February 17, 2011
Technical Artist – Rigging
About Pixar Canada
Pixar Canada is looking for a Technical Artist – Rigging (“TD”) for its Vancouver Studio. Pixar Canada is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pixar Animation Studios, the world leader in animated films. The Vancouver studio produces short-form animation focusing on legacy Pixar characters from films such as Toy Story and Cars.
Summary of Job
The Rigging TD adds controls to digital characters. These controls are used to position, move, and pose the models. Rigging requires an understanding of anatomy and expression, and riggers work closely with animators to design a set of controls that support all of the desired range of poses and behaviors. Scripting is often used to construct more sophisticated rigs, so it is valuable for a rigger to have good programming skills.
In all of these tasks, the TD is responsible for creation, revision, maintenance and support of the digital assets, responding to guidance and review notes from the director as well as creative and technical supervisors. Digital assets must meet standards and specifications with respect to appearance and aesthetics, user interface, performance, and robustness.
Qualifications
– Must have 3 or more years experience in CG animation production for television, film, games or visual effects.
– Skill and experience is required character rigging as described above
– Must have experience with a high-end 3D modeling and animation system (such as Maya, Modo, XSI, Houdini or 3D Studio Max). Skill and experience in the use of subdivision surfaces is highly desirable.
– Must have a good understanding of 3D computer graphics theory and practice.
– Must have good understanding of shape, composition, physical motion, weight and balance.
– Must have good written and verbal communication skills.
– Must be able to work alone and collaboratively, often with multiple tasks and under deadline pressure.
– Must be open to direction and able to embrace change.
In addition to these required qualifications, any of the followingattributes will be considered a plus:
•Degree in computer science, art, architecture, or engineering.
•Ability to program in a scripting language such as Mel or Python.
•Skill in drawing, sketching, or sculpting.
Submission Process
If you are interested in and qualified for this position, please submit your cover letter, resume, link that points us directly to your portfolio or demo reel, along with an itemized list of the portfolio/reel contents, on our website www.pixarcanada.com. PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL DEMO REELS. If you don’t have a website to showcase your work, you may be able to use a free service like Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/.
Shading TD
About Pixar Canada
Pixar Canada is looking for a Shading TD for its new studio in Vancouver. Pixar Canada is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pixar Animation Studios, the world leader in animated films. The Vancouver studio will produce short-form animation focusing on legacy Pixar characters from films such as Toy Story and Cars. This is an opportunity to be part of a new, diverse and talented team producing world-class digital character animation.
Summary of Job
In Pixar’s production process, the term “TD” means “Technical Artist”. The Shading TD works alongside modelers and lighters to create the look of characters, sets and other objects in the film. The shading is created with RenderMan shaders, using a mixture of painted and procedural textures along with sophisticated illumination models.
General Duties and Responsibilities
The Shading TD is responsible for creation, revision, maintenance and support of the shaders and other digital assets, responding to guidance and review notes from the director as well as creative and technical supervisors. Digital assets must meet standards and specifications with respect to appearance and aesthetics, user interface, performance, and robustness. Shader TDs must provide technical support to other TDs who use the shaders in lighting and rendering.
Qualifications
•Must have 3 or more years experience in CG animation production for film, visual effects, or television.
•Must have extensive experience in shading using RenderMan shaders, preferably with Slim.
•Must have a good “eye” and a good understanding of light, color, illumination and shading. Should be interested in studying materials and thoroughly understanding their texture and their response to different lighting conditions.
•Must have an excellent understanding of 3D computer graphics theory and practice.
•Must have good programming and scripting skills in languages such as RenderMan Shading Language, C/C++, Python, or Perl.
•Must have strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail and quality.
•Must have good written and verbal communication skills, and be able to communicate clearly and effectively with both technical and non-technical users of the software.
•Must be able to work alone and collaboratively, often with multiple tasks and under deadline pressure.
•Must be open to direction and able to embrace change.
In addition to these required qualifications, any of the following attributes will be considered a plus:
•Bachelor’s degree in computer science, mathematics, physics, or engineering.
•Skill in painting, photography, drawing, and sketching.
Submission Process
If you are interested in and qualified for this position, please submit your cover letter and resume and a link to your demo reel through the online application form on our website www.pixarcanada.com
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