VFX Animator (Non-Remote)

Sight & Sound is an organization comprised of people with diverse talents coming together to tell His story through who we are and what we do.  We foster a culture of love for Christ and love for others, trust and teamwork and a collaborative environment in which we get to do our best work every day.

The VFX Animator is a creative and detail-oriented visual effects animator with a thorough understanding of the principles and mechanics of digital animation as they relate to immersive storytelling. Works in collaboration with the Artistic Directors, Media Designer, Technical Animator, Compositor, and Artists in a wide range of simulations (destruction, atmospheric, fluid, supernatural, etc.) and occasional character animation (humans and animals).

Sight & Sound is not an e-verified employer and cannot offer visa sponsorship.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: 

• Creates believable visual effects and animations using various software applications.
• Develops a wide variety of realistic effects, including but not limited to destruction, smoke, fire, and water.
• Assists with storyboarding and key-framing rough animatics for review and approval of direction before finalizing content.
• Rigs and animates characters (as needed) to reveal attitude, emotion, and mood with a strong sense of spatial awareness and a feel for movement over time.
• Assists in motion-capture (mocap) film shoots and works to tie captured animations to their digital models.
• Works collaboratively with the Producer, Artistic Directors, Media Designer, Technical Animator, Compositor, and Artists on a variety of projects from scene extensions in media to character modeling, rigging, and asset animation.

Prerequisites: 

• Proficient Knowledge in Houdini (preferred, not required), Maya, Unreal Engine, and other visual effects and animation software (Modo, Nuke, After Effects, Unity, etc.).
• An understanding of creating assets for use in Unity or Unreal Engine.
• Passionate about 3D animation from the perspective of storytelling; understand what makes VFX and characters believable and how to blend them seamlessly with their 3D game engine environments.
• Possess an ability to field questions quickly and decisively, be proactive in identifying scope creep as it relates to this role, and foster collaboration between other Artists on the team
• Ability to translate creative direction, concept art, and storyboards into movement
• A strong understanding of the production pipeline and an ability to layer on refinement as scenes begin to take shape
• Experience modeling, texturing, motion capture, rigging, and animating 3D models
• Comfortable animating vehicles, particle-based effects, and characters (both biped and quadruped characters) to reveal attitude, emotions, and mood
• Level-headed and able to work calmly and effectively under pressure
• Self-motivated, light-hearted, flexible, and adaptable; with the ability to handle frequent changes and adjustments
• Experience with programming or technical animator skillsets are a plus
• Mac and PC proficient

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.