The Coalition is a Microsoft first-party development studio located in Vancouver, Canada. We are the official home of the Gears of War franchise, and our objective is to forge the future of the IP and push the limits of Microsoft’s entertainment platforms and devices. Our team is comprised of deep creative and technical talent from across our industry and beyond, working cohesively to delight our fan base and pass expectations of what is possible.
As a studio, we lead from our values and work together to promote respect and inclusion, a growth mindset, G.R.I.T (Guts, Resourcefulness, Initiative & Tenacity), all while putting our team first. Join us and let’s go far together.
We are seeking for a highly creative and motivated Senior Blendshape Artist. In this position, you will be working in conjunction with our riggers, animators, and character team to help deliver high quality facial and body deformation for characters and creatures. You will also be expected to help develop technical best practices for the development of our character muscle deformation system tools and pipelines.
Responsibilities:
- Adhere to the Character Modeling quality bar set by the Art Director and Lead Character Artist on the blendshapes and body deformation.
- Actively accepts feedback from the Technical Animation Director and Lead Character Artist.
- Work with the Animators and Riggers to ensure consistency between vision and implementation of facial deformation and body deformation.
- Collaborate with Lead Character Artist and technical teams to develop character and creature blendshapes procedures & pipelines.
- Works towards established production deadlines.
Qualifications:
- Must have 5+ years of experience in film/television or video games and equivalent experience will be considered.
- Strong demonstrated understanding of realistic facial and human anatomy and creating blend shapes for facial expressions using FACS.
- Experience and/or education in sculpting and drawing realistic organic forms with an emphasis on human, biped and quadruped shapes. Excellent anatomical understanding.
- Experience modeling and sculpting realistic characters, creatures.
- Expert in Maya a must and Zbrush and/or Mudbox for sculpting.
- Experience with Unreal Engine a plus.
- Experience with skeleton/rig creation a big plus.
- Self-motivated and directed.
- Good communication, organizational and time management skills.
Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances.
Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.
