Technical Animator - Maternity Cover (12 Months)

This position is a 12-month contract for Maternity Cover - start date February 1st.

Who we are

Framestore is an Oscar, Bafta, and Emmy award-winning global creative company working in film, advertising, AR/MR/VR, theme park attractions, and pre/post visualisation work among many other creative endeavours.

Framestore’s Immersive Division is a dedicated team within one of the world's largest VFX studios - combining exciting IP and cutting-edge technologies to create never-before-seen experiences and deliver them to audiences around the world across a wide variety of immersive platforms.

The Role

If you are an experienced Animator with knowledge of UE4/5, or perhaps a Technical Artist or Developer with a background in animation, this would be the ideal role for you. Working day to day with Technical Artists, Developers and the divisional Animation and Rigging teams, Technical Animators work towards bringing the level of finesse seen in our Film & TV work to our realtime engine ('Engine') projects.

The role will involve Technical Animation as well as creating and supporting tools used daily by team members across the division. We are looking for someone to be an excellent collaborator, with a broad base of artistic and technical knowledge, excited about creating compelling experiences in engine such as XR projects (Extended Reality), realtime animation or themed attractions.

This is a full-time 12-month fixed term contract role with staff benefits and working on a hybrid work model with a minimum of 2 days per week in the office - ideal candidates will be close enough to the office in London to travel in.

What you'll do:

• Implement animation systems in engine
• Participate in the development of tools in collaboration with Pipeline & Rigging that will allow VFX artists to leverage their skills in engine
• Troubleshoot and solve animation related issues
• Optimise performance to stay within the technical restraints while maintaining artistic vision
• Develop and maintain clear documentation
• Collaborate with Development team to achieve the best gameplay experience

What we're looking for:

• Extensive experience with Unreal Engine ('UE') in a games environment
• Knowledge of animation features within UE, such as its implementation of Control Rig, Contextual Animation, Motion Matching, Procedural Layering, Blending and Transitions, Physics Assets and Dynamics
• Experience of associated rigging/animation pipelines in Unreal and/or VFX
• Experience with animation blueprints
• Experience with engine state machines
• Strong understanding in Python
• Basic knowledge of anatomy for bipeds and quadrupeds, skeletons and muscles
• A good understanding of constraints and deformers, how they work and their limitations
• An understanding of physical motion, weight, balance and form
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Good work organization and structure
• Proactive and collaborative attitude

You might also have:

• Working knowledge of C++
• Experience with performance capture: rig hookups, offset rigs, re-targeting etc.
• Experience with implementing FACS
• Experience creating content for XR or interactive projects
• Experience with stylised characters
• Working knowledge of Maya

Framestore is proud to employ extraordinary talent across all genders, races, nationalities, religions, ages, abilities, and sexual preferences. We aim to encourage and support all of our current and future employees to achieve their potential. No job applicant will receive less favourable treatment on any basis when applying for a career with us.