Senior Technical Animator

Placements24; Mbombela (Nelspruit); Hybrid; ZAR 700,000 - 900,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Competitive salary

Professional growth opportunities

State-of-the-art tools

Job summary

Placements24 seeks a Senior Technical Animator to join the team in Nelspruit, SA. You will rig characters, build animation systems, and optimize real-time performance across platforms.

Collaborate with animators and programmers, troubleshoot technical issues, and contribute to cutting-edge game development in a hybrid work environment. This role emphasizes bridging art and tech, implementing engine pipelines in Unreal Engine or Unity, and scripting with Python or MEL to automate tools.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience as a Technical Animator or Rigger in the game industry.
• Proficiency with Maya and rigging techniques.
• Experience with Unreal Engine or Unity and scripting in Python or MEL is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Rig characters and creatures for animation with performance in mind.
• Develop and maintain animation systems and tools.
• Troubleshoot skinning, blending, and IK issues.
• Collaborate with animators to ensure technical soundness and engine integration.
• Work with programmers to refine animation features and engine pipelines.
• Optimize animation data for real-time performance across platforms.

Skills

Technical animation

Rigging

Character movement understanding

Animation pipelines

Python scripting

Tools

Maya

Unreal Engine

Unity

MEL

Job description

About the Role

Our client is seeking an experienced Senior Technical Animator to join their team in Nelspruit . This role is pivotal in ensuring that character animations translate effectively and perform optimally within the game engine. You will be responsible for rigging characters, developing animation systems, troubleshooting animation-related technical issues, and collaborating closely with both animators and programmers. This hybrid role provides the opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge game development while maintaining a healthy work-life balance, fostering innovation in character performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Rig characters and creatures for animation, ensuring flexibility and performance.
• Develop and maintain animation systems and tools for efficient animation implementation.
• Troubleshoot and resolve technical issues related to animation, including skinning, blending, and inverse kinematics (IK).
• Collaborate with animators to ensure their work is technically sound and integrates smoothly into the engine.
• Work with programmers to implement and refine animation features and engine capabilities.
• Optimize animation data for real-time performance across multiple platforms.

Requirements

• Extensive experience as a Technical Animator or Rigger in the game industry.
• Proficiency with industry-standard animation software (e.g., Maya) and rigging techniques.
• Strong understanding of character anatomy and mechanical principles related to movement.
• Experience with game engine animation tools and pipelines (e.g., Unreal Engine, Unity).
• Knowledge of scripting languages like Python or MEL for tool development is a plus.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to communicate technical concepts clearly.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package.
• Hybrid work model for a balanced work-life experience.
• Opportunities for professional growth and learning new technologies.
• Access to state-of-the-art animation and development tools.
• A collaborative and supportive team environment.