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Technical Animator

At Rockstar Games, we create world-class entertainment experiences.

A career at Rockstar Games is about being part of a team working on some of the most creatively rewarding and ambitious projects to be found in any entertainment medium. You would be welcomed to a dedicated and inclusive environment where you can learn, and collaborate with some of the most talented people in the industry.

Rockstar San Diego is looking for an experienced and passionate Technical Animator focused on Facial Animation to help research and develop new technology for future titles as well as improve on existing technology and tools.

This role will involve the development of new approaches and workflows within the scope of animation including both core animation as well as facial motion capture (facial tracking, facial animation, facial rigging, facial recognition). A person taking on this role will also be involved in improving pipelines currently in place as well as managing workflows for the very large number of files and assets that make up our games.

The ideal candidate will have at least 2 years of video game or VFX industry experience in a similar technical role working in at least one of the typical “industry-standard” DCC packages such as Motion Builder or Maya, possess a solid understanding of object-oriented programming, and have a background working in a technical support role for animation. Bonus points for having a solid foundation in math as well as experience working with a facial motion capture pipeline.

WHAT WE DO

• We interact closely with the Face Animation team to support animation production efforts.
• We support facial rigging pipelines, including investigations for improvement of facial rig and animation solving solutions.
• We work with Technical Artists to maintain and improve our proprietary animation tools.
• We create and support tools and plugins that improve our animation creation and editing workflows.
• We collaborate effectively with other team disciplines, predominantly Animation, Tech Art and Animation Programmers for runtime solutions.
• We bring innovation to technical problems and challenges throughout production - from content creation through to the game.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work closely with animators, automation, and other TAs to create tools and improve pipelines that ensure the best results from our production workflows and processes.
• Help develop and build on the facial animation and recognition pipeline.
• Support facial pipeline and be heavily involved in face assets from motion capture.
• Support and help develop automated solutions to help process large amounts of animation data more efficiently for the animation team.
• Support facial rigging workflow and pipeline.
• Support and help create production tools to support new pipelines and future tech.
• Write documentation for pipelines/tools created.
• Stay current with and research new technology solutions.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Strong Python programming skills, and a 3D math background.
• Experience creating tools for animation/animators.
• Experience using source control software (i.e. Perforce, Git).
• Strong communication, self-management, and organizational skills.
• Experience using 3D DCC software (Motion Builder and/or Maya).

PLUSES

Please note that these are desirable skills and are not required to apply for the position.

• Knowledge of current facial capture approaches, FACS poses, facial blend shape rigs, feature detection, etc.
• Experience with facial animation, facial motion capture, and/or facial tracking.
• Experience using a solver based face animation package (Dynamixyz or Faceware).
• Experience with C# scripting or OpenCV is a bonus.

HOW TO APPLY

Please apply with a resume and cover-letter demonstrating how you meet the skills above. If we would like to move forward with your application, a Rockstar recruiter will reach out to you to explain next steps and guide you through the process.

Rockstar is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to hiring, promoting, and compensating employees based on their qualifications and demonstrated ability to perform job responsibilities.

If you’ve got the right skills for the job, we want to hear from you. We encourage applications from all suitable candidates regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, belief, or race.