Senior Technical Animator

1 month ago

London, Greater London, United Kingdom Sharkmob Full time
We're looking for a Senior Technical Animator to join Sharkmob London and play a crucial role in ensuring character animations seamlessly blend into the game engine while maintaining visual excellence.

As a Senior Technical Animator, you'll collaborate closely with Animators, Artists, and Engineers to advance animation systems, rigs, and pipelines, contributing intrinsically to the creation of captivating and immersive characters. Leading and contributing to the development of intricate and highly efficient character rigs capable of accommodating a variety of character types and animation styles.

Your responsibilities will also include...
  • Ensure optimal deformation, control systems, and rigging workflows
  • Lead the enhancement and streamlining of the animation pipeline, emphasizing efficient data management, animation blending, retargeting, and transitions
  • Implement best practices for a smoother workflow
  • Create and maintain custom animation tools, scripts, blueprints, and plugins to allow Animators to work efficiently
  • Collaborate with the Technical Animation team to develop solutions that enhance the animation process
  • Oversee the integration of motion capture data into the animation pipeline
  • Refine and adapt motion capture data to align with the game's style and technical requirements
  • Collaborate with Motion Capture teams to ensure high-quality data capture
  • Act as a technical problem solver, addressing complex animation-related challenges
  • Lead efforts to resolve issues related to character deformations, animation artifacts, and performance optimization
  • Collaborate across teams to understand animation requirements and implement solutions that align with artistic and technical goals
  • Provide mentorship and guidance to Junior Technical Animators, helping them develop their skills and ability
  • Set a high standard for quality and innovation in animation technology
  • Play a key role in testing and debugging animations within the game engine
  • Ensure that character animations meet both artistic and technical specifications and perform optimally in-game
  • Maintain comprehensive documentation for animation pipelines, rigs, and tools
  • Promote knowledge sharing within the technical animation team and across the development organization
The skills and experience you'll bring to the role...
  • 5 or more years' experience as a Technical Animator in games
  • Expertise in character rigging, animation tools, and animation pipelines
  • Proficiency in animation software such as Maya, 3ds Max, or Blender
  • Strong programming/scripting skills in languages like Python, MEL, or C++
  • Ability to tackle and solve complex technical challenges related to character animation, deformation, and performance optimization
  • Strong communication skills with the ability to inspire a team, work in cross-functional groups, and convey technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders
  • Able to adapt to evolving project requirements and embrace emerging technologies and techniques in animation
  • Portfolio showing senior-level technical animation work, including character rigs, animation tools/scripts, and examples of successfully resolved technical animation challenges
  • Strong understanding of game design principles with a commitment to the creation of immersive and engaging gaming experiences
Perks and benefits include...
  • Visa sponsorship for you and your family
  • Relocation support if moving to the UK or from within the UK
  • 30 days annual leave plus public holidays
  • Discretionary annual performance-based bonus
  • Private pension (10% total, up to 5% individual contribution matched by Sharkmob)
  • BUPA private Healthcare, Cigna dental cover, life insurance scheme and income protection policy
  • £425 yearly preventative healthcare allowance
  • Flexible working hours
  • Weekly 'wellness hour' to be used each week during office hours
Sharkmob know the most important element of their studio is their team, they strive for a healthy and productive atmosphere in their office, they do this by providing feedback to each other, promoting a healthy work life balance, distributing ownership, and making time for social activities and having fun

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