FX TD - Senior

Position Purpose

Senior FX TDs will act as an example to and mentor junior and mid level artists. They are responsible for delivering high quality work for shows within the assigned time frame. They will apply notes provided by the FX Supervisors/FX Leads. In addition, they will assist junior artists regarding techniques, and approaches for FX. They will guide junior artists through the workflow process within the department to explain how their work connects to other departments.

Senior FX TDs will proactively seek solutions with FX Leads and members of other departments. They are expected to communicate clearly ensuring they receive data to resolve shot related issues. Senior FX TDs will work with their Supervisor and Lead to implement technical and creative solutions to shows.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Create multiple types of realistic and believable effects (ie. rigid body and particle dynamics, procedural geometry generation, fluid dynamics and cloth simulations) under supervision using the studio pipeline and tools
• Create and maintain studio wide FX tools, setups and best practices
• Create shaders, render passes, beauty renders, slap comps and FX comps
• Estimate the time required for tasks and communicate with your lead and show production coordinator any issues which may prevent you completing tasks within the schedule
• Attend rounds, dailies, reviews, one to one and team meetings as required
• Communicate issues, changes to simulations and art direction during rounds to the FX Lead
• Communicate changes to simulations and art direction during dailies to the VFX supervisor
• Working with the FX Lead to address notes on your work, while providing solutions to aesthetic issues. You’re expected to improve the shot by maintaining a quality level as described by the show VFX Supervisor / FX Lead.
• Support other departments' needs, (Lighting, Compositing, etc) and ensure information is communicated to necessary departments
• Assist members of the FX team to learn and grow their skills to meet their career aspirations by providing informal feedback, tips and tricks, and encouragement
• Regularly read and maintain FX documentation on the wiki, and be a source of information to junior members of the team

Education and Experience

• Minimum 3 years of feature film/TV production experience as an FX artist in Houdini

Skills and Abilities

Technical skills

• Excellent knowledge and demonstrated work experience in Houdini
• Excellent knowledge of creating HDA’s in Houdini and providing user support
• Able to pick up large Houdini FX setups and run shots
• Able to build large Houdini FX setups with multiple dependencies and elements
• Strong knowledge of VEX and Hscript.
• Strong knowledge of Arnold (preferred) and or another 3D Renderer
• Strong knowledge of common data formats ( e.g. VDB, Alembic etc )
• Strong knowledge of compositing
• Strong knowledge of asset management within a complex VFX pipeline
• Working knowledge of Nuke

Core skills

• Enthusiasm to learn new methodology and workflows
• Able to troubleshoot and deal with competing priorities
• Excellent eye for detail and quality control of FX elements (smoke,fire,destruction etc)
• Strong understanding of image composition and creative story points
• Excellent time management and communication skills
• The ability to work alongside, communicate with, and understand the requirements of other departments ( e.g. Animators, Creature FX, Lighting, Comp, R&D etc )

Desirable skills and education

• Higher education in related fields
• Python scripting
• Linux / Unix scripting
• Working knowledge of Maya
• Working knowledge of Gaffer
• Experience with other solvers and simulation tools (e.g. Naiad, realflow, Bullet, Blastcode, etc)
• Knowledge of HDK