Sony Online Entertainment
Position Title: Animator
Location: Denver, CO
Webpage: http://www.soe.com/denver-studio.vm
Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) is a recognized worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games, with millions of gamers around the globe having enjoyed the company's products over the years. SOE creates, develops and provides compelling entertainment for the personal computer, online, game console and wireless markets. SOE has published a number of ground-breaking and genre-defining games, including Free Realms, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Star Wars Galaxies, PlanetSide, The Matrix Online, EverQuest Online Adventures, Champions of Norrath, Untold Legends, Field Commander, Vanguard, and the upcoming highly anticipated DC Universe Online and The Agency. SOE is part of an elite group of companies defining the role of ecommerce and virtual goods in the videogame industry.
SOE Denver is currently looking for an experienced Animator to the join our team. We are currently developing Magic: the Gathering Tactics a turned based strategy game based off of the popular Magic: The Gathering card the game.
General Responsibilities:
• Utilizes traditional animation training, and knowledge of animation and computer graphics software to produce animation for software products.
• Participates actively with product development team to help visualize and develop game titles.
Basic Requirements:
• A minimum of an Associates Degree or Certification in Art or equivalent education and/or experience is preferred.
• Prior experience in game animation and a minimum of 2 complete game cycle required.
• Solid knowledge of all character animation tools and techniques in Maya.
• Ability to animate convincing motions within game limitations (i.e. frame, bone or skinning limitations) and in a timely manner.
• Experience skinning/rigging characters in Maya.
• Basic understanding of modeling and texturing as it affects the animation pipeline.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills.
An Animator at SOE:
• Is polite, positive and is responsive to feedback.
• Solid understanding of classic animation principles and fundamentals (squash and stretch, staging, timing, anticipation, exaggeration, overlap, spacing, posing, etc). as well as computer animation applications (looping, pose sharing, gimbal lock control).
• Is able to rig, skin and animate any manner of character, whether biped, quadruped, winged or mechanical, with convincing timing, weight and personality.
• Works with programmers to correctly utilize existing pipeline tools and also to design new tools and techniques to push platform / engine limitations and improve workflow.
• Continually endeavors to improve both traditional and technical skills.
• Possesses both creative and technical problem-solving skills; is flexible enough to come up with multiple solutions to any given problem.
• Accurately estimates the time required to complete tasks, manages time effectively and meets all project deadlines while delivering consistently high-quality animation.
Nice to have:
• Ability to hand-animate a convincing cinematic performance.
• Mel Scripting/Tools creation.
