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Senior Cinematic Animator
2 years ago
Responsibilities:
Reporting to the Animation Director, the Senior Cinematic Animator is responsible for creating high-caliber, dramatic and action-oriented character animation for cinematic scenes in the game. Candidates need to have excellent animation skills, a firm background in storytelling, an in-depth understanding of cinematic principles, as well as strong organizational and communication skills. In addition to creating top-tier cinematic animation content, the Senior Cinematic Animator will also help to define standard workflows and drive tools development with the tech animation team.
Essential Functions:
- Create dynamic cinematic animation primarily through motion capture with some hand-keyed elements
- Work with the Animation Director and the production team to provide reasonable time estimates, and ensure that the quality bar is being hit while still meeting deadlines
- Take scenes from concept to completion
- Establish basic timing and camera layout through previs
- Implement mocap/pcap data into the scene for editing and cleanup
- Ensure proper implementation of the scene in-engine
- Address animation feedback from the Animation Director to ensure visual consistency across all cinematic animation
- Work with Animation Director and tech animators to define standard workflows and drive tools development
- Attend standups and meetings as required
- Respond quickly to changing requirements and feedback
- Know the game’s story and gameplay context to better inform the animation work being done
- Act as a mentor to associate/mid-level animators in terms of technical/artistic aspects
Preferred Qualifications:
- Minimum 5 years of animation experience
- Extensive experience with Maya
- Demo reel showcasing solid acting and dynamic body mechanics with both motion capture and hand-keyed work
- Expert understanding of animation principles (timing, staging, follow through, etc.) as they apply to film and games
- Excellent interpersonal, communication, and time management skills
- Able to take ownership of areas of cinematic animation and operate with some level of autonomy
- Knowledge sharing attitude
- Good grasp of how other disciplines interact with Animation
- Ability to work on animations from the concept phase all the way through to implementation in-engine
- Bonus points if you have experience with:
- Artist mentorship
- MotionBuilder
- Rigging and character art pipeline
- Gameplay animation
- Unreal Engine
Aspyr is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at Aspyr are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social or ethnic origin, sex (including pregnancy), age, physical, mental or sensory disability, HIV Status, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, past or present military service, family medical history or genetic information, family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. Aspyr will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. Aspyr encourages applicants of all ages.
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