Junior Animator

Position Summary

We are looking for a Junior Animator who reflects the creative talent, production excellence, and passion for great filmmaking that define Industrial Light & Magic.

The Junior Animator is responsible for contributing to the creation of high quality motion of computer graphics creatures and objects within a shot, using a variety of animation software programs, and working under the general supervision and support of Senior Level and Animation Supervisors.

What You’ll Do

• Day-to-day show support including:
  • troubleshooting flow of data in/out of department
  • escalating tech issues to appropriate show or tech group
  • updating Animators shotfiles with newly released assets
  • rendering movies for dailies
  • reference gathering and organization
• Responsible for the successful animation of shots on a specific project
• Participate as a team member in determining various aesthetic solutions; provide feedback to other members of the production by attending dailies on a regular basis.
• Animate entry-level shots, time permitting
• Facilitate the publishing of Animators’ work down the pipeline.
• Assist in maintaining Asset congruency to current releases in Animators’ shots
• Create Animation Cycles
• Create polish animation for shots including finger, toes, ear, tail, and wing animation, cleaning up contact sliding, body penetrations, tweaking arcs etc.
• Problem-solve and fix any issues that may arise from updating assets in Animators’ shotfiles. (This could include constraint blending fixes, global positioning fixes etc.)
• Set up animation scene files
• Assisting Animators in passing shots along to other disciplines
• Build UI for character rigs
• Process Mocap performances onto show Assets
• Blend Mocap animation performances and add Polish to said performances (This could include fixing penetrations, adding finger and hand animation, exaggerating key poses etc.)
• Responsible for Mocap processing in shot production and cycle creation.
• Upload Cleaned Mocap and cycle animation to the MotionDataBase
• Collaboration with stage team may be required
• Occasionally may be required to perform hands-on shot work on shows and provide reference performances including motion capture performances as part of assigned shot work and to support the animation team

What We’re Looking For

• You have a Bachelor's Degree in Traditional Animation or related, or at least 2 years of experience by working in cel, stop-motion or computer animation in our industry.
• You probably have 2 or more years experience as an entry level Animator in conjunction with recommendations for advancement by the Animation Supervisors and Department Manager.
• Skill requirements:
  • Firm understanding of traditional animation principles, acting, film production and compositional design.
  • Experience and a firm understanding of Maya
  • Good organization and communication skills
  • Ability to take on a delegated task with a minimum of supervision
  • Ability to work under pressure and commit to deadlines
  • Strong communication and follow through; Proactive, self-sufficient individual
  • A demo reel demonstrating a strong understanding of Animation principles and artistic ability
• Proficiency with Linux is desired.
• Experience with Motion Capture data is a plus.
• Scripting knowledge (Python, Mel) is a plus.