Software Engineer, Rendering

Job Description

At Walt Disney Animation Studios we have a deep commitment to the philosophy that creativity inspires technology, and technology inspires creativity. Engineers in our Production Technology department are charged with developing and implementing new algorithms to solve unique and challenging problems for all of our animated content. We do this working alongside a user base that shares a collaborative environment with us, and uses the code we develop daily.

We are looking for a talented developer to work on Hyperion, our physically based path-tracing renderer. This role will partner with artists, production leadership, technical directors, other software engineers, and technology leadership on the design and implementation of new workflows and capabilities motivated by the needs of content production at Walt Disney Animation Studios.

The developer filling this role will use a variety of techniques including: new rendering algorithms, high performance parallel computation, highly efficient data representation, and computer graphics algorithms with associated artist workflows. In-depth understanding of the requirements and relationships for data authored and consumed by production will allow the developer to provide full rendering solutions to all studio departments.

Potential projects might include:
• Making improvements to volumetric rendering capabilities.
• Applying GPU accelerated ray tracing to interactive workflows.
• Building systems to efficiently generate and manage mesh data for the rendering of large scale dynamic environments, such as ocean water surfaces for the upcoming Moana series on Disney+.
• Developing flexible compositing solutions that integrate with production rendering software.

What does it mean to be a developer at Walt Disney Animation Studios?
• Our engineers get the opportunity to work on the full stack of our tools, from developing the underlying algorithms through building intuitive artist-friendly interfaces.
• Work hand in hand with artists and a team of cross-site developers to make the tools we need for the incredibly complex characters/environments featured in our content.
• Develop on top of a highly performant, extendable in-house application framework.
• Develop new artist-centric interaction models using the latest hardware and technologies.

You will succeed in this role if you have:
• The ability to quickly produce clear, maintainable, testable code.
• Excellent problem solving, troubleshooting and debugging skills
• Ability to develop and optimize algorithms for efficiency and scalability.
• Exemplary communication, team working and collaboration skills
• Ability to engage with artists to understand their requirements and infer practical solutions.

Key Qualifications:
• 0-5 Years designing and developing complex user facing software, ideally in a studio environment.
• Proficiency in modern C++ and experience with optimization and debugging of parallel code.
• Interest and expertise in physically based rendering techniques
• Understanding of computer graphics foundational concepts and algorithms (e.g. transformation matrices, subdivision surfaces, perspective and orthographic camera models, image processing, etc)

Bonus Qualifications:
• Master's degree or PhD with specialization in Computer Graphics

Required Education
• BS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or equivalent experience.

WDAS continues to build on its rich legacy of innovation and creativity, from the first fully-animated feature film, 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, to 2019's Frozen 2, the biggest animated film of all time, to our 60th animated feature, Encanto, releasing November 2021. Among the studio's timeless creations are Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Frozen, Big Hero 6 and Zootopia.

This position is with Walt Disney Animation Studios Vancouver Inc., which is part of a business we call Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-g322k9-18-118-9-7-42 in your application.