Cinematic Assembly Animator

This position is for temporary engagement through our staffing partner DZConnex. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States for this position.

This is a hybrid position and will be based in our studio in Santa Monica, CA.

For 40 years, Naughty Dog has been crafting best-selling, critically acclaimed games that constantly push the boundaries of narrative, gameplay, and technology. Naughty Dog recently released The Last of Us Part II Remastered as well as a current generation remake of The Last of Us Part I for the PS5. We're also proud to say that The Last of Us Parts I and II are now available for the first time on PC. Currently, we’re busy at the kennel working on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, and we'd love to find talented individuals to join us.

Naughty Dog games have long been lauded for their evocative, character-driven stories and attention to detail. We are committed to innovation within our games and as such have curated some of the top creative and technically innovative minds in the industry. We welcome diverse candidates and believe that a broad range of cultural and life experiences contribute to the overall well-being and success of the studio and the titles we craft together.

The Cinematic Assembly Animator will be responsible for prepping and setting up cinematic assets in Maya and in game. They will work closely with Editorial and the Cinematography teams on the iterative revisions of scenes layout. They will make sure the scenes are building and running in the game engine.

What you will do:

• Maya: Assembling cinematic scenes with characters/sets/props

• Loading character mocap data as Time Editor clips

• Updating the timing for iterative editorial passes

• Engine: Creating necessary assets to build cinematic animations into the game engine

• Debugging issues that may arise either in Maya or in Engine to ensure we maintain efficient workflow for the team

• Potential to also support the cinematography team with rough layout of cameras for scenes (skill set depending)

• Potential support of Facial performance solving

What skills you will use:

• Experience with character animation using Maya

• Should be Proficient using Maya’s Time Editor

• Basic understanding of scripting

• Technically proficient, able to grasp new processes and workflows quickly

• Be a creative, innovative problem solver

Bonus Skills:

• Experience with animation production for games

• Have experience working on cut scenes and/or interactive animation

• Have experience using nonlinear animation editors (Time Editor, Story tool (mobu), etc.)

• Experience animating realistic humans, including facial animation

As a part of the Naughty Dog application process, candidates will be expected to provide a portfolio or demo reel of their work and may be asked to complete a skill assessment test.

The estimated base pay range for this role is listed below, this is an hourly rate.

$57.69 — $72.12 USD