Principal Technical Animator
Description
THE STUDIO
We are a company for gamers, by gamers. We believe that truly good and deeply compelling games are timeless and will ultimately prevail over fine-tuned shallow addiction cycles. Our mission is to make deeply engaging and technically outstanding games, while embracing all the opportunities of cross-platform, new business models and a games industry in flux.
We are looking for motivated and highly skilled people who share our love for making outstanding games. You will need to be ready to take on the task of being part of a small but experienced and dedicated team, not be afraid to get your hands dirty, and have a can-do attitude. Join us! It’s going to be a thrilling ride.
PRINCIPAL TECHNICAL ANIMATOR
As a technical animator at Super Evil, you'll leverage your expertise to help us build world class animations and animation technology. You'll provide valuable insights, tools, and support to ensure the project's animation elements are of the highest quality and by taking a leadership role in this capacity, you'll play a crucial part in driving the success of the game we produce and the internal tools and technology we build.
You will be responsible for helping guide our team to create high quality character setups, including the rigging of various heroes, enemies, weapons, vehicles and props, and support Animators and other developers with scripts and tools, both as an individual contributor as well as a source of authority for best practices and principles.
WHAT YOU'LL DO:
- You will contribute to the design, implementation and maintenance of the animation and rigging pipeline and develop scripts in support of the art pipeline
- Work closely with engineers to assess existing animation and rigging tools, and occasionally design custom ones to improve pipelines.
- Support animators, game designers, and riggers with their technical needs, and informatively and constructively explain the root causes of risks, blockers, etc.
- Set the standard and help to author the highest quality character (humans, animals, creatures, weapons, vehicles and props) rigs and systems
- Sets up technical animation / simulation setups for things such as hair and cloth for real-time in-engine or for animation within Maya
- Guide and train team members on tools and techniques and bring expert level knowledge for best practices for rigging, animation blending, and animation state machine authoring
- Participate in recruitment to build the animation team & foster their professional development
- ~7 years of animation, rigging, and scripting experience
- ~3 years as a principal or leader
- Strong Python and Maya scripting proficiency
- Expert level knowledge of animation blending and animation state machines
- Experience creating/modifying auto-rigging and skinning tools
- In-depth knowledge of character rigging techniques and principles
- Ability to create appealing skin deformations
This base pay range is for the United States only and does not apply to international locations. The range for each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by location and additional factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.
Do you feel like you don’t meet each and every requirement on the job description? Many people don't apply for jobs unless they feel they exceed at every one of these job requirements. It’s very important for us at SEMC to ensure we have a diverse and inclusive group of talent, so please go ahead and apply!