CG Technical Director

LAIKA/Entertainment is seeking a CG Technical Director to join our studio for our next stop-motion animated feature film.

The Technical Director is an experienced technical problem-solver and will be called on to participate directly in production projects, as well as to develop new workflows, tools, and techniques and improve on existing ones.

• Helps determine appropriate technical approaches based on aesthetic, technical and budgetary parameters.
• Researches new computer graphic techniques, develops and implements them appropriately.
• Troubleshoots problems between various disciplines: modeling and texturing changes throughout production, character setup adjustments, animations issues, lighting and rendering problems.
• Addresses changes in productions, schedules and their ramifications to the pipeline.
• Develops efficient, production-ready tools (plug-ins, scripts, stand-alone) for the Production.
• Helps monitors render issues and optimizes rendering times.
• Maintains a high level of quality while working on multiple projects under aggressive deadlines.
• Must be able to troubleshoot technical and aesthetic challenges.
• Supports production by providing assistance to other departments when necessary.

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant area of study (e.g., computer science, broadcasting, computer animation, etc.)
• 2+ years of commercial or visual effects experience as a Technical Director, with a strong emphasis in modeling and one or more of the following areas: animation, surfacing, character setup, fx animation, lighting, rendering, and/or compositing.
• Experience in C/C++, scripting, or some other object-oriented programming language.
• 3 + years of computer animated (fully animated or live action mix) commercial or feature film experience as a Technical Director preferred.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience working with several of our production applications: Maya, Nuke, MTOR, prman or equivalents.
• Experience working in Linux.
• Ability to work in an extremely fast-paced environment; previous experience in commercial and/or film effects.
• Experience with effects-related tools and techniques (cloth/hair/fur/particle/rigging).

Disclaimer
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified.

LAIKA Entertainment

LAIKA is an animation company specializing in feature films, commercials, branded entertainment, broadcast series, interactive content, broadcast graphics and short films. The company has a 30-year animation history presenting the artistry of award-winning filmmakers, designers and animators and is based in Portland, Oregon. Portland is a city known for its quality of life: A 5,000-acre park within city limits; the world’s largest independent bookstore; microbreweries; restaurants and coffee shops on every other corner; no sales tax; and someone's always there to pump your gas. In fact, it's the law.