Smoking Gun Interactive, a Keywords Studio, is an industry-leading game development studio founded in 2007 by award-winning industry veterans. SGI is fearless in creating IP and boldly partners with renowned brands to develop a wide range of world-class, immersive titles and interactive experiences that resonate with strategy gamers worldwide and entertain millions of casual players every day.
As a Senior Technical Animator you will play a critical role in bridging the gap between artists and programmers, ensuring that our game characters and objects move, behave, and interact seamlessly. You will collaborate closely with our animation and engineering teams to deliver top-notch animations, character rigs, and gameplay mechanics.
Requirements
In this role, you will:
Character Rigging: Create and maintain complex character rigs, ensuring they meet the technical requirements of the game engine while providing animators with the necessary controls for expressive character performances.
Animation Systems: Develop and maintain animation systems that enable dynamic and responsive character animations, including blending, state machines, and IK/FK solutions.
Pipeline Optimization: Continuously improve animation pipelines, identifying and implementing tools and processes that enhance efficiency and quality.
Collaboration: Collaborate closely with animators, artists, and programmers to implement and troubleshoot animation-related features, ensuring they align with gameplay mechanics and technical constraints.
Quality Assurance: Perform rigorous testing and debugging of animations to resolve issues related to character movement, physics interactions, and collision detection.
Documentation: Create and maintain comprehensive documentation for animation systems, rigs, and tools to facilitate knowledge sharing within the team.
Mentorship: Provide mentorship and guidance to junior technical animators, sharing best practices and fostering skill development.
To be successful in this role, you must have:
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Animation, or a related field, or equivalent industry experience.
Minimum of 4 years of experience as a Technical Animator in the video game industry.
Proficiency in character rigging and skinning, with expertise in industry-standard software such as Maya, 3ds Max, or Blender.
Strong knowledge of animation systems, including state machines, blending techniques, and IK/FK solutions.
Experience with scripting languages (e.g., Python) and Unreal Engine (UE5) for animation integration.
Excellent problem-solving and debugging skills.
Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, creative environment.
Strong communication skills and the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical team members.
A passion for video games and a desire to create immersive gaming experiences.
Benefits
10 days vacation leave
5 paid days personal leave
7 paid sick days
Life Insurance & Accidental Death & Dismemberment
Dependent Life Insurance
Long Term Disability (LTD)
Extended Healthcare Benefit
Dental Care
Hybrid working
Training & Development
