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Technical Animator (6 month Contract) - Runescape

This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced Technical Animator to work closely with the existing art and animation teams to deliver effective rigging and animation solutions across humanoid, quadruped and a wide range of fantasy creatures. This is a varied and challenging role that encourages creative input, teamwork, and personal development. The successful applicant will co-develop and support the rigging pipeline and workflow, and will join an experienced team of artists, working on our flagship PC and mobile title, RuneScape.

· Develop and deliver control rigs which include features such as secondary animation, drag joints, jiggles and smears using third-party frameworks e.g Rapid Rig.

· Collaborate with Technical Artists in the design and development of facial rigging solutions for creatures and humans, using the unreleased Rapid Rig 3.0.

· Delivery of rigs with high performance and excellent mesh deformation.

· Identifying inefficiencies and problems in existing pipelines and propose and develop solutions.

· Collaborate with technical artists and animators to implement tools and workflow improvements, supporting the animation team with rigging/skinning solutions and problem solving.

· Collaborate with engine and tools teams to deliver high quality animation to the game.

· Work cross discipline to develop new techniques to improve the game’s animation.

· Document tools and processes required to educate animators (internal and external) on new tools and workflows.

· Learn and develop proficiency with all required pipeline tools.

· A strong demo reel that shows working evidence of delivering rigs and pipeline tools from previous projects.

· Evidence of experience rigging and skinning complex characters/creatures/objects to realistic and exaggerated styles in games.

· An excellent eye for animation with a thorough understanding of animation principles.

· In-depth knowledge of Maya, and experience with Python, Qt Frameworks (PySide, PyQt), and familiarity with the Maya API

· Understanding of planning and implementing blend trees and state machines to aid animation to engine implementation.

· Curious mindset with strong processes for proactively identifying and solving rigging problems.

· Good knowledge of human and creature anatomy with an understanding of biomechanics

· Excellent communication skills with ability to liaise and collaborate across art and tech disciplines.

· Good working knowledge of animation implementation in UE/Unity or equivalent game engines.

· A keen interest in investigating future technical animation workflows and pipelines from the rest of the industry.

We can only consider applicants who include evidence of their work, along with breakdowns in an online format such as personal website, blog, Github, or online album

A leader in creating deep and engaging experiences on PC and mobile, Jagex was founded in 2001 and is today one of the UK’s biggest and most respected video game developers and publishers.

Famed for its flagship MMOs RuneScape and Old School RuneScape, Jagex has welcomed more than 260million player accounts to its world and created a $1bn lifetime franchise revenue. Today the RuneScape franchise exists beyond running games in live operations; our titles are living games that connect and inspire millions of players, with content and experiences both inside and outside of inexhaustible game worlds.

Both RuneScape and Old School RuneScape, on PC and mobile, offer ever-evolving, highly-active worlds and our community-focussed development ethos empowers players to have a real say in how each game is shaped.

Jagex is expanding and extending its portfolio with fresh franchise titles, new IP and, in 2018 launched Jagex Partners, delivering third-party publishing and operational services exclusively for the living games of the future.

Jagex employs more than 400 people at its Cambridge headquarters and is on the hunt for talented people to work across the business to help the company to achieve yet another year of record growth and player satisfaction.

- Flexible Working

- Bonus Scheme

- Private Health Care

- Gym Membership

- Monthly Energy Allowance

- Generous Pension Contributions

- Life Insurance

- Free Cycle Repair

- Income Protection

- Dental Plan

- Free Fruit and Drinks

- Subsidised Canteen

Feel like you fit this role, but don’t meet all the requirements? We strive for fresh perspectives, so as long as you can demonstrate how your attitude and other abilities might make up for any gaps we would welcome your application!

Jagex are an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief.