Assistant Technical Animator

Job Description

The Role: Assistant Technical Animator

Team Overview:
Our Character Animation Research Team is a small team based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

We are committed to advancing the field of Character Animation, for a future where video-games characters not only look believable, but they move convincingly as well. Our technology is shared across multiple games in EA including FIFA, Madden, NHL, NBA, Battlefront, Dragon Age and many others. We are looking for a passionate and talented animator to join our team to push the boundaries of animation quality and technology.

Technical Animator Definition: We are looking for an Animator who wants to specialize in Gameplay animation tools and engine development. This is not a Rigging specific position. This position would involve creating state machines, visual scripting, layering systems and blending animations in complex structures. The candidate would eventually specialize in EA's proprietary animation tools and game engine helping to design and craft these tools for how characters move and transition. A strong animation background and a passion for animation is what we're looking for!

Position Overview:

As an Assistant Technical Animator, you will help design and develop animation tools that will empower artists and other developers to harness the power of our technology and improve gameplay animation at EA.

Responsibilities:
• Work closely with the Animation Director, learning EA's tools and game engine.
• Help to design, develop and test new proposals for the latest animation tools and technologies the group builds.
• Provide support for game teams using the tools the team makes.
• Create documentation and supporting information for the team.
• Generate animation assets for prototyping and tool development.
• Provide artistic input on in-development tools and tech.
• Assist in motion capture shoots for test data the team uses to drive development of new features.
• Be part of and interact with the EA animation community, gaining knowledge on all different types of games.

Technical Requirements:
• Great understanding of the principles of animation both 2D and 3D.
• Passion for not only animation but also the technical side of building gameplay animation features.
• Knowledge and general proficiency with at least one animation DCC package (such as Maya, Motionbuilder or Blender)
• General Knowledge of video games, and game engines a plus
• General knowledge of game design a plus.
• General knowledge of motion capture a plus.

Non-Technical Requirements:
• Strong teamwork skills but also the ability to take ownership and work independently
• Excellent communication skills
• Passion for making games look and play great
• Thirst for learning new things and not being afraid of failing.

Note: Please provide your demo reel if it's not already included on your CV/resume.

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Jobcode: Reference SBJ-rv6n7d-3-135-219-166-42 in your application.