jobby: Character Modelling Artist, Pixar Canada, Vancouver

February 3, 2011

About Pixar Canada
Pixar Canada is looking for a Character Technical Artist (“TD”) for its studio in Vancouver.  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 Position
The Character Modeling Artist creates and modifies characters to suit the needs of a particular animation production project. Takes direction from the project’s creative leadership: the Director, the Production Designer, and the Creative Director.

General Duties and Responsibilities
The Character Modeling Artist is responsible for creation, revision, maintenance and support of the digital character assets, responding to guidance and review notes from the director as well as creative and technical supervisors.  Constructing the shapes of digital character models in a 3D modeling system such as Maya and converting such models for use in our proprietary animation system (Menv). Digital assets must meet standards and specifications with respect to appearance and aesthetics, user interface, performance, and robustness.  The Character Modeling Artist must support users (other Technical Directors and Animators) who make use of the digital assets.

Background and Qualifications
•Must have 3 or more years experience in CG animation production for television, film, games or visual effects.
•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 following attributes will be considered a plus:
•Degree in computer science, art, 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/.