Facial Capture Artist, United Kingdom

Job Description

Position at Industrial Light & Magic

The Facial Capture team, working alongside the Layout team at ILM, are responsible for the successful retargeting of an actor’s facial performance onto a CG character.

A unique blend of both a technical and creative mind-set, you will become well versed in the ILM pipeline as well as working at shot level production.

The role of a facial capture artist provides skills and understanding that could be transferred to future roles in other 3D disciplines such as Layout, Creature, Modelling and Animation.

What you'll do

Working closely with the Face-cap Lead/Supervisor, a Junior Facial Capture TD would be responsible for:
• Starting from a live action performance of an actor, create roto shapes to define the deformation of the eyes and mouth.
• Using proprietary software and a library of facial expressions, generate an accurate representation of the head movement and changing face shapes of the actor.
• Animate the jaw, eye gaze and blinks on the CG rig to match the actor.
• Using sculpting tools, create corrective shapes to fix any issues with the solved facial mesh once it is re-targetted onto the renderable CG character.
• Retime the performance to match the editorial reference for a given shot.
• Submit your work for approval and take on-board both technical and creative notes from your Facial Lead/Supe.

What we're looking for
• Experience in a related subject (computer animation/computer science/vfx) or course from recognised VFX institute
• No previous industry experience required however relevant work experience, internship or other VFX production experience would be a bonus.
• The ability to learn new software and workflows based on training documents and video tutorials.
• A keen eye for detail with good problem solving skills and a proactive mind-set.
• The ability to work well independently and as part of a team.
• Good communication skills as the role requires constant dialogue with the team lead, the team, production and other departments.
• Excellent time management in order to keep on schedule.
• Experience of working in a live action VFX pipeline.
• Experience in gathering information on location for match-move is a plus.
• Sharp eyes for motion, timing and expression a big plus for facial related work.
• Understanding of photography and the effects of different lenses on perspectives.
• General knowledge about working with virtual cameras, lenses and plates.
• Experience in a 3D software package (such as maya) and show confidence with the interface, modelling and sculpting.
• Knowledge of a tracking software package such as 3DEqualizer, Pf Track or SynthEyes.
• Exposure to LINUX OS.
• Must have the ability and willingness to learn new in house proprietary software.
• Exposure to motion capture, particularly facial work, is a big plus.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-dy5z0r-18-218-127-141-42 in your application.