80 Level Job Digest: Great Positions for FX Artists, Animators & Software Engineers

Responsibilities:

• Experience with Keyframe animation and motion capture data, with fundamental animation principles
• Support and improve the integration of animation assets from Maya (or equivalent 3D tools) to Unreal Engine 4
• Contribute to improving the animation pipeline
• Own the skinning process for a variety of characters, weapons, garments and gear
• Manage code and content delivery with Perforce
• Document process

Tasks:

• Perform cloth setups, cloth sims, vellum and various RBD setups and sims to perfectly match the physics of real materials, which maintain/contain character motion and deformation systems; secondary dynamics systems.
• Assist in the creation of complex costume embellishments (cloth, hair, fur, feathers, small, embellishments, scales etc.) and help with grooming.
• Setup simulation- and animation-ready procedural scatter assets with properly prepared, texture maps/IDs for material development.
• Maintain and develop a library of in-house procedural assets.
• Develop new techniques and processes to solve technical production challenges.
• Work closely with Cloth Designers, Character Artists & Character Animators. 

Specific Functions/Activities Summary:

• Collaborate closely with Engineering Lead to design, prototype, and develop VR / Desktop / Mobile applications, tools, and plugins for simulation and visualization of content for our venues to integrate into our previz / capture / dailies pipelines.
• Work closely with Software Operations, Systems, and Venue Tech teams to integrate and test our tools on various hardware configurations.
• Connect and integrate our applications with cloud-based backend solutions and services for Dailies review and approval.
• Collaborate closely with Productions and other departments to share pipeline innovations, improvements, and help integrate our custom tools.
• Communicate technical approaches and support proofs of concepts / projects with various partners and vendors.
• Write technical documentation and clearly communicate complex solutions and challenges, even to non-technical staff.
• Work on multiple projects and prioritize tasks for each.
• Stay current on relevant technology and conduct necessary research, due diligence, prototyping, and testing to assess emerging technology options.
• Identify areas that require attention and work with the Software project management team to ensure time and resources are properly allocated.

Responsibilities:

• Creating and designing high quality real-time visual FX for characters, environments and gameplay.
• Assist in establishing the visual style of the VFX alongside the Art Director and Design team.
• Optimizing visual effects for performance while maintaining high-quality standards.
• Maintain the production pipeline and meeting deadlines.
• Working closely with other departments while creating and implementing VFX assets.
• The ability to work from photo reference or concept art, or found footage to deliver a fully game ready asset including texturing and shading in game engine.
• To deliver on the spec given by the Art Director by helping to set and maintain a high-quality bar for the projects VFX.

Responsibilities:

• Assign and review tasks for simulations such as Pyro, Fluids, Destruction, and all kind of experimental effects.
• Mentor and lead FX Artists in their development by providing artistic guidance and technical expertise.
• Together with Supervisors, evaluate the creative and technical approach for assigned shots and sequences.
• Drive the technological development of the workflow of your team and the entire pipeline.
• Maintain good team dynamics and show initiative in solving everyday problems.

Job Tasks: 

• Creating and implementing Visual effects and pushing them beyond the industry standards
• Being able to follow references, concepts, and art direction while also having the initiative to take the work further independently
• Drive VFX development and communicate with peers, managers, and vendors
• Work closely with the team to ensure that quality is consistent and cohesive

What you will be working on:

• Consult with clients to understand their goals and help them overcome technical challenges
• Provide production insight into R&D feature development
• Broaden and deepen your knowledge of Houdini while maintaining close contacts with the industry and anticipating trends
• Create production-quality example content and example tools
• Explore and prototype experimental Houdini workflows and tools
• Conduct usability testing to verify feature work in production use cases
• Understand Houdini workflows with partner technologies
• Other duties as assigned