Senior Character Animator

At Blizzard we craft genre-defining games and legendary worlds for all to share. Through unparalleled creativity and storytelling we create immersive universes and iconic characters that are beloved across platforms borders backgrounds and generations only made possible by building a work environment that nurtures the artistry of game development and unleashes the aspirations of our people.

As a Senior Character Animator you will be responsible for the creation of 3D character performances for action highlights cutscenes and cinematic shots helping us craft a new unannounced game for Blizzard.
You will have the opportunity to be a part of an exciting art team bringing to life many characters via expressive key-framed animations.

You will partner with experienced cinematics directors previs/layout artists character artists and technical animators to create outstanding moments of character acting that will be experienced by players around the world. The role will be complex creative and fun with loads of opportunities to hone your skills and try new things.

Were an inclusive team that welcomes new members with unique perspectives. We care deeply about the games we build and how we create them. We cant wait to meet you!

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the visualisation director lead animator and meta team to deliver high-quality in-game animations in the required style for your game.

• Deliver high-quality body and facial animation with speed precision and attention to detail.

• Contribute to animation tests previs layout and final shot animation.

• Support animation production planning ensuring content is delivered according to the needs of the game.

• Partner with previs artists character artists technical animators meta designers and animation programmers to ensure characters and their animations are delivered to a specification that offers outstanding character performance within the required technical budgets.

• Ensure your animations are designed and delivered into the game in a way that is tidy optimized and scalable for the game to become a long-standing scalable live service.

• Be a force multiplier for the team by mentoring and facilitating skill development for other animators on the team as .

• Support any outsourced animation efforts as required.
  

Minimum Requirements

• A background in AAA game cinematics or film/TV VFX is ideal but hands-on experience with a real-time game engine is preferred.

• Experience in creating and implementing high-quality in-game performance animations in a wide range of styles.

• Experience in and understanding of how animation fits into the production of game development in collaboration with other crafts and fields especially 3D modeling rigging and game design.

• Experience in framing performance with cameras timing and composition.
  

Knowledge & Skills

• Strong understanding of all principles of animation.

• Strong skills in both stylized and realistic keyframed character animation. Mocap experience is a plus but not necessary.

• Experience with taking a shot from previs and animating it through to the final result.

• Skilled in getting the best movement from a 3D model working with modeling and tech animation to achieve high standards of articulation and deformation.

• An understanding of technical animation rigging 3D modeling and topology and the process of implementing animation into a game in a tidy structured and optimized way.

• In-depth knowledge of industry standard software for the creation of 3D animation with a preferred focus on MAYA and any industry-relevant game engine where animation can be implemented into game.
  

Key Attributes

• A passion for making high-quality games in a cross-discipline collaborative team. You are as focused on how you do things as you are about what you create.

• A natural problem solver keen to do whats right for the animation and the game as a whole.

• A proactive contributor keen to learn and develop your skills and to share your knowledge with the team. You welcome creative direction and feedback with the ability to action it accurately and more.

• Excellent skills in communication and organization.
  

Nice to have

• Experience in working with outsourcing for animation.

• Abilities in 2D animation and/or motion design.

Your Platform

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft Overwatch Diablo and StarCraft Blizzard Entertainment Inc. () a division of Activision Blizzard which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industrys most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Xbox PlayStation Nintendo Switch iOS and Android.