Narrative Animator (Contract)

Join the award-winning team that created God of War

Santa Monica Studio is seeking a Contract Narrative Animator for the development of an upcoming new title. Do you love collaborating with talented developers to build genre-defining games? Join us as we embark on a new journey!

The Contract Narrative Animator contributes to the overall project vision by breathing life into our character performances, creatures, and game story. They have practical experience of prototyping, developing, and implementing performance-driven narrative animations, can effectively balance aesthetic goals with technical constraints, and have a proven track record of execution from concept to ship.

The Contract Narrative Animator will work closely with the Animation Director, Animation Leads, Technical Artists, and Narrative Designers to deliver visually stunning animation work in support of the creative goals of a large-scale new project.

The ideal candidate has held a junior or mid-level role on at least one published title, is equally comfortable with keyframe and motion-capture animation pipelines, is comfortable working in Maya and MotionBuilder, and has worked with multiple game engines and animation systems. The ideal candidate is passionate about the craft of animation, demonstrates a strong understanding of visual storytelling, and has a proven ability to combine creativity with technical capability to deliver visually stunning in-game animated experiences.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Animation Director, Animation Leads and the Design and Programming teams during the pre-visualization process to develop performance-driven narrative 3D pre-vis
• Ideate, implement and iterate on animation assets, balancing the needs of style and function
• Focus on character development, visual storytelling, choreography, and timing of each sequence with the Animation Director and Narrative Animation Lead
• Collaborate with Designers and Programmers to achieve the perfect balance between animation fidelity and technical requirements, to integrate animation assets into the game engine, and to monitor and troubleshoot any technical issues that might arise
• Animate keyframed characters, creatures, and props by hand – this includes hand-keyed facial expressions and lip sync as necessary
• Assemble, edit, clean up, and enhance motion capture data shot on stage, including both body and face
• Assemble and prepare navigation and narrative move-lists for shooting on the motion capture stage
• Work with the Character Tech Art team to improve character rigs, tools, and workflows
• Proactively facilitate requests or information needs regarding any aspect of the animation creation process
• 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. in fine arts or relevant curriculum, or equivalent skillset
• 1-3 years of industry or related experience
• A strong demo reel that demonstrates expert knowledge of fundamental animation principles and acting skills, and the ability to create a full range of lifelike performances from the subtle to the dramatic and powerful
• Proficient command of weight, timing, and posing through both keyframing and the manipulation of motion capture data
• High level of proficiency in Maya
• High comfort level with learning and utilizing animation systems and game engine pipelines
• Ability to rapidly prototype, iterate, and explore animation style and functionality
• Ability to succeed in a creative, team-oriented environment
• Excellent communication, time-management, and organizational skills
• Ability to work across multiple disciplines to gather feedback and address cross-functional issues
• Strong production sensibilities, and the drive and talent needed to produce and implement the highest quality work

Preferred Experience

• AAA experience
• Experience working with MotionBuilder
• Experience working with proprietary animation engines and toolsets

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