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Lead Character Artist

2 years ago

Electronic Arts Inc. is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. EA develops and delivers

games, content, and online services for Internet-connected consoles, mobile devices, and personal

computers.

At EA, we thrive on bold thinking. It’s the fuel that inspires the best games in the world. We’re

innovators and great storytellers. But it’s not just about amazing your peers—it’s about amazing

yourself. Take risks. Collaborate with brilliant minds and dare to dream big. Together, we can change

the way millions play every day.

We are EA—the world’s largest video game publisher. You’re probably familiar with many of our

titles—Madden, FIFA, The Sims, Need for Speed, Dead Space, Battlefield and Star Wars, to name a

few. But maybe you don’t know how we’re committed to creating games for every platform—from

social to mobile to console—to give our consumers that anytime, anywhere access they demand.

What does that mean for you? It means more opportunities to unleash your creative genius, be

inspired by those around you and ignite your path in any direction you choose.

SEED and the Challenge Ahead

SEED is an innovation and applied research hub in EA Worldwide Studios. We bring together

world-class talent and experts to explore, build, and help define the future of interactive

entertainment. Our work combines creativity with state-of-the-art technologies.

We deliver and foster innovation through research, prototypes, exploration, and integration with

game teams. Our bedrock is never-ending curiosity. We collaborate with industry partners, and we

publish and present our research within our industry and to the public. Our recent work includes:

bringing digital humans and characters to life; using machine learning for game AI and testing; and

developing novel real-time graphics and physics techniques.

We are looking for a Lead Character Artist to work closely with our researchers and developers to

help build technology to create game worlds of the future.

What does a Lead Character Artist do at SEED?

Sculpt high-resolution characters
Create clean game topology, UV’s and textures
Support character concept and design
Work with Technical Art Director to drive and maintain high visual quality of character models
Partner with engineers and tech artists to develop an effective character art pipeline
Mentor the internal and external character teams through verbal and written feedback
Communicate the visual design and development of the characters through art specifications, style guides and reference material
Deliver feedback to outsourcing partners
With your knowledge, you may also work with game teams and central technology groups, and collaborate with other engineers in overlapping areas
From time to time, you may be asked to work with game teams to understand needs, and contribute your work directly to the games under development

Qualifications

Previous character lead experience within a game production environment
Excellent understanding of anatomy, weight and silhouette
Mastery in industry standard software like Maya, ZBrush, Substance Painter/Designer and Photoshop
Demonstrate an expert understanding of human anatomy, clothing construction (wrinkle behavior), proportion, silhouette, and topology, and how it relates to rendering and deformation
Demonstrate an understanding of a broad mix of character-related disciplines such as modeling, texturing, shading, rigging and binding, animation, facial animation, and blend shapes
Knowledge of the latest industry-standard tools, workflows, and techniques including physically based rendering, and xgen hair grooming
Able to integrate and setup data into our different game engines
Experience with Marvelous designer
Experience with photogrammetry
Understanding of rigging and skinning
Strong organizational and communication skills
Passion for collaboration with other artists and programmers
Critical eye for detail

We are looking for talented, self-motivated individuals with the capability and drive for innovation,

with a strong desire to explore and master new areas. We want passionate, creative, and

communicative people. Our employees are involved and self-driven, and in return, we provide great

autonomy and true influence. You’re encouraged to share your work, publish, open source, and

speak at conferences.

If you want to be part of—and work with—some of the best talent in the field, then SEED is the team

for you!

To learn more about SEED and our impactful work, check out https://seed.ea.com/