Animation TA

Summary

Join DreamWorks Animation as a Technical Animator and contribute to the quality and fidelity of character rigs for animation. You will perform quality control, troubleshoot software and shot-specific issues, and create simple animations. Collaborate closely with Animation and Character TD departments to improve processes and workflow. Responsibilities include confirming joint placements, creating animations, verifying rig consistency, assisting in building animation interfaces, and evaluating upcoming sequences. You will also troubleshoot issues, test new software, and work with various teams to ensure high-quality animation. This fully remote position offers a competitive salary.

Requirements

• A solid understanding of the principles of animation, body mechanics, and facial animation
• Proficient in 3D Character Animation, Character Rigging, and some basic knowledge of 3D Modeling
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Problem solving and troubleshooting in a technical environment
• Experience with unix/linux
• 2D graphics software knowledge, such as Gimp
• Willingness to work overtime if/when necessary

Responsibilities

• Complete first pass of quality control between Character departments by
• Confirming joint placements and basic deformation
• Creating body and facial calisthenics animations (Rigging, CFX, Animation)
• Creating poses and simple animation (i.e. walk cycles) to test rigs
• Creating shots for the Head of Character Animation and Animators as needed
• Verify consistency of tools and character rig features/controls within a show and among other shows
• Rotation order, mirroring, manipulators, regions, textures, parenting, post scaling, matching constraints etc
• Character controls behavior is as expected
• Initial pose library is setup and other templates as needed
• Help monitor that character deformations are adhering to the show’s visual language and flag any issues to the Head of Character Animation
• Assist in building the characters’ Animation Interface
• Assist the Character TDs with crafting and updating Animation Parts for each character
• Assist the Character TDs and Animators in making sure the Animation Parts are ordered accurately
• Evaluate upcoming sequences to flag potential character rig requirements
• Follow-up with other departments while troubleshooting issues until a resolution is reached
• Test new software maps and/or features as needed (Premo and/or Rig)
• Look at QA tests, movies and models and develop efficiencies for future character tests
• Work closely with Head of Character Animation, Animation Supervisors, Character TD Supervisors and Leads to determine quality level and criteria at handoff from Character TD to Animation
• Help communicate areas of concern or special features requested by Animators for each character. (i.e. spine movement or clavicle location)
• Help communicate character rig features from other shows that can improve the rigs within the assigned show. Also, communicate the new features being developed on the assigned show with other shows
• Help gather notes and feedback from Animators in order to complete rig wrecking
• Attend relevant meetings and document new processes and procedures

Preferred Qualifications

• Production experience
• Drawing skills (traditional, digital, etc.)

Benefits

• Fully Remote: This position has been designated as fully remote, meaning that the position is expected to contribute from a non-DreamWorks worksite, most commonly an employee’s residence
• $78,312 - $95,000