Senior Cinematic Animator

Ubisoft Entertainment Inc.; Toronto; On-site; CAD 85,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Ubisoft Entertainment Inc. is seeking a Senior Cinematic Animator to deliver high-quality cinematic animations for our games.

You will enhance motion capture or keyframe animation, collaborate with directors and script teams, and mentor peers to ensure cohesive cinematic storytelling across scenes. The role emphasizes strong understanding of animation principles, scene composition, and ability to polish performances with attention to detail.

Qualifications

• Proven track record of cinematic animation in video games.
• Strong storytelling, acting and cinematography understanding.
• Experience with game cinematic pipelines and workflows.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high-quality cinematic animations from mocap or keyframe data.
• Collaborate with Cinematic and Animation Directors and other teams.
• Mentor and build collaboration within the animation team.
• Polish character performances (body and facial) and timing.
• Create previs from scripts or storyboards and manage scene layouts.
• Review animations with directors and QA for integration quality.

Skills

Cinematic animation

Storytelling

Mocap integration

Team collaboration

Direction and critique

Tools

MotionBuilder

Maya

3DS Max

Photoshop

Premiere

Final Cut

Job description

Ubisoft is a global leader in gaming with teams across the world creating original and memorable gaming experiences, from Assassin's Creed, Rainbow Six to Just Dance and more. We believe diverse perspectives help both players and teams thrive. If you're passionate about innovation and pushing entertainment boundaries, join our journey and help us create the unknown!

JOB DESCRIPTION

As a Senior Cinematic Animator, you are a key element in delivering an amazing story. You will be responsible for delivering high quality animations, either from enhancing motion capture or key-framing, for our cinematic and scripted event scenes.
What you'll do:

• Work closely with the Cinematic and Animation Directors, animators, scripters, tech team and other departments to create our Cinematics and scripted events;
• Work in coordination with animation lead to help mentor and build a collaboration within the team
• Enhance and polish character performances (body and facial) from video and motion capture;
• Must have an excellent understanding of the animation principles (posing, timing, balance and weight) to create realistic and believable key-frame animations;
• Construct previs from story scripts and/or storyboards, and have the ability to create scene layouts, staging, camera and editing;
• Communicate with the Cinematic and Animation Directors for reviews and feedback;
• Work closely with scripters and the animation TDs to ensure the quality of the integration of the animations;
• Detect inconsistencies or bugs and validate that the cinematic scene plays correctly.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Strong experience creatingcinematic animationsfor video games;
• Excellent grasp for storytelling, acting and cinematography;
• Understanding of game cinematicproduction pipelines and workflows;
• Relevant 2D and 3D software experience - MotionBuilder, Maya, 3DSMax, Photoshop, Premiere, Final Cut;
• Good collaboration with members of the animation team and other team members on the project;
• Must be open to direction, criticism and able to accept change;
• Extensive animation experience with hand-keyed disciplines, experience with motion capture a plus;
• Attention to detail and experience solving technicalproblems.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

This is a one-year fixed-term contract.
This posting is for an existing vacancy and is not intended to build a candidate pool for future opportunities. The final base salary offered will be determined within the compensation standards, following the interview process and will depend on several factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s experience, skills, qualifications, scope of responsibilities, location, and internal equity considerations. In addition to yearly base salary, total compensation may include other elements such as variable pay or benefits, where applicable.

I am not familiar with the video game industry. Would I fit into Ubisoft?

At Ubisoft, everyone is welcome! We know that by bringing together different perspectives and experiences, we create a more inclusive environment for our team members. You’ll get the chance to work with teams and projects that inspire and challenge you every single day.