Technical Assistant, Level I
Description
The Technical Assistant I (TA) is responsible for providing
front line rendering and data management support for ILM VFX Production teams
and the facility. TA’s are also responsible for managing storage by wrangling
data through archiving, removing data and following resource management best
practices. The TA team ensures full utilization of the render farm during their
shift and communicates as technical issues affecting the throughput the farm
arise.
- Prioritizes overnight renders. Coordinates processor
allocations with Production Engineering & Show Production teams. Balances
processor demands within show, between shows, and as a share of facility pool.
- Responsible for reporting issues with frames post render to
the digital artists and CG Supervisors and work to find a solution.
- Works to ensure full resource utilization during the night.
Manipulates priorities to ensure that renders are completed by next business
day. Reports any machine problems or general issues that hinder the completion
of renders to the appropriate department.
- Monitors disk usage for the facility, with a particular
focus on individual shows, and on a shot-by-shot basis within those shows.
Coordinates show storage needs on a long-term basis with Digital Resource
Manager.
- Works with the Digital Resource Manager, CG Supervisors and
Production Engineering team to ensure show follows proper data management
procedures.
- Prioritizes, manages, and maintains archive of show data,
including creation of archival backups for shows, maintenance of archive
database, storage and retrieval of physical media for recent show archives.
Fulfills all data restoration requests, including archival research to locate
requested data.
- Responsible for maintaining and updating department tools.
Works closely with Production Engineering to ensure that code is clean and well
maintained.
- Participates in development projects; writes
production and pipeline scripts and tools as required to support ongoing
technology efforts.
Requirements
Education / Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Film Production or
equivalent degree.
- 1-2 years relevant work experience
Required Skills / Competencies:
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills required.
Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to effectively interact with
diverse personalities.
- Proven ability and experience working well on teams.
- Strong time management skills; Ability to multi-task and
prioritize.
- Aesthetic eye and/or artistic background highly desired.
- Familiarity with film and video post-production and/or
computer graphics techniques highly desired.
- Proven ability to work autonomously and in team settings.
- Highly motivated.
- Strong problem solving skills
- Ability to adapt to a high pressure, fast-paced, dynamic
environment
- Ability to work shift hours as required
Technical Skills:
- Proven Knowledge of and experience with Mac, Linux &
Windows operating systems.
- Strong scripting language (e.g. Python, Perl) and
programming language (e.g. C/C++, Java) is a must.
- Knowledge of, and experience with, 3D animation software
(e.g. Maya) highly desired.
- Database knowledge preferred (e.g. Oracle, Redis, MongoDB,
Cassandra)
- Knowledge of networking, tape backup systems, hardware a
plus
- VFX, Feature Animation or Episodic production
experience a plus
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