Overview

Character FX Artist

This position is based in Vancouver. All applicants must reside in the United States or British Columbia/Ontario if applying within Canada.

Zoic, is currently seeking a Character FX Artist beginning immediately to help with current projects in house.

The CFX Artist is experienced in all areas of character FX, proficient in Houdini, and has held previous positions within an FX or Character FX team. The CFX Artist will be part of the CFX team and also work with the Asset team with respect to best artistic and technical approach associated with each character & creature.

Responsibilities of the role 

• Proficient with Houdini Cloth and hair/fur, or softbody dynamics, Vellum.
• Work closely with Groom Artists to solve technical challenges and adjust hair grooms to satisfy show requirements.
• Create asset Houdini node networks for various CFX driven Items on characters and creatures (Hair, Cloth, Softbody, Rigid interaction).
• Comfortable moving assets and data between Maya, Houdini, and other applications.
• Confidence building CFX rigs and running the shots.
• Receive artistic request and translate it into a technically efficient digital scene
• Ensure that all shot assets are cached and shaded for lighting
• Identify, debug, and correct, any problems with cached geometry
• Ensure that all shot assets can be cached and put into the lighting pipeline
• Create workflows/tools/solutions for oneself and other team members

What you need to be successful 

• Minimum 5 years of experience producing high resolution CGI content and FX
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment under tight deadlines
• Experience producing the best visual magic trick for the camera rather than replicating every quality from all angles
• Ability to understand scope of task and approach it with a solid foundation that can be iterated, edited, and redesigned throughout production timeline
• Comfortable debugging and crafting solutions for handoff upstream/downstream pipeline
• Experience with Maya and nCloth
• High level of understanding for physically based simulation
• Knowledge of MEL, Python and C++ a plus
• Collaborative team player and problem solver
• Technical and artistic communication skills both written and verbal

Bonus points, but not required 

• Familiarity using Shotgun/Shotgrid

Additional information

• Candidates MUST be located in the United States, British Columbia or Ontario. At this moment this is a remote (work from home) position.
• Zoic does not cover relocation costs.
• All remote positions require the candidate to have a reliable internet connection via ethernet and work on Pacific Standard Time.
• This job description contains the basic requirements for the position and is NOT intended to be a complete list of responsibilities; other duties may be assigned.
• Due to the sheer volume of applications we receive, we regret that only those selected to interview will be contacted.