Associate Rigging Director

Description:

As the Associate Rigging Director, you are part of a team focused on delivering amazing, best-in-class visual experiences. The focus will be modeling, rigging, and animation techniques to create photo realistic visuals and animation. Your position is a blend of art and technology where you'll explore new ways to drive visual quality while researching technology to drive innovation (i.e. procedural workflows, AI and ML driven solutions, etc.). 

 Responsibilities:

• Work closely with the Sr Director of Characters, Principal Animation Director, Technical Leadership, and Partner Teams (A-Team, Create, SEED, Frostbite, etc.) to drive quality, efficiency, and innovation in the rigging/animation domain.
• In collaboration with the Sr Director of Characters, the focus of work will be high impact and strategic initiatives to drive the character rigging/animation domain forward.
• Partners with the Sr Director of Characters to ensure the creative/artistic quality standards of the studio are adhered to in overall character, rigging, and animation production delivery.
• Creates prototypes for previsualization and new IP in partnership with the Sr Director of Characters and team Art Directors to determine how to approach and achieve the desired look, both technically and artistically.
• Generate simulation deformer training data for AI or ML applications, enhancing the accuracy and realism of character animations.
• Establish muscle, skin, hair, fur, and clothing simulations that integrate seamlessly into the character rigs, contributing to realistic and immersive visual experiences.
• Construct and refine character rigs, ensuring they meet the highest quality standards for photo-realism in AAA games.
• Collaborates closely with Sr Director of Characters, Animation Directors, and team Art Directors to establish rigging, and animation visual targets and workflows for partner teams and outsourcing.
• Analyzes existing rigging and animation workflows across multiple projects to propose improvements and drive alignment.
• In partnership with Technical Leadership, develop cost-effective tools and techniques to empower the creativity for the animators to create amazing content and experiences.
• Liaise with other studios in the company regarding research and development of rigging/animation production and quality based on aligned direction and vision of the studio Sr Director of Characters.
• Partners with the Sr Director of Characters to develop a 3-Year Roadmap for quality and innovation for believable characters and performance.
• Stays current within the industry and the visual arts to ensure the studio is pioneering in the rigging/animation domain and utilizing the industry-leading and/or leading-edge tools and processes.

 Qualifications:

Incorporating both artistic and technical skills, the ideal candidate will have a background demonstrating an ability to drive quality and innovation through individual and collaborative efforts.

• Minimum of 8-10 years of professional experience as a VFX Character Rigging Artist, preferably in the gaming industry or a related field.
• Experience generating deformer training data for AI or ML applications is highly desirable.
• Comprehensive knowledge of several CG fundamentals such as modeling, texturing/shading/surfacing, rigging, animation, lighting, and rendering. 

• Proven ability to develop rigs and define topology standards for deformation quality and efficiency.

• Expert at human anatomy and human locomotion.

• Experience in scripting and programming (Python, MEL, and C# desired).

• Familiarity with many modern art software packages and expert understanding of at least one (Maya, Houdini, Substance, ZBrush, etc.) 

• Expert level knowledge of FACS based facial shape modeling as well as corrective shapes for body rigging.

• Mentor and provide guidance to junior rigging artists, helping them expand their domain expertise and improve their skills.
• Write documentation for pipelines/tools created.
• Deep understanding of real-time game engine pipelines and a proven ability of delivering high quality assets while working within technical limitations.
• Ability to work independently, with minimal daily supervision.

• Possess passion, energy, enthusiasm to drive results, and highly action oriented.

• Flexible and agile: ability to adapt quickly and be effective in a highly dynamic environment.

• Able to collaborate successfully across teams and studios and effectively communicate messaging and vision.

This position reports directly to the Sr Director of Characters, providing an opportunity to contribute to the overall vision and success of the team. If you are a talented and experienced Associate Rigging Director who thrives in a fast-paced, innovative environment, we would love to hear from you.

Please include a portfolio or reel showcasing your character rigging work with your application.