Associate Animation Lead / Animation Lead (Facial Animation Specialist)

Lakshya, a Keywords Studios company, in India is headquartered in Gurgaon and has a team of over 700 employees spread across studio facilities in Gurgaon, Pune and Seattle, and sales offices in San Diego and Tokyo. Setup in 2004, Lakshya has, over the last 20 years, created a reputation in the game development industry for being a highly talented and dependable game art studio. During this time, Lakshya has created art for over a hundred game titles, including hugely successful global hits such as Bloodborne, Dark Souls II, Just Cause 3, WWE 2K16, Uncharted 2, Farmville and Cityville. Lakshya’s senior team, which comprises of top-notch International and Indian talent, has a huge amount of experience of creating art for different game platforms and genres. Lakshya blends artistic creativity with strong process orientation in order to deliver best in class services. Lakshya works closely with NASSCOM to help in the growth of the game development eco-system in India.

For more info, please refer to https://lakshyadigital.com/ 

Job Overview:

Lakshya is Looking for Associate Animation Lead & Animation Leads who can Provides leadership to the animation team on projects, acting as a sub-animation lead or lead artist as needed based on project complexity. Conducts first-level animation reviews and may engage in hands-on development work if necessary, including creating animations from scratch or refining artists' work. Supports the project team by establishing workflows, clarifying client requirements, and assisting with effort estimates and bids. Resolves project issues by collaborating with animation artists, project managers, and Animation Leads, ensuring focus on productivity, quality, and timelines.

1. Skills, Knowledge, and Experience

a. Skilled at creating high quality 3D Animations on bot Keyframe and Mocap - Characters or Creatures

b. Skilled at using industry standard software such as Maya, Max, Motion Builder, Blender. Having Unreal knowledge can act as an advantage.

c. Good knowledge of In Game Animations / Cinematics creation pipeline. Knowledge of Cinematography, Creating Previz/Storyboards can act as advantages.

d. Good knowledge of tools and techniques for efficient creation of 3D Animations for both Keyframe and Motion Capture.

e. Some experience of playing a leadership role within the Animation team – deciphering client requirements and feedback, polishing animations, reviewing the work of others, and providing critical feedback etc.

f. At least 5 years of experience as an in game/cinematics animator, out of which at least 2 years of experience should be as a Senior Animation Artist in 3D Animation team in a reputed studio. (For Associate Animation lead).

g. At least THREE years of experience in a 3D game, 3D Production or Game Art Services company in a Lead or Associate Animation Lead role.( For Animation lead)

2. Behaviors and Abilities

a. Leadership

i. In the face of ambiguity, acts decisively, after weighing the pros and cons of the different courses available, and consulting other experts / seniors.

ii. Sets a personal example for the team through their conduct and professional behavior – treating people well, coming to work on time, not wasting time etc.

iii. Seeks and understands the objective of changes and actively supports organizational efforts to increase effectiveness and efficiency.

iv. Shares his ideas, suggestions, and views honestly and openly with the managementand team to create a positive organization culture and teamwork.

v. Own the performance and development of the animation team and identify areas to develop. Work with Management to provide avenues for development.

b. Self-Management

i. In the face of a difficult or stressful situation, does not lose his / her cool. Works to keep the stress level and interpersonal friction within the team down.

ii. Works hard to establish himself / herself with the team, the client and seniors as being reliable, responsible, and trustworthy. Willingly does his / her share of the work, openly takes responsibility for their mistakes and lives up to their commitments.

iii. Keeps self-updated on new tools and techniques related to In Game/Cinematics pipelines.

c. Communication

i. Has strong communication skills and can effectively communicate directions, plans and explanations to the team verbally. Ensures that such communication is well thought out and structured.

ii. Expresses himself/herself clearly in business writing. Can write queries and explanations for the client, and directions for the team, in correct English and in an easily understandable form.

iii. Ensures that all communication and deliveries going out from the project team are complete and error-free in every way.

iv. Share timely and authentic feedback in a direct and appropriate manner to develop the Animation team.

v. Is open to take feedback in a healthy manner and improve as a professional.

A. Responsibilities

1. Client Management

a. Understands the client brief for the assigned work completely and thoroughly. Studies client directions, specifications, and references thoroughly. Develops a very good understanding of the work complexity and of the quality required by the client. b. Works closely with the Senior/Junior animation artists / Leads to capture the team’s questions before the work is estimated or scheduled. Provides a list of queries to the Lead to seek clarification on the project work.

c. Helps in the creation of bids that are competitive yet realistic.

d. During execution, ensures that questions, explanations, and delivery notes going fromthe team to the client are clearly articulated and supported by examples references. Could be an act out of own or downloaded videos.

e. Ensures that the team attends to client’s feedback promptly and efficiently.

2. Project Execution

a. Establishes a production workflow for a project that can help the team to deliver good quality work in an efficient way, without subjecting the team to long work hours and unnecessary stress.

b. Establishes an effective work review process for the project, including effective quality checkpoints, to ensure that the project’s quality goals are met.

c. Creates a daily work completion plan with the artist so that the artist has a clear idea of how much work they need to complete on a day-to-day basis.

d. Drives the production team to work as per this plan and to deliver work within the planned deadline, with no loss of productivity.

e. If required, assists in creating or polishing animations, be it Keyframe or Motion Capture.

f. Identifies key roles within the animation production process and allocates these roles to appropriate artists in the team (such as designating Senior Artists as sub-leads on a project). Clearly communicates to team members their responsibilities.

g. Works closely with the team to proactively identify potential issues and resolve them before they are escalated.

h. Conducts expert artistic reviews and limited technical review of assets (only for those aspects, if any, which cannot be checked by QC through their checklists). Provides clear directions to artists on what they need to do to fix any problems / issue that may exist in the asset, or to improve its quality.

i. Helps the team understand the client’s directions and feedback.

j. Ensures that the Project Team meetings are held daily and key points – such as client feedback, projects challenges and work allocations – are discussed in the meeting.

k. Ensures that the team asks questions at appropriate times.

l. Ensures that the team consistently and correctly creates, updates, and uses all key documents such as Feedback Tracker, Query Tracker etc.

m. Takes the lead in solving project problems related to animation quality, artist productivity, workflow, artists’ workload etc.

n. Ensures that the team adopts and uses the organization’s processes and best practices.

o. Supports the PM in establishing discipline in the project team.

3. Team Management

a. Tracks and maintains records of progress for the artists to ensure that they complete the work on their animations within the budgeted effort. Provides support to artists who may be struggling to do so. Notes and highlights any special contribution by the artists during the project.

b. Regularly communicates with the Animation team and PM team to share feedback from client and the direction of the project. Works closely with the team to arrive at solutions to address client feedback or concerns.

c. Provides regular and authentic feedback to the artists and their reporting managers, with a view to developing their art and delivery skills. Monitors their skill enhancements and regularly updates their skill levels for the PM team for appropriate work allocation.

d. Listens to the team’s suggestions and empowers the team to develop them without compromising on the quality or timelines of the project.

e. When artists don’t have adequate work on a project, ensure that they are fruitfully engaged either in self-development, creation of portfolio assets etc. …

f. Demonstrates leadership skills to communicate and lead the team to a course of action which may be difficult or unpopular, but which may be necessary for the achievement of project goals.

• We offer the opportunity to work on some of the best-known game titles in the world.
• We offer competitive salaries and annual performance-based bonuses.
• We offer generous paid time off. You get 26 Annual leaves and additional paid time off at the year-end (from 25th December to 1st January).
• We cover Term Insurance and Personal accidental insurance for you.
• Benefit from our free Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental and emotional wellbeing.
• You can also avail our Special Education Assistance Scheme to further develop your career.
• … And a lot more!