CFX Artist (Contract)

Walt Disney Animation Studios has an exciting opportunity for experienced Character FX Technical Directors / Technical Animators to join the team at our Vancouver, BC studio. The Character FX TD has strong artistic skills built on top of a solid technical foundation. The Character FX TD is responsible for character effects for shot production. You will work closely with the industry’s top talent in fields to create the most appealing character simulation performances and bring our characters to life.

 

Responsibilities

• Character effects for shot production, including cloth and hair simulation, and final character polishing

• Actively engage in and potentially be cast to other tasks that the department supports (Simulation setup, and CFX/technical animation)

Requirements

• Experience in hair and/or cloth simulation

• Solid understanding of the principles of animation

• Extensive knowledge of anatomy, kinematics, and physical behavior

• Experience with creating appealing performances through simulation

• 3+ years of professional experience in cloth and hair simulation, with emphasis on CG features

• Experience working in collaborative environments and taking direction

• Strong problem-solving ability

• Comfort with Linux environments

• Bachelor's degree in Art, Illustration, Computer Graphics, Engineering, related field or equivalent experience

An applicant will benefit from having:

• Previous leadership/mentoring experience

• Solid understanding of Python scripting

• Experience in modeling, grooming, rigging, and/or character FX

• Prior experience using Houdini

A Note About Software:

Our department currently uses Autodesk Maya as our primary platform with proprietary solvers, hair instancing tools, and other authoring plugins. Applicants should be adept in Maya or an equivalent CG application or demonstrate an aptitude for learning software quickly. A strong skill set in packages like Marvelous Designer, XGen, and Houdini is an added plus.

The hiring range for this position in British Columbia, Canada is C$87,210 to C$145,420 per year. This hiring range covers candidates who are considered experienced to expert level. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A full range of medical, financial, and/or other variable pay or benefits, may be offered dependent on the level and position offered.