Senior Animator / Motion Capture Artist

Who we are 

The Sandbox is a metaverse, a virtual world where players can build, own and monetize their own voxel gaming experiences on the Ethereum blockchain, using NFTs and token $SAND. We are building a deeply immersive gaming virtual world metaverse where creators get the chance to make games next to gaming giants and brands such as Snoop Dogg, The Walking Dead, The Smurfs and more. The Sandbox has more than 5 million accounts created and is a leading actor in the Web3, Metaverse and blockchain gaming industries.

About The Role

We are seeking an experienced and highly skilled Senior Animator with Motion Capture expertise to join our team. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in creating high-quality and dynamic character animations, with extensive experience in game development and custom game engines. As a Senior Animator, you will play a crucial role in bringing our game characters to life, ensuring fluid and responsive animations that enhance the player experience. You will also mentor junior animators, work with motion capture data to refine and enhance the captured movements, and collaborate with designers and programmers to give the game the best chance to capture the players imagination.

Key Responsibilities

Animation Production

• Create high-quality, dynamic character animations using both motion capture and traditional keyframe techniques.
• Clean up and enhance motion capture data to bring more life to captured movements.
• Collaborate in setting up motion capture shoots; knowledge of directing mocap shoots is a bonus.
• Develop proof of concept for new techniques and ideas for proposals to creative and technical leadership.

Team Leadership & Mentorship

• Mentor and guide junior animators, providing feedback and sharing best practices to boost the team's skill level.
• Allocate animation assets and roles to team members based on specialization and project requirements.
• Communicate expected standards of quality and project schedules to the animation team.
• Join/Lead the review sessions & iterative refinement of animation assets with creative and technical feedback for improvement.

Collaboration

• Work closely with creative leadership, designers, and programmers to finalize animations that align with project requirements.
• Communicate animation requirements and options to support decisions based on budgets and timeline constraints.
• Collaborate on the development of gameplay animations, state machines, and animation systems.

Project Management

• Work closely with the Animaiton Lead and Project Manager on project schedules for the animation team.
• Define priorities and workflows of the animation pipeline to meet production goals.
• Provide estimates to build the animation lists for our projects.
• Communicate project status, goals, and updated timelines to the team regularly.

Technical Expertise

• Lead the adoption of new technologies, practices, and features to achieve the creative vision.
• Drive the development of animation assets by guiding the team with creative inputs and technical expertise.
• Ensure animations meet a high-quality standard while being optimized for performance.

Quality Assurance

• Review all animations to ensure a unified look and feel of the game.
• Guide game, script and storyboard analysis to enable the team's understanding of animation requirements.
• Manage animation outsourcing pipelines when collaborating with external vendors.

Qualifications:

• 5+ years experience as an animator in the video game industry.
• Shipped at least one AAA title in a Senior or Lead Animator role.
• Strong demo reel showcasing expert knowledge of animation principles and motion capture cleanup.
• Advanced proficiency in Maya, MotionBuilder, or equivalent software.
• Expert in both mocap and keyframe animation techniques for games.
• Strong understanding of rigging, modeling, and animation state machines.
• Experience with gameplay animation techniques.
• Ability to establish and build upon animation style guides.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and visual.
• Passion for games and animation.

Bonus Skills:

• Experience setting up and directing motion capture shoots.
• Understanding of next-gen asset creation pipelines and tools.
• Familiarity with custom game engines.

Headhunters and recruitment agencies may not submit resumes/CVs through this website or directly to managers. The Sandbox does not accept unsolicited headhunter and agency resumes. The Sandbox will not pay fees to any third-party agency or company that does not have a signed agreement with The Sandbox. In the event of any unsolicited resumes sent to The Sandbox or to The Sandbox ATS they will be considered The Sandbox property. The Sandbox will NOT pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited resume. The Sandbox will consider any candidate for whom an Agency has submitted an unsolicited resume to have been referred by the Agency free of any charges or fees.