Senior Character TD

CONTRACT ROLE

Insomniac Games is looking for a contract Senior Character TD. In this role, the Senior Character TD is responsible for creating rigs for heroes, enemies, weapons, and props, and supporting Art and Animation teams with scripts and tools. Contributes to the design, implementation, and maintenance of the character rigging pipeline.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following:

• Works independently to consistently create high quality animation rigs, systems, and setups that directly contribute to the realization of successful game characters.
• Able to create AAA quality character rigs for multiple types of character features and authors simulation setups for cloth and hair.
• Effectively communicates with the project Lead, Directors and Project Manager to ensure progress is correctly reported and tracked in the Jira database, and deliverables are completed on time.
• Sets the bar for quality, speed, and communication that inspires other Character TDs as the foundation for character development.
• Collaborates directly with Character Artists, Riggers, Animators, Designers, Programmers, and other artists to ensure that the work of the team is created in the most efficient and technically responsible manner.
• Designs and develops new standalone tools to solve production challenges.
• Works with Art on modeling practices to facilitate the character set-up process and to advance the visual fidelity of character performances.
• Assists the animation team in troubleshooting setup and animation problems as they arise, especially as they relate to projects.
• Acts as an intermediary between the animation and technical teams to elucidate the workflows, needs, and terminologies of each team, and supports the Core team by creating tools and improving the DCC-to-Engine art pipeline.
• Identifies opportunities for improving the development pipeline as well as ensuring that Character TDs receive responsive and appropriate technical support.
• Ability to manage reasonable workload expectations and to communicate effectively with leadership to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
• Adheres to lawful and ethical business practices in support of a diverse team of artists.
• Other duties may be assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities: Assists leadership with mentoring more junior level Character TDs. Runs select meetings as assigned by leadership. Assists leadership in Hiring Management when requested. Runs or aids in running strike teams when requested.

Qualifications: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge,

skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Computer Skills:

• Extensive knowledge of Maya, and a working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite.
• Advanced working knowledge of MEL, Python, and PyMel scripting as it applies to character setup and animation.
• Strong working knowledge of UI development with PySide/PyQt.
• Knowledge of the Maya API and Plugin Development is a plus.

Other Skills:

• The ability to articulate thoughts and ideas effectively both verbally and in writing.
• This position may be required to help evaluate new technical tools and make suggestions in either the implementation or practical uses of said tools.
• Possess an understanding of animation techniques for the purpose of proactive problem solving and trouble shooting.
• Maintains an understanding of skeletons, facial animation methodologies, constraints and other Maya tools and systems used for character animation.