Character Technical Artist (Rigging)

Deck Nine Games currently has an opening for a Character Technical Artist to join our amazing art team. If you love collaborating with artists and animators to create expressive, quirky and memorable characters that fans fall in love with we’d love to talk with you.

You will work in close collaboration with animators, modelers, and the artistic and technical animation director in order to produce high-quality rigging and skinning with emphasis on facial rigging. The role will require you to jump into the unknown and solve new problems, exercising your ability to think creatively to resolve technical and artistic challenges and limitations. The ideal candidate is passionate about games and has 2 years’ minimum experience that covers a complete game development cycle.

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QUALIFICATIONS:**

Must include a link to a portfolio of your work**

• 2 years’ minimum experience in technical art or other relevant experience
• Worked on at least 1 game within the technical art discipline
• Bachelor’s degree in art, design, technical discipline or other relevant training

**
RESPONSIBILITIES:**

• Establish and maintain rigging pipelines and standards between Maya and Unreal Engine

• Carry out the rigging and skinning of characters and props to meet the needs of project animators, with a particular focus on facial rigging for real-time game assets

• Propose and implement tools to produce the best possible results and incorporate them seamlessly into the existing pipeline

• Work closely with the animation team to implement control rigs to improve and simplify their workflow

• Liaise with Art, Animation, Mocap, Tech and Production

• Export from Maya and set up game characters in the engine, ensuring the final result meets the artistic standards of the project

• Support the Art Team with their technical needs, find and develop solutions to content creation pipeline issues

• Experience creating and maintaining a rigging pipeline with an emphasis on facial rigging and implementation of expressive blendshapes

• In-depth knowledge of Maya

• Python, Scripting for Maya tools

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BONUS:**

• Knowledge of MGear
• Experience working with Mocap data
• Knowledge of scripting and programming languages such as ZScript, Javascript, C++
• Basic knowledge of Vicon Shogun, Photoshop, Substance Painter and/or Zbrush
• Animation Experience
• Interest and understanding of human anatomy

**
Benefits**

• Competitive salary depending on experience
• Generous vacation time and paid parental leave
• Health insurance for you and your family at a low cost to you
• Dental and Vision insurance for you and your family at NO cost to you
• Life and Disability benefits at NO cost to you
• Optional Flexible Spending Account (including Healthcare and Limited Purpose), Dependent Care Account, and Health Savings Account available
• Optional Supplemental Health and Life Insurance
• 401(k) Plan with an Employer Match
• Growth opportunities for your career

Salary Range: $60,000+ DOE

**Please note that the compensation information is a good faith estimate for this position only and is provided pursuant to the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act and Equal Pay Transparency Rules. It is estimated based on what a successful Colorado applicant might be paid. It assumes that the successful candidate will be in Colorado or perform the position from Colorado. Similar positions located outside of Colorado will not necessarily receive the same compensation. **

**
About Deck Nine**

Here at Deck Nine Games our passion is storytelling games. We are an independent game developer dedicated to crafting AAA interactive story games that inspire, transform, and entertain players. In 2021 we released Life is Strange True Colors, which went on to win multiple awards for storytelling and visuals, including best storytelling for 2021 and a VGA for Games for Impact. Recently we announced that we are developing a game for the hit sci-fi Amazon series, The Expanse. Our prior titles have won multiple awards, including Game of the Year and nominations for VGA and BAFTA awards. The studio is 100+ amazing people both located in our headquarters in sunny Westminster, Colorado and spread throughout the world permanently remote.

As the crafters of stories that encompass the full breadth of life’s experiences, Deck Nine is committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and multicultural team in which people from all walks of life feel inspired to do their best work. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and believe deeply in the creativity and strength built from diversity of race, religion, disability, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, nationality, and the many other qualities that make us different.

If this sounds appealing to you, please apply now!