Jobby: Animation Art Director, Ubisoft, Montreal

Animation Art Director

Ubisoft, producer, editor and distributor of video games, interactive software, and multimedia applications situated in a loft in the heart of Mile-End, Montreal, offers a stimulating work environment where creativity, friendliness and leading edge technology are how what we pride ourselves in. You will benefit from a competitive salary and a range of social advantages, packaged with the strong possibility of advancement, as well as profit from a learning environment allowing you to get hands on experience with the latest innovations of your field.
The person in this position is responsible for the performance of the animations within the game (realistic ‘genre’ of animation).

Responsibilities:
-Elaborate and document the artistic animation charter being inspired by the creative direction (films, current games and design documents)
-Communicate to the team of animators the expectations in regards to quality and the contents of the animation by providing documentation and good visual references
-Follow and validate the animations produced while respecting the artistic charter (Ex: judge the coherence, fluidity, uniformity, timing, weight perception, etc…)
-Actively participate in the design and resolution problems of the animation systems
-Know the platform, engine and tools limits the to be able to suggest the best possible solutions
-Work closely with the AI programmers and DT Animation to assure the quality of the integration of the animations
-Play the game in order to detect the incoherencies of the integration and validate the correctness of the character’s reactions to the controls or gameplay situations
-Organize animation revision to get opinions and collect suggestions.
-Work closely with the CPA, DT Animation and lead AI programmer to optimise the effort linked with the innovation in the game and the quality of the animations produced.

Qualifications and Technical Competencies:
-AEC in 2D, 3D animation or in video games. Training in drawing is an asset
-Five (5) years of experience in game animation or all other equivalent experience, with 2 years in artistic mentoring / senior animator
-Excellent knowledge in the Disney animation principles
-Good comprehension of the human expressions
-Good knowledge of Character Studio
-Knowledge of 3DS Max and XSI is an asset
-Knowledge of the human anatomy, physiological reactions, body language and proportion in character conception
-Rigging (an asset)
-Know how to edit MOCAP data (Motion Builder)
-Knowledge of an asset management software (ex : Perforce, VSS, Alienbrain)
-Capacity to communicate an artistic direction
-Ability to draw
-Ability to learn new software.

Personal Abilities:
-Good artistic judgement
-Capacity to revise the work done by others and propose improvements if necessary
-Ability to communicate an artistic direction and to give constructive cristism
-Be able to collaborate well with other members of the animation team and the members of the other groups within the project
-Pay particular attention to detail because the movements of characters are key elements in the gaming experience of a player.