Description
Come join
the award-winning God of War development team!
Santa Monica Studio is looking for a Senior Animator to help us create
imaginative and visually stunning worlds that set the bar for creativity and
complexity on the PS4. This individual
will contribute to the vision of amazing, top-of-class games, animating and
breathing life into the performances of our characters and game world.
Solid key
frame skills, a strong understanding of animation techniques, and a thorough
knowledge of motion capture animation principles and pipelines are all required
for this role. The ideal candidate must be able to work with high-level
direction, and should also possess strong leadership skills, production sensibilities,
and the drive and talent needed to produce and implement the highest quality
work.
As a Senior
Animator, you must possess the ability to effectively collaborate with the Animation
Director and Game Director to create characters that are visually stunning,
while also working with a wide range of development team members to ensure
technical feasibility.
Responsibilities:
- Work with a group of animators to create compelling and consistent
performances for all major characters and utilize both hand and mocap animation
techniques to create animation of primary and secondary characters.
- Create high-quality character animation at a quality bar suitable for
next-generation console development in order to define and achieve a product’s
visual style and encourage artistic evolution within the studio.This entails expanding methods to improve the
production pipeline, tools, systems, and visual integrity.
- Work closely with the Animation Director, Lead Animator, and animation
team to develop animation practices and assets that fulfill the requirements of
the project’s game design and visual design.
- Resolve a broad range of complex artistic development issues for both
artists as well as other team members.
- Proactively facilitate requests or information needs regarding any
aspect of the animation creation process.
- Work in a team-oriented environment and use organizational and
interpersonal skills on a daily basis, bringing a creative and proactive
attitude to the task of animating performances.
- Actively advance skill set and abilities by keeping aware of industry
trends and techniques, evaluating competitive products, and learning new
software packages and traditional art methods.
Requirements:- A strong
demo reel that demonstrates a high level of proficiency of classic animation
principles and its fundamentals (staging, timing, anticipation, follow through,
exaggeration, squash, and stretch) as well as the ability to create the full
range of lifelike performances from the subtle to the dramatic and powerful.
- Demonstrated
extensive professional character animation experience in the entertainment
industry, showing command of weight, timing, and posing through manipulating
motion capture data as well as key-framing.
- Good understanding of camera movement, staging, and storytelling
techniques that will be carried through the creation of cinematic sequences.
- Expertise in working with motion capture performance data is a plus,
including proficiency in Maya, Motion Builder, and motion capture editing, and
experience with both body and facial performance capture pipelines.
- Working
knowledge extending Maya and Motion Builder functionality. Knowledge of scripting in Maya and Python
would be a plus.
- Highly
knowledgeable with video game product development including, but not limited to:
experience animating bipedal characters that showcase both acting/pathos and
action performances, creature animation, mechanical (machinery) animation, and facial
animation with lip-sync.
- Excellent
communication, time-management, and organizational skills. Must possess a
strong ability to work across multiple disciplines to gather feedback and
address cross-functional issues. Penchant for practical innovation and the
ability to bring new ideas to the table.
- Must be
passionate about games and proactively analyze competitive products for their
strengths and weaknesses.
- B.A. in
fine arts or relevant curriculum, or equivalent skillset
- Minimum 4 years’
industry or related experience
- 1 or more
published titles working with motion capture performance data a major plus
Headquartered in San Mateo, California, Sony Interactive Entertainment America LLC (SIEA) – the creator of PlayStation® - is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC , with oversight for operations in the United States, Canada and Latin America. For over two decades, PlayStation has been a market leader, serving as the ultimate destination for millions of gamers across the world.
SIEA has offices and creative studios in San Diego (San Diego Studios), Los Angeles (Santa Monica Studios), Aliso Viejo (Gaikai), Bend, OR (Bend Studios) and Bellevue, WA (Sucker Punch Productions). It is our immensely talented employees, who are deeply passionate about their love of gaming, which has given us the ability to empower game creators to unleash their imaginations and deliver new gaming experiences. Additionally, SIEA participates in a variety of higher education and high school based programs to help nurture young talent to fulfill their dream of working in the gaming industry.
SIEA provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. SIEA does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, marital status, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, national origin, or any other category protected by applicable federal and state law. SIEA also makes reasonable accommodations for disabled applicants and employees.