Character Animator III Job at Ursus in Menlo Park

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

1. Motion Capture Animation Expertise: Proficiency in motion capture technology and software, such as Motionbuilder, is essential for crafting realistic character animations.
2. 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.
3. 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:

1. Create and push the craft of real-time and pre-rendered character animation
2. Create emotion and expressivity through facial animations
3. Create believable and visually appealing character animations/poses
4. 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
5. 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
6. Work with multiple vendors, collaborating and giving feedback on technical and artistic solutions
7. Proactively identify areas in the production pipelines and execution to improve and actively participate in cross-functional settings to create solutions
8. Collaborate with the Animation team to create memorable, emotive characters
9. Find solutions to technical challenges and improve animation methodology within pipelines

Minimum Qualifications:

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

Preferred Qualifications:

1. Real time animation experience
2. Proficiency in Motion Capture Animation in Motionbuilder
3. Proficiency in Unity
4. Proficiency in Unreal Engine
5. Technical experience with simulations (Cloth, Hair) or crowd character animation
6. Experience working in VR/AR environments

Must-Have Skills:

1. Motion Capture Animation Expertise: Proficiency in motion capture technology and software, such as Motionbuilder, is essential for crafting realistic character animations.
2. 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.
3. Simulation Technical Expertise: Knowledge of simulations, including cloth and hair dynamics, is necessary for creating believable character interactions and immersive environments.
4. Collaboration and Communication Skills: Effective collaboration with cross-functional teams, including Art Directors, Engineers, and Tech Artists, is vital for successful project execution.
5. Character Animation Experience: A strong background in character animation, with a focus on creating engaging and realistic performances.
6. Game Development Experience: Proven experience working on game projects, with a deep understanding of game engines, pipelines, and workflows.

Nice-to-Have Skills:

1. Proficiency in Facial Animation: Specialized knowledge of facial animation techniques and software can enhance the emotional expressivity of characters.
2. Experience with Procedural Animation: Familiarity with procedural animation techniques can help create more efficient and scalable animation systems.
3. Knowledge of Crowd Character Animation: Understanding crowd simulation and animation can be beneficial for creating large-scale scenes and environments.
4. 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.

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