Senior Layout Artist

Job Description

The Sr Layout Artist is responsible for independently creating camera moves and rough blocking animation within a digital environment. Sr Layout Artists work closely with the Animation Director and Visual Effects Supervisor to establish composition, timing, and continuity for each shot. May be required to work with live-action plates or in a CG layout environment.

Sr Layout Artists act as a central hub for all shot preparation to ensure continuity and camera accuracy in CG Elements. While matchmoving is one requirement of the position, Sr Layout Artists may perform tasks outside of matchmoving including CG layout, modeling set geometry, photomodeling, lidar solves, previz, and basic lighting & compositing.

What You'll Do
Independently performs complex matchmove tasks such as camera tracking, character matching (matchanim), solving lens distortion, deformation matching of surfaces, solving native stereo plates
Responsible for multi-plate splicing and stitching, adding creative plate post-moves, creative stereo (i.e. Technical layout)
Responsible for Previz, postviz and techviz (prep for location shooting or ride development); Process inbound/outbound moco data
Photomodels, performs environment/scene setup verifying correct assets are being used, edit ranges are correct, and generating initial data for downstream artists including animation/TDs/comp, lidar processing, set dressing (i.e. Scene setup)
Creates creative camera work for non-plate shots and camera takeover shots with minimal guidance; originate entirely CG camera animation (i.e. CG camera work)
Solve facial animation from face cams (i.e. face-capture)
Independently set up the technical and aesthetic approaches of the matchmove work for a shot, sequence, or an entire aspect of a show
Convert background plates to various formats to use with specific software to create digital motion files that match the plate photography; animate any live action character or relative object in the scene
Model the set geometry used to create the matchmove and environment for Animators and Technical Directors
Light, render and composite files with the background to judge the move
Mentor Junior Layout Artists
Special projects as needed

What We're Looking For
Bachelor's Degree or equivalent; 5+ years' experience as an artist, animator, or camera operator
Ability to reproduce exact camera moves within a computer environment
Good written and oral communication skills including strong interpersonal skills
Excellent problem solving skills including the ability to work under tight deadlines
Advanced understanding of Linux, Maya, 3dEqualizer (or other tracking software) required
Understanding of photography and the effects of different lenses on perspectives
Nice to have:
Location and/or Stage experience including matchmove set ups; data wrangling; hdr/digimatte/texture/pmodel photography; lidar scanning; lens grid filming; on-stage (real-time) camera capture/assistance
Knowledge of Nuke is a plus

JoinILM

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-d820mm-3-145-184-7-42 in your application.