Technical Animator / Rigger

Lightfold; Atlanta (GA); Hybrid; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Hybrid work arrangement

Job summary

Lightfold Games in Atlanta, GA is hiring a full-time Technical Animator / Rigger to design, build, and maintain character and creature rigs for animation across games and related media. You will create deformation setups, integrate motion capture data into production pipelines, and collaborate with animators, designers, and engineers to keep rigs intuitive, performant, and visually compelling.

This hybrid role supports a large roster of variants for our upcoming co-op horde shooter, with

Qualifications

• Strong rigging and skinning experience (Maya or equivalent).
• Experience with in-engine animation pipelines (Unreal Engine preferred).
• Comfortable supporting a large roster of animated variants.
• Proficiency in motion capture workflows (cleaning, retargeting & integration).
• Understanding of animation principles & practical work for games/film.

Responsibilities

• Build skeletal rigs and skin weighting for players and monster variants.
• Develop locomotion cycles and get them working cleanly in-engine.
• Support animation-state needs: running, strafing, aiming, hits, deaths.
• Collaborate with artists on rig-friendly topology.
• Script tools to streamline rigging & animation tasks.

Skills

Rigging

Skinning

Motion capture workflows

Animation pipeline experience

Collaboration

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in animation or related field

Tools

Maya

Unreal Engine

Blender

Python

MEL

Job description

Lightfold Games - Atlanta, GA

Lightfold is a creator-first entertainment studio bringing fans and creators together to build original worlds across animation, comics, games, and more. We believe great stories come from giving talented people the freedom, ownership, and support to do their best work, then inviting audiences to come along for the ride.

Now, we're building Lightfold Games.

Come in on the ground floor, we're hiring to bring our 3D game development and asset production in-house and create a team that can help define not only this game, but what Lightfold Games becomes.

These are hybrid positions based in Atlanta, GA (Old Fourth Ward), with health benefits. We're looking for collaborative, ambitious people who want the rare opportunity to get in early, help establish how a new studio works, and build something from the beginning.

Our first game: building a co-op horde shooter with a stylized look tied to a 2D cartoon. We're hiring the full founding team at once, 11 roles in parallel, so we can move all 3D asset production in-house.

Role Description

This is a full-time Technical Animator / Rigger role based in Atlanta, GA, with a hybrid work arrangement that allows some work from home. The Technical Animator / Rigger will design, build, and maintain character and creature rigs for animation across animation, comics-related media, and games. Day-to-day responsibilities include creating and refining deformation setups, integrating motion capture data into production pipelines, and collaborating with animators, designers, and engineers to ensure rigs are intuitive, performant, and visually appealing. The role also involves scripting tools and workflows to streamline rigging and animation processes, troubleshooting technical issues, and documenting best practices for the team. The person in this role will work closely with project leads to support storytelling goals while meeting production timelines and quality standards.

Our horde-shooter combat needs a large library of animation states across players and monster variants. We're hiring two Technical Animators/Riggers to build the skeletal and animation pipeline that supports it.

Details

• Build skeletal rigs and skin weighting for players and monster variants
• Develop locomotion cycles and get them working cleanly in-engine
• Support heavy animation-state needs: running, strafing, spraying, aiming, hit reactions, deaths
• Work closely with Character Artists on rig-friendly topology

Must Have Qualifications

• Strong rigging and skinning experience (Maya or equivalent)
• Experience with in-engine animation pipelines (Unreal Engine preferred)
• Comfortable supporting a large roster of animated variants

More Qualifications

• Strong rigging skills for characters and creatures, with experience building robust, animator-friendly rigs.
• Proficiency in motion capture workflows, including cleaning, retargeting, and integrating mocap data into rigs.
• Experience with animation principles and practical animation work for film, TV, or video games.
• Scripting abilities (e.g., Python, MEL, or similar) to develop tools and automate rigging and animation tasks.
• Understanding of video game pipelines and real-time engines (e.g., Unity, Unreal Engine) is highly beneficial.
• Experience with industry-standard 3D software (such as Maya, Blender, or equivalent) for rigging and animation.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with artists, technical staff, and production, with clear communication and documentation skills.
• Strong problem-solving mindset, attention to detail, and ability to work in a hybrid environment based in Atlanta, GA.
• Relevant education or equivalent professional experience in animation, game development, computer graphics, or a related field.