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Lead Technical Animator
4 years ago
LEAD TECHNICAL ANIMATOR – NOVATO, CA
Who We Are:
Hello! We’re Cloud Chamber: a collaborative team of inspired minds who create games together. We strive to make unique, entertaining, and thoughtful game experiences that engage the world.
We believe in the beauty and strength of diversity, in both the makeup of the studio and the nature of our thinking. Our focus on open communication and overall well-being allows each of us to strive for excellence in our work, and happiness in our lives.
Oh, almost forgot to mention that we’re currently making the next BioShock!! I know, right? Our passion and love for this iconic franchise is what brought us together. The thrill and responsibility of creating the next iteration of such a beloved game is what keeps us going.
What We Need:
We are looking for a Lead Technical Animator to work side by side with the directors and leads to carry the vision forward. We want you to set the example, leading efforts to help us breathe life into a new and fantastical world. Together, we will set the stage for a stunning narrative and systems-driven experience.
Who We Think Will Be a Great Fit
You have a love for inspiring others and tackling challenging technical assignments head on. With significant experience developing body and facial rigs for shipped AAA games, or feature films, you will be the guiding light for our character team.
Ideally you have Lead experience and have managed the character and rigging process across departmental disciplines before. You are someone who sets a shining example for positive collaborative process. You are self-motivated, have good communications skills, and possess a great team-player attitude.
Minimum Requirements:
- Fluent in Maya with significant experience writing animation, rigging, and UI tools. Motionbuilder experience a plus
- Proficient in one or more programming/GUI languages (Ex. Python, PySide/PyQt). C#/C++/Maya API experience a plus
- A strong understanding of form, gesture, and silhouette in regard to motion. An exceptional understanding of anatomy and caricature
- A strong understanding of traditional animation principles and how they can be applied to videogames
- Experience investigating new techniques, implementing them and training the team. You are up to date with current technology and software
- A love for research, reference, and documenting your findings to share with the team
- Ability to effectively translate creative ambition and onscreen feature requests into the achievable technical tasks required to realize them.
- Experience developing/shipping AAA First-Person shooters a plus!
What You Will Do:
- Create and maintain rigs (both body and facial) and skinning, for characters, vehicles and props
- Specify, develop, and maintain rigging and animation tools for getting animations from mocap to game
- Collaborate with Art and Engineering, drive research, workflows, and technologies for improved deformations, animation fidelity, and streamlined content creation processes
- Troubleshoot technical issues related to rigs, animations, and animation performance
- Mentor and manage other technical artists - ensuring that each has clear, actionable tasking and feedback
- Work with Production to identify blocking issues, develop milestone roadmaps, and participate in short-term sprint planning
If all of this sounds as exciting to you as it is to us, we’d love to meet you. Join us in creating worlds that move people.
#LI - CC
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