Overview

SENIOR RIGGER: Image Engine, Vancouver, BC
CONTRACT: Starting May 2016
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 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