Senior FX Artist II

Team Name:

Cinematics

Job Title:

Senior FX Artist II (SFD / Cinematics)

Requisition ID:

R025040

Job Description:

Blizzard Entertainment is looking for a talented Senior FX Artist/Developer to assist our cinematics team in crafting the next generation of our award-winning animated films. You will work in partnership with modelers, animators, texture artists, lighters, and compositors to ensure shots are delivered to the highest standard.

This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The home studio for this role is Irvine, CA.

What You Bring to the Table

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

You should be skilled at providing simulations and systems that mimic real life phenomena such as smoke, fire, and water. You will also need to have strong art skills to help design and implement abstract magical and technological effects. Basic compositing skills will be required for FX slap-comps for review by the supervision team. 

While a strong artistic eye is required, you will also need to be able to help prototype artist tools and work with our technical team to implement that tooling at a high level.  This position will also have the expectation of being able to lead teams of FX artists on individual shows, so leadership skills are also a requirement.  A strong background with procedural tools and methodologies is also highly desirable.  In addition to pre-rendered cinematics, our FX artists also work with custom and industry-standard game engines to provide real time cinematic effects.  Experience with or a strong desire to learn real-time effects is a must for this position.

Minimum Requirements

Experience

• A minimum of 10+ years’ experience in producing feature film quality effects in Houdini

• Extensive experience with particle systems, fluid dynamics, rigid body dynamics, and procedural systems

• Experience with node-based compositing software such as Nuke

Knowledge & Skills

• A deep understanding of physical dynamics and natural phenomena

• Proven track record creating effects such as smoke, fire, clouds, water, steam, explosions, magic, etc.

• Deep understanding of feature film level pipelines and their respective issues

• Experience with or a strong desire to learn real-time effects

• Experience with current industry trends in rendering

Key Attributes

• Able to problem solve both technically and creatively in a collaborative environment with directors / art directors

• Able to stay current with the latest tools, technologies, and techniques

Extra Points

• Experience with VEX

• Experience using PDG for shot and asset production

• Experience with USD

• Experience with Solaris as a lighting and authoring toolset for USD

• Experience with C++ or Python

• Experience with real-time effects for cinematics or game development

• Working Knowledge of Mantra, Karma, RenderMan or Redshift renderers

• Experience with the Axiom solver toolset

Your Platform

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

Our World

Activision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™ and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

Our ability to build immersive and innovate worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment.  We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to accommodationrequests@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!  Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company.  You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $53.74 - $99.46 Hourly. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.