Description
Reports to: Head of Technology Department
Position Description:
A Show TD provides critical support to a production's artists, team leads and supervisors. A Show TD will support and help maintain new tools and processes for a particular project. During production, a show TD will troubleshoot and resolve technical issues to keep production moving forward. Additionally, a Show TD may be tasked with shot production work when needed and where the shot work appropriately matches the skill set of the TD.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities:
? Shepherd technology from tool developers to the production floor and to help shots progress from one department to another.
? Serve as a technical generalist who can brainstorm, devise and implement production solutions, and assist in setting up shots and providing technical support for artists working on the production.
? Help to maintain studio production tools by identifying and documenting bugs or workflow issues (and providing examples) for the production engineering development team, as well as working with artists and team leads to outline and design needed feature requests for existing tools.
? Assist animators and artists to troubleshoot production issues encountered during asset creation and shot production across the entire production pipeline, and help resolve those issues with data fixes or tool workarounds as required.
? Support and work with multiple departments, including Modeling, Rigging, Surfacing, Layout, Animation, CFX, Lighting, VFX, Stereo and R&D.
? Work effectively in a dynamic and collaborative team environment.
? Bridge the gap between art and technology by serving as an experienced technical problem-solver, exemplary communicator with a keen eye for creative aesthetics and execution.
? Participate directly in production tasks as well as develop new workflows and spec out new tools and techniques or improve existing ones.
? Oversee and support day-to-day operations of assigned projects, while exhibiting exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, addressing technical issues promptly with care and professionalism.
? Assist in the training and mentoring of Artists or other Technical Directors.
Requirements:
? 3 years or more Production experience in computer animation, visual effects or game development.
? Experience working with Maya, Houdini or any other production modeling, animation or effects software.
? Strong scripting skills, including proficiency in MEL, Python, and Linux shell; PyQt, C++ or Java a plus.
? Experience with artist tool development and tool integration within existing or new pipelines.
? Ability to establish priorities, work independently or within a group, and work with minimal supervision.
? Exceptional communication, trouble-shooting and problem solving skills.
? Experience with Tractor, Deadline, Qube or other render farm management software.
Education
? B.S. or M.F.A in Computer Animation, Computer Graphics, Engineering (or equivalent) is preferred.
Other Desired Skills:
? A strong combined technical and creative background with in-depth knowledge of current 2D and 3D
computer graphics techniques as they are used in the feature film and media production industries.
? A professional history of collaboration on projects with teams of varied sizes and disciplines.
? Any experience in artist tool and pipeline development in production environments, as well as some
proficiency in mathematics.
? Experience with visual effects in Maya or Houdini.