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Senior Technical Artist (Animation)
3 years ago
Would you like to work on some of the greatest franchises in gaming history? What about working on our new original IP? Certain Affinity is the largest independent developer in Texas, based out of Austin, and a growing presence in Toronto, Canada. Our culture reflects the values and the vibrant nature of the cities we call home. This includes a commitment to evolution, diversity, excellence, and work-life balance. We're best known for co-developing numerous AAA FPS games, though now we are creating compelling new games of our own. We're always on the lookout for amazing talent to join our team.
As a Senior Technical Artist (Animator) at Certain Affinity, you will get the chance to see some of the custom 3D tools and pipelines behind the world's biggest shooters and contribute to our proprietary technology. This role requires an energetic individual to take a hands-on approach to our pipeline management and tools creation for our studio art team. If you have a desire to create world-class characters and enjoy technical work, we'd like to hear from you.
Responsibilities
- Ability to write tools to facilitate Rigging (Tech Animation) and Animation Pipeline
- Proficient in coding and the ability to set up modular rigging pipeline
- Establish and promote coding standards within the tech animation department
- Ability to mentor other riggers
- Collaborate with character artists, animators, and tools programmers to develop animation rigs and pipelines for characters, vehicles, and props
- Support the modeling and animation teams by advising on topology & deformation, maintaining rigs and pipelines, troubleshooting, and implementing the desired functionality
- Implement and troubleshoot in-game assets
- Maximize aesthetic quality while respecting and enforcing project performance constraints
- Research and implement in-engine dynamic solutions such as hair, cloth, ragdolls, etc.
- Maintain and polish in-engine animation state machines
- Explore, document, promote, and integrate cutting-edge processes and techniques to help keep studio animation quality competitive
- Seek ways to improve and streamline art pipelines, drive quality, and improve team efficiency
Requirements
- 5 years' experience in rigging and skinning characters, creatures, vehicles, and props
- Expert-level proficiency with Autodesk Maya
- Portfolio showing off your work
- Mastery of Python scripting for extending content creation tools and automating tasks
- Experience in Unreal Engine 4
- Strong knowledge of facial rigging and deformation
- Possess an approachable, customer-oriented demeanor
- Strong communication skills and desire to collaborate with art, design, and engineering
- Experienced in ramping up a technical animation team in a variety of engines and toolsets
- Experience with performance capture systems within Motionbuilder
- A desire to work in a diverse and inclusive environment
- A deep passion for games
Extra Credit
- Animation key-framing
- Knowledge of C++ or C#
- Experience writing Maya plug-ins
- FBX SDK
Certain Affinity or its partners or affiliates run background checks on candidates or employees with the written authorization from the candidates or employees. These may be done for the purposes of offering employment or determining eligibility to work on a specific project. Multiple searches may be required.
Certain Affinity does not accept unsolicited referrals or resumes from any source other than directly from candidates.
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