Associate Principal Technical Artist: Performance Capture Pipeline

At Rockstar Games, we create world-class entertainment experiences.

Become part of a team working on some of the most rewarding, large-scale creative projects to be found in any entertainment medium - all within an inclusive, highly-motivated environment where you can learn and collaborate with some of the most talented people in the industry.

Rockstar Games is looking for a passionate Associate Principal Technical Artist to work with our award-winning development team. You will have the opportunity to develop new tools and technologies, improve pipelines, and manage complex workflows for the vast amount of files and assets that make up our games.

This is a full-time, permanent and in-office position based in Rockstar's state-of-the-art game development studio in Edinburgh, Scotland.

What We Do

• Interact closely with our various stage, post, and animation teams, in addition to Tech Art and IT.
• Support performance capture pipelines and workflows.
• Work hand in hand with the animation pipeline team to ensure seamless back and forth between the performance capture and animation departments and their processes.
• Continually innovate while solving technical problems throughout all phases of production.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and support Python tools and processes to enhance our stakeholders' pipelines.
• Leverage automated solutions to efficiently process large amounts of data.
• Write various types of automated tests for new and existing code.
• Write clear documentation for tools and workflows created.
• Participate in discussions and brainstorming sessions with developers and stakeholders.
• Provide thorough, thoughtful, and useful feedback (code reviews, mentoring those with less experience, buddy checks, etc.).
• Engage in team-based problem solving to diagnose unexpected issues within the realms of virtual production and animation, including troubleshooting our systems in a live, stage environment.
• Embrace your role as a principal by working independently, helping guide initiatives, and forging connections in all teams.
• Assist with technical direction and support for a team of developers.

Requirements

• 7+ years of professional experience as a Technical Artist or similar role writing tools.
• Experience working through several full game production cycles or equivalent experience working on long term projects or toolsets.
• Experience using optical motion capture technology.
• Experience using markerless facial motion capture technology.
• Ability to effectively communicate, provide feedback, and inspire teammates.
• Comfortable bringing forward and actioning new ideas to improve technology and processes.
• Excellent programming skills in Python (5+ years) with a strong ability to produce clean, readable code.
• Solid understanding of version control systems and related best practices.
• Working knowledge of both Windows and Linux.

• Experience writing the following:

• Qt based applications in Python via PySide or PyQt.

• Tools and plugins in at least one DCC (Maya, MotionBuilder, etc).

• Tools for virtual production stages, layout teams and/or animation teams.

• Experience writing database and event driven toolchains.

• Experience supporting large, legacy codebases.
• Experience with common database query languages, APIs, and structuring data.
• Experience with leveraging CI/CD systems to automate testing and deployment of tools.
• Experience with fundamental Python packages: OpenCV, Numpy, SciPy.

PLUSES
Please note that these are desirable skills and are not required to apply for the position.

• 3+ years of experience with writing Qt based tools and plugins in MotionBuilder.
• 3+ years of experience with writing tools and plugins for game engines.
• 2+ years of experience working with Python 3.
• Experience converting Python 2 codebases to Python 3.
• Experience with OpenImageIO, OpenTimelineIO, USD, Rez.
• Experience with writing Qt based applications in C++.
• Experience and/or interest in integrating web technologies into desktop environments.
• Passion for playing and making video games.

How To Apply
Please apply with a CV and cover letter demonstrating how you meet the skills above. If we would like to move forward with your application, a Rockstar recruiter will reach out to you to explain next steps and guide you through the process.

Rockstar is committed to creating a work environment that promotes equal opportunity, dignity and respect. In line with this commitment, Rockstar will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified job applicants with disabilities during the recruitment process in order for such applicants to be considered for the position for which they are applying, as well as to qualified employees to enable them to perform the essential functions of their roles. If you need more information about Rockstar's reasonable accommodation policies or process, or need to request an accommodation, please contact the Human Resources Department.

If you've got the right skills for the job, we want to hear from you. We encourage applications from all suitable candidates regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, belief, race, or any other protected category.