Job Description

WB Games Montreal, a division of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE), seeks an Advanced Animator.

Your New Role…

In this role, you will be responsible for creating high-quality animation content for real-time gameplay and cinematics for our games, thereby helping to bring the project’s vision to life. Your primary objective will be to implement gameplay features into the game engine by working closely with the different departments, while also providing secondary support for cinematics.

You will also be involved in defining best practices, processes, and pipelines with the goal of improving workflow while establishing a high standard of visual quality. With the ultimate aim of creating high-quality content and storytelling, you will need to collaborate across different disciplines including characters, art, technical animation, narrative, and programming in order to advance the vision coherently while respecting technical constraints and budgets.

Your Role Accountabilities...

• Responsible for animating characters and bringing life to our games with memorable storytelling under WB branded IPs.
• Produce, maintain, and optimize the Gameplay Animations graphs (NPCs, 3Cs, Combat)
• Support and improve the integration of animation assets into the game engine.
• Central point between Programming, Design and Animation teams.
• Work closely with the Animation team to define, create and maintain the animation pipeline.
• Be versatile working with motion capture data, keyframe animation, and in-engine manipulation of animation content.
• Work with production and associated departments to prototype new gameplay features.
• Participate in departmental meetings to share feedback while defining the look and feel of content on screen.
• Assist in R&D efforts for tools improvement and evaluation of new technology.
• Deliver tasks on time and on schedule and reviewing content in engine.
• Animation bug fixing and support.
• Mentor and provide support to the animation team, especially to less experienced members of the team.
• Be the first line of defense on the content side when a technical problem arises

Qualifications & Experience…

• 8+ years of experience in video game development and have worked on at least 3 AAA games.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills.
• Excellent understanding of in-game engines; knowledge of Unreal 5 is highly desired.
• Excellent technical problem-solving and troubleshooting skills.
• Strong animation foundations for body mechanics, posing and timing.
• Strong animation foundation for facial animation and acting.
• Strong eye for cinematic storytelling with camera language, acting and directed mise-en-scene.
• Proficient with 3D animation software (Maya, Motionbuilder, etc.).
• Proficient with the motion capture production process and able to support the pipeline.
• Good understanding of Python/MEL/Maxscript or similar systems is a plus.
• Positive attitude and strong understanding of the game development process and understanding of art/animation pipelines on PC and consoles.
• Experience with managing outsourced content and proven ability to work with outsourcing and external development teams.
• Portfolio/Demo Reel/Website demonstrating your animation skills is required.