Character Animator – Facial & Performance Capture

Jobtailor; California (MO); On-site; USD 70,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor seeks a highly skilled Character/Facial Animator to evaluate AI-generated performances for authenticity and physical fidelity. You will assess timing, micro-expressions, and body language, and review facial rigs for expressive accuracy.

Strong written English is essential. Based in the United States with occasional in-person sessions in Playa Vista (LA) or NYC, you will help define criteria, curate benchmarks, and generate visual samples for rigorous evaluation and research

Qualifications

• 4+ years of hands-on professional experience as a Character Animator, Facial Animator, Performance Animator, or closely related specialist
• Character or human performance must be a core part of professional animation work
• Verifiable credits on at least 2 feature films, animated features, or AAA game cinematics with recognised studios
• Direct experience with facial animation and/or performance capture
• Relevant experience may include facial keyframing, motion-capture solving, cleanup, motion editing, or technical design of facial and performance rigs
• Exceptional eye for micro-expressions, emotional beats, timing, and subtle physical performance
• Strong understanding of authentic animated human or character performance
• Familiarity with AI tools and visual-generation workflows
• Ability to generate visual samples for evaluation and comparison
• Excellent written English and ability to describe complex visual and performance details precisely
• Must be based in the United States
• Able to attend occasional in-person working sessions in Playa Vista, Los Angeles or New York City
• Work must be completed without using confidential or proprietary information belonging to any employer, client, studio, institution, or other third party

Responsibilities

• Evaluate AI-generated character performances for emotional authenticity and physical fidelity
• Assess timing, expression, gesture, movement, emotional beats, micro-expressions, facial movement, and body language
• Evaluate facial keyframe animation, motion-capture solving, cleanup, motion editing, facial expressions, eye movement, lip behaviour, and performance cues
• Identify inconsistencies introduced during performance transfer and review facial and performance rigs for expressive fidelity
• Define criteria and guidelines for high-quality character and facial performance
• Identify weaknesses in existing evaluation methodologies and create structured, repeatable assessment criteria
• Curate benchmark examples ranging from straightforward to technically challenging performances
• Generate visual samples for targeted testing and comparison
• Review AI-assisted visual outputs using professional animation standards
• Write precise descriptions of subtle performance differences for evaluation templates, captions, and structured research data
• Identify recurring model weaknesses across character and facial performance
• Use AI tools and workflows for testing and comparative evaluation
• Collaborate with animation and visual subject-matter experts on calibration sessions and shared quality thresholds
• Help define expertise and evaluation criteria for larger reviewer teams
• Collaborate with research and programme teams on evolving evaluation methodologies

Skills

Facial Keyframing

Motion-Capture Solving

Motion Editing

Technical Design of Performance Rigs

Emotional Beats Assessment

Timing Evaluation

Visual Sample Generation

Performance Cues Identification

Animation Standards Review

Structured Research Data Writing

Tools

AI Tools

4K-Resolution Monitor

Job description

• Evaluate AI-generated character performances for emotional authenticity and physical fidelity
• Assess timing, expression, gesture, movement, emotional beats, micro-expressions, facial movement, and body language
• Evaluate facial keyframe animation, motion-capture solving, cleanup, motion editing, facial expressions, eye movement, lip behaviour, and performance cues
• Identify inconsistencies introduced during performance transfer and review facial and performance rigs for expressive fidelity
• Define criteria and guidelines for high-quality character and facial performance
• Identify weaknesses in existing evaluation methodologies and create structured, repeatable assessment criteria
• Curate benchmark examples ranging from straightforward to technically challenging performances
• Generate visual samples for targeted testing and comparison
• Review AI-assisted visual outputs using professional animation standards
• Write precise descriptions of subtle performance differences for evaluation templates, captions, and structured research data
• Identify recurring model weaknesses across character and facial performance
• Use AI tools and workflows for testing and comparative evaluation
• Collaborate with animation and visual subject-matter experts on calibration sessions and shared quality thresholds
• Help define expertise and evaluation criteria for larger reviewer teams
• Collaborate with research and programme teams on evolving evaluation methodologies

Requirements

• 4+ years of hands-on professional experience as a Character Animator, Facial Animator, Performance Animator, or closely related specialist
• Character or human performance must be a core part of professional animation work
• Verifiable credits on at least 2 feature films, animated features, or AAA game cinematics with recognised studios
• Direct experience with facial animation and/or performance capture
• Relevant experience may include facial keyframing, motion-capture solving, cleanup, motion editing, or technical design of facial and performance rigs
• Exceptional eye for micro-expressions, emotional beats, timing, and subtle physical performance
• Strong understanding of authentic animated human or character performance
• Familiarity with AI tools and visual-generation workflows
• Ability to generate visual samples for evaluation and comparison
• Excellent written English and ability to describe complex visual and performance details precisely
• Reliable access to a 4K-resolution monitor is advantageous
• Must have specialised character-performance experience rather than a background primarily focused on cinematography, lighting, colour, compositing, editing, environments, effects, layout, or generalist 3D work
• Must be based in the United States
• Able to attend occasional in-person working sessions in Playa Vista, Los Angeles or New York City
• Work must be completed without using confidential or proprietary information belonging to any employer, client, studio, institution, or other third party

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in evaluating and enhancing character and facial performances through precise assessment criteria and methodologies. Proficient in facial animation, performance capture, and AI tools for visual generation and evaluation.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Facial Animation
• Performance Capture
• Micro-Expressions Evaluation
• AI Tools Familiarity
• Character Performance Expertise

Hard Skills

• Facial Keyframing
• Motion-Capture Solving
• Motion Editing
• Technical Design of Performance Rigs
• Emotional Beats Assessment
• Timing Evaluation
• Visual Sample Generation
• Performance Cues Identification
• Animation Standards Review
• Structured Research Data Writing

Soft Skills

• Excellent Written English
• Collaboration with Experts

Industry Keywords

• Character Animator
• Facial Animator
• Performance Animator
• AAA Game Cinematics
• Animated Features
• Feature Films

Tools & Technologies

• AI Tools
• 4K-Resolution Monitor