Overview
SENIOR RIGGER – Image Engine, Vancouver, BC
Contract: starting November/December 2015
Project: TBD
ABOUT IMAGE ENGINE
Well known for our work on Neill Blomkamp’s District 9, Image Engine has gone on to create numerous incredible creatures, epic environments and extraordinary digital effects for a broad range of feature films! We are an independently owned and operated company, led by a team of creative and passionate individuals who are committed to furthering the art of visual storytelling, and helping our exceptionally talented crew to push the boundaries of artistic and technical achievement at our studio.
POSITION PURPOSE
The Senior Rigger is responsible for delivering high quality assets in a quick and efficient manner. They will act as an example to and mentor junior artists and will deliver all tasks within the required timeframe. They will have practical experience in all areas of rigging. Senior Riggers will be able to apply briefing notes with minimal direction from Team Leads or Supervisors. They will quality check all of their work and occasionally assist the Leads to quality check the work of junior artists should the workload require it. Senior Riggers will complete all aspects of their work on assets across multiple shows, and create high quality assets at varying levels of difficulty.
In addition, Senior Riggers will assist the Leads and Asset Supervisor to flag issues. They will potentially assist in the Lead role on a short term basis in the event of an absence or should production needs require it.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
Create final rigged assets with minimal supervision and within the studio pipeline
Apply client notes to all assets with minimal guidance
Identify solutions and approaches to solve difficult assets
Build and maintain animation rigs of varying complexity (creature rigs, props, hero and background assets, motion capture rigs, face rigs etc) with minimal supervision and within the studio pipeline
Responsible for the integration of rigs into the show pipeline
Process requests from other departments
Use time management skills to meet weekly targets
Write utility scripts to help other riggers, animators and pipeline developers when necessary
Provide daily, reviews and team meetings as required
May need to participate in bidding new projects
Work within the defined pipeline
Promote interdepartmental collaboration
Ensure all email correspondence and scheduling is up to date
Respond to emails in a timely manner
Work within a team of artists in a hands-on capacity to ensure technically and artistically proper implementation or rigged assets
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
3+ years’ experience creating high quality rigs for visual effects for film
Proficiency in creating photo-realistic hard surface assets
Thorough understanding of traditional art skills (Form, architecture, topology, color theory, and UV mapping)
Strong understanding of human anatomy
Strong understanding of some animal anatomies (dogs, birds, etc) and a desire to learn more depending on the requirements of the project
SKILLS AND ABILITIES
Technical skills
Experience in MEL / Python / C++/PERL scripting (python preferred)
Understanding of the Maya rigging tool sets
Experience with Houdini is also appreciated
Experience with LINUX/UNIX
Ability to come up with creative and efficient rendering solutions
Core skills
Ability to provide Leads with estimate of time of task completion to support Supervisor in the bidding process
Ability to troubleshoot and deal with competing priorities
Ability to take direction positively, work well within a diverse group, and thrive under the pressure of tight production deadlines
Ability to adapt quickly to new technologies and applications
Ability to complete quality control on individual work
Excellent time management and communication skills
A strong understanding of Animator requirements
Eye for detail
HOW TO APPLY
E-mail your resume and a link to a reel and breakdown to jobs@image-engine.com. The subject should read “Senior Rigger – your name”. Please include your availability.
