels, rigging and baked lighting.

    • Unity
    • XR Toolkit
    • Maya
    • Spine 2D

  • VR Safety Serious Game for Construction

    Technical artist

    VR hazard-identification training with custom shaders, VFX and occlusion-culled, atlas-optimized scenes.

    • Unity
    • Maya

  • Rehlatiy

    Technical artist and gameplay designer

    Educational games for grades 1, 2 and 3 with Spine 2D animation and custom Unity import workflows.

    • Unity
    • Spine 2D

Eslam Zaki

8 core skills

Skills

Core skills first, then the full toolkit by theme.

Core skills

  • Unity
  • Shader Graph & URP Shaders
  • Real-time VFX (Particle System)
  • Rigging & Animation (Maya, Spine 2D)
  • Real-time Performance Optimization
  • Lighting & Light Baking
  • XR (Meta Quest 3, MR)
  • Asset Pipeline Development

  • Shaders & VFX

    • Shader Graph
    • URP shaders
    • Particle System
    • Holographic & LED-wall content

  • Rigging & animation

    • Maya
    • Spine 2D
    • Weight painting
    • Unity Timeline

  • Optimization & lighting

    • Retopology
    • Light baking
    • Occlusion culling
    • Texture atlasing
    • Static batching

  • Content tools

    • Substance Painter
    • ZBrush
    • Houdini
    • Marmoset Toolbag
    • TopoGun
    • Photoshop
    • Illustrator

  • Platforms

    • Meta Quest 3
    • Mixed reality
    • Mobile
    • PC
    • WebGL
    • Kinect

  • AI-assisted content

    • ChatGPT
    • Meshy AI
    • Avaturn
    • Midjourney

Eslam Zaki

Education and certifications

Degrees, certifications and awards on record.

Education

  • Diploma in Game ArtInformation Technology Institute (ITI) · 2020
  • Bachelor of Computer ScienceMisr Higher Institute for Computer Science · 2017

Certifications

  • Ubisoft certificateUbisoft

Eslam Zaki

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