Animator (Contract)

Senior Animator

Electronic Arts’ Firemonkeys Studio in Melbourne, Australia is regarded throughout the industry as a leader in delivering high quality, engaging games on iOS and Android. We have a position open for an enthusiastic Senior Animator to join our well-established The Sims Freeplay team.

We’re looking for a creative and motivated person who will join our small team of Animators to deliver high quality animated assets that engage and inspire our players, and work with Artists, Designers & Engineers to help shape our products. You will create character animations that express a range of emotions and personalities for The Sims Freeplay and will work both independently and collaboratively to implement final animations into a Live Service game pipeline.

You will receive direction and feedback from the Animation Team and report to the Animation Director.

Responsibilities:

• Make games with a diverse team of Animators, Artists, Game Designers, Sound Designers and Software Engineers.
• Work with the animation team to develop high-quality, expressive keyframe animation with heavy emphasis on full body mechanics, character acting and emotional transitions.
• Refine animation content in multiple iterations and aesthetic styles to support ongoing products and new prototypes.
• Work within animation guidelines set by Team Leads and the Live Service schedule.
• Provide feedback on tools, rigs, and workflows' impact on animation content.
• Collaborate with peers and supervisors on creative approaches to tackle project tasks.

Requirements:

• An animation reel that showcases hand keyed character and creature animations.
• Experience with game production pipelines and processes and have shipped at least two titles or have 4+ years of professional character animation experience in a related field.
• Proficiency in using Maya, Max or equivalent 3D animation software systems.
• Demonstrated application of Animation Principles to create stylized, expressive, and emotive character performances.
• A developed understanding of body mechanics to create fluid and believable character animations that demonstrate a good sense of physical motion, weight, balance, and form.
• Open to learning and working with proprietary animation run-time implementation tools.

Preferable Additional Skills:

• Basic/mid-level 3D modelling
• Basic/mid-level 3D rigging
• Experience using scripting languages

Why join us?

• Great compensation package
• Flexible working hours
• Friendly, experienced, and professional co-workers
• Fully stocked games areas, coffee machines, fresh fruit, casual dress code... and MORE!

Please provide a portfolio including example of your animation work with your application. If this sounds like you, we would like to hear from you today. To click ‘apply’ for your potential career at EA!