Technical Animator (Character Rigger)

At Velan Studios, we foster a culture of curiosity. Our games embrace diversity and are fueled by the adventurous spirit of our team. We are the creative minds behind titles like Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, Knockout City, and Hot Wheels Rift Rally; as well as the upcoming releases Midnight Murder Club and Bounce Arcade! Our studio's mission is to pioneer groundbreaking gaming experiences and reimagine play in new ways. We're committed to pushing the boundaries of traditional gaming, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, and revolutionizing the industry one game at a time.

About the Role:

You’re half coder and half artist – you get both and can translate from art to tech and back again, so the entire development team gets the most out of the tools to build the next great game experiences of the future. You can create 3D art for in-game use and are capable of implementing that work in-engine. This role is for that tech savvy person with the artistic skills to jump in where needed and help the team build fantastic worlds!

We are looking for a Senior Technical Animator (Character Rigger) who is highly capable of creative problem solving and effective solutions, both artistic and technical. You will work with the Tech Art team to create high quality animation rigs for multiple projects, collaborating with both artists and engineers to do so. You will support character workflows and pipelines by designing, building, and maintaining proprietary tools that increase the efficiency and productivity of artists.

Responsibilities

• Create high quality Maya animation rigs for a variety of asset types (character, prop, mechanical) using proprietary rigging tools
• Extend, maintain, and document existing art tools and pipelines
• Participate in art tools code reviews and design planning
• Help establish processes and pipelines and mentor other Tech Animators at the studio.
• Contribute to peer reviews, troubleshoot, problem solve, and give and receive constructive feedback.
• Comfortable operating autonomously, self-directing tasks when needed.
• Able to work on multiple projects at once and easily understands how to context switch.
• Help identify production bottlenecks and contribute to the internal art tools library both on a project level as well as at a studio level to help build efficient workflows.

• 5+ years of game industry experience on console, mobile, handheld and/or PC platforms
• Expert in Maya, rigging, and skinning deformations
• Advanced knowledge of Python, Qt, and the Maya API
• Experience setting up physics driven animation systems in game engines
• Experience working in Unreal, Unity, or other AAA engines.
• Solid Linear Algebra knowledge
• Solid written and verbal communication skills and an eagerness to collaborate with artists and engineers

Bonus Skills:

• C/C++ knowledge
• Experience developing plugins for Maya
• Experience with visual scripting such as Blueprints in Unreal Engine.

We're thrilled that you're considering joining our team. We want to let you know that candidates who can work onsite in our Troy, NY studio are highly preferred. We believe that working together in person can foster better collaboration and creativity, and we're excited about the opportunity to have you right here with us. Velan Studios is made up of a team of remote, hybrid, and onsite employees, with hybrid and onsite team members operating from our Troy, NY office.

The salary for this position is typically within the range specified below* per year. Please note that the actual base pay may vary based on factors such as your qualifications, skills, experience, and other relevant considerations. In addition to your salary, our comprehensive compensation package includes various perks, such as potential annual bonuses (though they are not guaranteed), health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, a retirement savings plan, paid holidays, and flexible time-off benefits.

*80,000. USD - $120,000. USD