Cinematics Animation Lead
The Gearbox Entertainment Company is an award-winning creator and distributor of entertainment for people around the world. Gearbox Entertainment develops and publishes products through its subsidiaries, Gearbox Software and Gearbox Publishing. Gearbox Entertainment has become widely known for successful game franchises including Brothers in Arms and Borderlands, as well as acquired properties Duke Nukem and Homeworld. Gearbox’s ambition is to entertain the world and its key driving objectives include the pursuit of happiness for our talent, partners and customers, the prioritization of entertainment and creativity and a measured respect for profitability. For more information, visit www.Gearbox.com.
The Gearbox Entertainment Company is building a cinematics team dedicated to providing high-quality presentation of visual storytelling and narrative performance within our multiple franchise mediums. Come help tell incredible stories inside our games and help reach an even bigger audience of dedicated players and enthusiasts!
The Cinematics Animation Lead drives high-quality animated performances within the cutscenes and narrative moments of Gearbox games.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Working close with the Cinematics Director and Cinematics Producer, help establish scope and process in the pipeline development of cinematic cutscenes and signature moments within Gearbox games, driving unique, memorable, and inspiring animated performances.
- Help to establish, prototype, and revise the cinematic animation pipeline, providing valuable feedback on the process from "page to picture." This includes strong collaborations with rigging, character art, and performance capture teams.
- Align and collaborate with other Gearbox Animation Leads to keep a unified presence of character and experience within the cinematic performances that aligns with gameplay animation design and principles.
- Be a contributor of animation tasks, driving the high-quality, richly character driven animation within the cinematics, leading and influencing by example.
- Give team feedback and drive "dailies / rounds" in order to continuously align and steer the animation effort towards success.
- Troubleshoot pipeline processes and work to improve them.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor’s degree in Art/Film/Animation or equivalent experience.
- Outstanding demo reel.
- Minimum 4 years of experience working with animation on AAA video game titles and/or minimum 4 years of experience working in the Film/VFX/Animation industry.
- Strong communicator, leading with a positive, problem-solving attitude that others would be inspired by.
- Ability to receive direction and feedback, as well as give direction and feedback to others.
- A deep love for film, animation, and video games.
- A strong passion for animation and innovation in storytelling performances in all mediums.
- Expertise using Maya and/or MotionBuilder.
- Experience and understanding of game engine workflows like Unreal, Unity, or equivalent.
- Experience with task tracking systems (JIRA, TFS, Shotgun, etc.)
NICE-TO-HAVES:
- Previous experience as a lead or in leadership role.
- Experience with the processes of shooting and cleaning performance capture.
- Strong understanding of character and facial rigging.
- Experience with version control systems (Perforce, Subversion, Git, etc.)
Gearbox Entertainment believes that all team members should be able to enjoy a work environment free from all forms of discrimination and harassment. We are committed to reflecting the diversity of the world we strive to entertain. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we provide fair and equal treatment to all team members and applicants. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy or maternity, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable national, federal, state or local law.