Animation Technical Director

Description

Ubisoft, producer, editor and distributor of video games, interactive software, and multimedia applications situated in a loft in the heart of Mile-End, Montreal, offers a stimulating work environment where creativity, friendliness and leading edge technology are how what we pride ourselves in. You will benefit from a competitive salary and a range of social advantages, packaged with the strong possibility of advancement, as well as profit from a learning environment allowing you to get hands on experience with the latest innovations of your field.

Purpose of Position:

The incumbent will determine, prepare, and adapt the animation tools used in production. The incumbent will participate in engine selection when possible and determine the best work methods based on the type of production. The incumbent will also train animators on the selected tools and methods and supervise the integration of the animation into the game engine.



Missions :

The main and routine tasks of the TD - Animation are to:

-Read the game design documents to determine the project’s technical animation needs

-Assess existing Ubisoft engines to become familiar with their strengths and weaknesses and recommend the engines that could meet animation expectations

-Participate in the design of a new engine if existing engines are inadequate, specifying animation needs to the programming team

-Test the selected/developed engine, request improvements, verify all related documentation, and correct and\or produce new documents if necessary

-Develop or find the best tools (e.g.: 3DS Max, MotionBuilder, etc) and methods to improve and facilitate the work of animators

-Test the tools before they are deployed and ensure that they work properly throughout the production process

-Create, organize, and carry out training sessions so that all animation team members are able to properly use the tools and methods

-Produce documents on the tools, methods, training sessions, processes, and engine constraints for later reference

-Coordinate and act as the point of contact between the animation and programming teams

-Regularly communicate technical constraints and their rationales to the animation team

-Establish the nomenclature of all of the files created by the animators so as to structure data location and facilitate retrieval

-Provide constant technical support for the tools and engine to every member of the animation team

-Supervise the design, integration, and validation of the in-game animations and kinematics in the engine and facial animation pipeline

-Be the technical point of contact for all technical animation issues

-Be the animation point of contact for others during knowledge-sharing activities

-Carry out all related tasks