Gameplay Animator (Mentor)

M3DS Academy; United States; Remote; USD 55,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fully remote freelance collaboration

Job summary

M3DS Academy seeks an experienced Gameplay Animator to mentor students with one-on-one guidance in a fully remote freelance setup. You’ll help learners craft expressive, believable character movement for real-time games in Unreal Engine, review reels, and teach workflows from animation blueprints to motion capture cleanup, with feedback in English.

The role focuses on locomotion, combat, traversal, and transitions, and offers flexible scheduling within the M3DS mentor network.

Qualifications

• Portfolio reel showing strong game character movement.
• Professional experience in gameplay or technical animation.
• Experience with Maya and Unreal Engine.
• Ability to explain workflows in English.

Responsibilities

• Provide animation critiques focused on posing, timing, spacing, weight, and body mechanics.
• Guide locomotion, combat, traversal, and transition workflows.
• Demonstrate animation polishing and motion capture cleanup where relevant.
• Help students implement animation using Animation Blueprints, State Machines, Blend Spaces, and Montages.
• Explain root motion, in-place animation, retargeting, and animation layering.
• Support project planning, reel development, and portfolio breakdowns.

Skills

Gameplay animation

Character animation

Technical animation

Animation feedback

Motion capture (advantage)

Mentorship (welcome)

Tools

Maya

Unreal Engine

Job description

M3DS Academy is looking for an experienced Gameplay Animator to guide students through personalized 1-on-1 mentorship.

You’ll help aspiring animators create expressive, believable character movement and understand how animation functions in a real-time game environment. Projects may include locomotion, combat, traversal, and implementation in Unreal Engine.

What you’ll do

• Provide animation critiques focused on posing, timing, spacing, weight, and body mechanics.
• Guide locomotion, combat, traversal, and transition workflows.
• Demonstrate animation polishing and motion capture cleanup where relevant.
• Help students implement animation using Animation Blueprints, State Machines, Blend Spaces, and Montages.
• Explain root motion, in-place animation, retargeting, and animation layering.
• Support project planning, reel development, and portfolio breakdowns.

What we’re looking for

• Professional experience in gameplay animation, character animation, or technical animation.
• A reel demonstrating strong character movement and animation for games.
• Practical experience with Maya or another professional animation package.
• Experience implementing animation in Unreal Engine.
• Strong animation fundamentals and an understanding of gameplay responsiveness.
• The ability to explain workflows and provide constructive feedback in English.

Motion Matching, Control Rig, or motion capture experience is an advantage. Previous mentorship experience is welcome, but not required.

What we offer

• Fully remote freelance collaboration, a flexible schedule coordinated with students, and a place in the M3DS mentor network.
• Further workshops, masterclasses, and educational collaborations may be available.