Animation R&D Programmer: Retargeting

Rockstar Games; Oakville; On-site; CAD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading game development studio in Oakville, ON is seeking a talented engineer to join their Animation R&D team. This full-time, in-office position involves developing advanced animation systems for open world character-based games. The ideal candidate has strong C++ skills and knowledge in character animation systems, with a passion for high-quality character motion.

Qualifications

• Proven development of solutions in animation retargeting or motion adaptation.
• Experience with game engine animation systems.

Responsibilities

• Develop extensive runtime animation systems and tools.
• Collaborate on research and development of procedural animation features.

Skills

C++ programming skills

Knowledge of character animation technology

Good communication skills

Familiarity with optimization techniques

Education

Degree in Computer Science or related discipline

Job description

Become part of a team working on some of the most rewarding, large-scale creative projects to be found in any entertainment medium - all within an inclusive, highly-motivated environment where you can learn and collaborate with some of the most talented people in the industry.

Rockstar is on the lookout for a talented engineer to join our Animation R&D team, with a background in animation retargeting or related techniques.

This position will help us develop advanced animation systems for our large open world character-based games. The successful applicant will have strong C++ programming skills, good knowledge of and interest in character animation systems, and passion for realistic, high quality character motion.

This is a full-time, in-office position based out of Rockstar’s unique game development studio in Oakville, ON.

WHAT WE DO

• We develop animation technology, from performance capture to a sophisticated runtime engine, for massive open world games.
• We are a global team of programmers and researchers who collaborate on pushing the boundaries of character animation on next generation hardware.
• We support and work closely with animation, gameplay, physics, tools, graphics, performance capture, and technical art teams across multiple Rockstar studios.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Help invent, develop, expand, maintain, and support an extensive runtime animation system, pipeline, and tools.
• Develop robust and performant technology to adjust animation to different characters, situations, and environments.
• Collaborate and contribute to the research and development of features related to procedural animation, motion adaptation, and character motion synthesis.
• Keep up to date with the latest academic and industry breakthroughs, independently research and develop improvements to continuously push our technology forward.

QUALIFICATIONS

• A degree in Computer Science or a related discipline, or equivalent industry experience.
• Proven development of solutions in animation retargeting, motion adaptation, or related subjects.
• Experience creating, extending or working directly with an animation system within a game engine.

SKILLS

• Good communication skills, ability to clearly share complex technical information with other programmers, animators and technical artists.
• Knowledge of character animation technology, particularly retargeting and IK systems.
• Familiarity with common optimization and multi-threading techniques.

PLUSES

Please note that these are desirable skills and are not required to apply for the position.

• Industry experience working on AAA character based games, or character based VFX animation.
• C# or python programming skills.
• Experience developing within a large existing codebase, collaborating, or working independently within a large team.
• Experience with motion synthesis or style transfer.
• Practical success optimizing or debugging large/complex multithreaded C++ code.
• Involvement with pipeline or UI based tools development or support.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Rockstar is committed to creating a work environment that promotes equal opportunity, dignity and respect. In line with this commitment, Rockstar will provide accommodations to job applicants with disabilities (or on the basis of any other protected ground under human rights legislation) during the recruitment process, as well as to any Rockstar employees in order for them to perform the essential functions of their roles. Rockstar will comply with its obligations under the Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and will provide accommodations as long as such accommodations do not pose an undue hardship on Rockstar.

We encourage applications from all suitable candidates regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, belief, race, or any other protected category.