Character Animator III Job at Ursus, Inc. in Menlo Park

JOB TITLE: Character Animator III
LOCATION: 100% Remote, PST preferred
DURATION: 5 months
PAY RANGE: $48-58/hour
TOP 3 SKILLS:

• Motion Capture Animation Expertise: Proficiency in motion capture technology and software, such as Motionbuilder, is essential for crafting realistic character animations.
• Real-time Animation Experience: Familiarity with real-time animation techniques and tools, such as Unity or Unreal Engine, is crucial for delivering high-quality VR/AR projects.
• Simulation Technical Expertise: Knowledge of simulations, including cloth and hair dynamics, is necessary for creating believable character interactions and immersive environments.

COMPANY:
Our client is a Fortune 500 multi-national technology company headquartered in Menlo Park, CA.

Job Description:
Our client's mission is to build tools that help people feel connected, anytime, anywhere. Lifelike, interactive characters are an important part of this mission. As a Character Animator on the team, you'll be working with a talented group of industry professionals leading the way in this emergent and creative space. If you're excited about forging into new territory and pushing the boundaries of real-time character animation across a variety of products, this may be the place for you.

Responsibilities

• Create and push the craft of real-time and pre-rendered character animation
• Create emotion and expressivity through facial animations
• Create believable and visually appealing character animations/poses
• Work with the Art Director, Animation Leadership and the immediate creative team to collaborate, pre-visualize, and create great animation for VR/AR and 2D media
• Work with the Engineers, Tech Artists and Character Artists to develop and improve animation systems (facial, cinematic, move-tree, procedural) that will raise the bar within the required technical constraints
• Work with multiple vendors, collaborating and giving feedback on technical and artistic solutions
• Proactively identify areas in the production pipelines and execution to improve and actively participate in cross-functional settings to create solutions
• Collaborate with the Animation team to create memorable, emotive characters
• Find solutions to technical challenges and improve animation methodology within pipelines

Minimum Qualifications

• Strong teamwork and communication skills, ability to receive and offer feedback
• Experience creating industry leading, key-frame animation for vfx, film, games or real-time applications
• Expertise in Maya
• Experience working within distributed/remote team environment and/or animation vendors

Preferred Qualifications

• Real time animation experience
• Proficiency in Motion Capture Animation in Motionbuilder
• Proficiency in Unity
• Proficiency in Unreal Engine
• Technical experience with simulations (Cloth, Hair) or crowd character animation
• Experience working in VR/AR environments

Must-Have Skills

• Motion Capture Animation Expertise: Proficiency in motion capture technology and software, such as Motionbuilder, is essential for crafting realistic character animations.
• Real-time Animation Experience: Familiarity with real-time animation techniques and tools, such as Unity or Unreal Engine, is crucial for delivering high-quality VR/AR projects.
• Simulation Technical Expertise: Knowledge of simulations, including cloth and hair dynamics, is necessary for creating believable character interactions and immersive environments.
• Collaboration and Communication Skills: Effective collaboration with cross-functional teams, including Art Directors, Engineers, and Tech Artists, is vital for successful project execution.
• Character Animation Experience: A strong background in character animation, with a focus on creating engaging and realistic performances.
• Game Development Experience: Proven experience working on game projects, with a deep understanding of game engines, pipelines, and workflows.

Nice-to-Have Skills

• Proficiency in Facial Animation: Specialized knowledge of facial animation techniques and software can enhance the emotional expressivity of characters.
• Experience with Procedural Animation: Familiarity with procedural animation techniques can help create more efficient and scalable animation systems.
• Knowledge of Crowd Character Animation: Understanding crowd simulation and animation can be beneficial for creating large-scale scenes and environments.
• Scripting and Programming Skills: Basic programming skills, such as C# or Python can be useful for automating tasks, creating custom tools, and integrating animation systems with other software.

Seniority level

Associate

Employment type

Contract

Job function

Design, Art/Creative, and Information Technology

Industries

Computer Hardware Manufacturing, Software Development, and Computer Games

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