Senior Technical Artist: Rigging

At Rockstar Games, we create world-class entertainment experiences.

A career at Rockstar Games is about being part of a team working on some of the most creatively rewarding and ambitious projects to be found in any entertainment medium.

You would be welcomed to a dedicated and inclusive environment where you can learn, and collaborate with some of the most talented people in the industry.

Rockstar Toronto is looking for a passionate and talented Senior Technical Artist : Rigging to join the team to help develop and support our titles.

This is a full-time, in-office position based out of Rockstar’s unique game development studio in Oakville, ON.

WHAT WE DO

• We design, create and maintain highly complex character rigs, secondary motion and animation systems that bring our characters to life.
• We constantly engage in Research and Development of new techniques for driving skeletons, blendshapes and custom deformers through comprehensive control rigs.
• Work alongside Character Artists and Animators providing support and addressing feedback to get the best visual results in game.
• Collaborate and communicate with other departments such as Tools, Machine Learning and Code (engine) teams to improve our authoring workflows and animation / graphics systems in runtime.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Build, test and maintain rigs for a variety of dynamic art assets.
• Develop constraints, custom deformers, secondary motion and shader connections using our extensive proprietary runtime animation system.
• Create tools within 3ds Max / Maya to support and push forward workflows across Rigging and Character Art.
• Work with the team organizing, documenting and maintaining libraries for interacting with the rig from a tooling standpoint.
• Work with other Technical Artists improving workflows and tools used internally by the Rigging Team and other departments such as Character Art and Animation.
• Staying current with latest technologies / research ongoing in the field to help keep our dynamic art visuals at the cutting-edge regarding motion and deformation.

QUALIFICATIONS

• A relevant degree or professional experience in the game industry as a Character Rigger, Technical Animator or similar / related position.
• A demo reel and online portfolio that demonstrates exceptional skills creating motion controls for animation, complex deformation and skinning of body and face of characters and creatures.

SKILLS

• Understanding of human body and facial anatomy as it relates to game assets and topology.
• Strong Python, Mel or Maxscript (candidate may be asked to complete a test) skills used within DCCs.
• Strong C# programming skills.
• 3D Math background.
• Experience using other game engines (e.g. Unreal / Unity or proprietary tech) with relation to Animation.
• Strong communication, self-management, and organizational skills.
• Effective time management skills to meet deadlines and milestones.

PLUSES

Please note that these are desirable skills and are not required to apply for the position.

• Knowledge of game engines (e.g. Unreal / Unity or proprietary tech).
• Experience creating Animation scripts / tools for Motionbuilder, Maya, 3dsMax is highly advantageous.
• Experience creating assets and pipelines using Houdini in production.
• Experience with C++ is highly advantageous.
• Experience using source control software (i.e. Perforce, Git) and working on a code base collaboratively.
• Professional experience working and developing in a multi-platform, multi-project environment.
• Professional experience working in a large team spread across multiple locations and time zones.
30+ days ago