games jobs : games artists & animators - by date

Games artist and animator jobs

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These games jobs were last updated on 08/05/08. You are on the games artist and animation page which also includes rigging, special effects, film and TV roles. If you are interested in any of them please quote the ref no(s) and send your CV and examples of your work to ben@datascopeusa.com.

Graduates - please see our advice on starting your career in games development.

The ideal candidate will have experience with character and creature animation, facial animation, skeletal construction, point weighting, motion capture and cloth simulation. Experience working on next-generation projects in the video game industry is a major plus. Responsibilities:
-Create detailed skeletal rigs for AAA titles.
-Create fluid and aesthetically pleasing animations that exude character and personality.
-Create non-organic animations for robots, vehicles, guns and various other mechanical objects.
-Work with Level Designers, Character modelers and Programmers to insure smooth integration of game assets.
-Work as part of a team for the betterment of the project. This includes meeting deadlines, being proactive about problems and being self motivated.


Qualifications:
-3 years of professional experience or equivalent.
-Must be strong in the concepts of shape, form, structure, proportion and silhouette as it relates to animation and deformation.
-Experience with environmental and architectural animation.
-Experience in Maya or 3D Studio Max required, experience with Motion Builder is a plus
-An understanding of UV mapping and texturing is a plus as well as a professional understanding of Photoshop.

US - Mid-West £negotiable

Contact: Yelena Ref: 25948 08/05/08

This Bay area client has been bringing cutting edge gameplay and graphics to video gaming since 1992. With over 20 published titles they have proven excellence in the 3rd and 1st person action genre. They now utilize their internally developed, state of the art technology and tools to consistently create the best possible gameplay experiences. Position Requirements:
*Must have a thorough understanding of general game production, and every aspect of the art, animation, and design creation process
*Design and creation of custom scripts and plug-ins to build art-centric toolsets focusing on increasing productivity, aiding workflow, and reducing human error
*Communicate and troubleshoot technical art issues with an emphasis on studio wide global solutions
*Assist in educating art staff from a technical, workflow, and efficiency standpoint
*Mentor and train other technical and production artists in studio
*Research and develop software that may assist in improving efficiency and raising the visual quality of the art department
*Build art for testing purposes and develop R&D demonstrations for other teams to use as learning tools
*Exceptional problem solving, analytical, organizational skills
*Able to self motivate, prioritize tasks, track and deliver technical solutions while managing multiple requests from different departments
*Strong understanding of MEL scripting and an expert level Maya user
*Thorough understanding of all standard art tools and plug-ins in that include Maya, Photoshop, 3DMax, and Perforce
*Must have a full understanding of all aspects of game art and animation production and have worked though at least one production cycle in an artistic capacity
*Must show a portfolio that demonstrate both artistic and technical knowledge
*Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present ideas, concepts, and approaches, to both peers and studio management
*Service and client oriented, driven to improve the environment and process for art content creation for all artists within studio
*Next generation experience, and the capability to foresee future tools needs based on this knowledge

Position Preferences:
*5+ years in the game industry
*Arts related degree
*Prior leadership experience a plus.

Bay Area, CA $DOE

Contact: Yelena Ref: 26170

This Austin studio is part of a larger team of successful developers, with studios worldwide. Austin has it's share of advantages, it has been voted as 'Best Places for Business & Careeres', 'Live Music Capital of the World', 'Best City for Relocating Families' & 'Best Cities for Singles.' See what it might have in store for you! Our client is seeking Environment Artists with meticulous modeling and texturing abilities to do level / environmental art. The successful candidate will:

-Show an understanding of color theory, and be able to create balanced & appealing color palettes;
-Understand the aesthetics of environment, function vs. form relationships, as well as what makes a game level fun and intriguing;
-Be a good communicator;
-Work well in a team spanning artists, programmers, and designers;
-Be able to teach and be taught.

Architectural and drafting experience are assets, as are previous game experience and level design.

Austin, Texas $DOE

Contact: Yelena Ref: 25899

Headquartered in Southern California, our client employs more than 100 developers and is currently working on original properties for next-gen consoles. They are a dynamic company with state-of-the-art facilities and an excellent work environment. If you want to be happily employed, working on next gen titles this is the place for you. Our client is looking for a highly skilled and professional FX Artist to create stunning special effects in real-time and develop advance material and particle shaders for exciting high-profile next-generation games.

Responsibilities:
-Utilize sprite-based particle systems to create wide variety of real-time special effects
-Develop advanced material and particle shaders within the Unreal Engine 3
-Create necessary textures for particle and material effects
-Communicate and work effectively with game designers, environment artists, concept artists and programmers in a quality-driven, team oriented, agile environment

Requirements:
-Minimum 2 years of game industry experience
-One or more game titles shipped
-Production experience with current-generation effects systems utilizing particle systems, particularly sprites, and other forms of dynamic simulations
-Comfortable within a Maya or Max work environment
-Highly proficient with Photoshop
-Traditional art foundation focusing on color theory, lighting and form
-Self-driven, problem-solver, strong communicator and a great team player
-Strong passion for video games.

San Diego £negotiable

Contact: Yelena Ref: 13361

Founded in 2001 and located in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, this company is a potent mix of industry vets and fresh talent, offering full game development, ports, and consulting for all current and next-generation consoles. They have been extremely successful working with licensed properties from companies such as Disney, Warner Brothers, Nike, NASCAR, and the NFL. They are currently looking for great talent to help them embark on several new and exciting projects. They are seeking a Senior Environment Artist with a passion for quality and an eagerness to work in a world-class game development studio.

Responsibilities:
- Creation of game environments, including modeling, materials, and lighting
- Collaborating with the Art and Design teams to create high standard models and textures
- Contributing innovative and original ideas towards new processes and tools

Requirements:
- Minimum 5 years experience in the gaming industry, with a primary focus on in-engine asset creation.
- Solid knowledge of Max or Maya
- Must have a basic understanding of game creation limits and dependencies
- Willing to accept and provide direction, work well under pressure, and handle multiple tasks
- Excellent communication, interpersonal and organizational skills.

Oregon £negotiable

Contact: Ben Ref: 13325

This Texas client is a rapidly growing, award winning developer whose games have spectacular graphics and gameplay, and utilize cutting-edge technology. They have already released 5 successful titles in the last 6 years, and with three new AAA projects in development, they are quickly solidifying their place among the industry's leading multiplatform developers. Description

They are looking for a Technical Artist to act as a liaison between artists and programmers. He/She must understand the relationship between art creation and the technical code. He/She must be able to demonstrate the most effective techniques for creating art that pushes the boundaries of existing and future hardware. The Technical Artist must also be able to generate art that demonstrates advanced capabilities of the engine and help to drive development of the engine to support more advanced art features.

Qualifications

- 2+ years of experience in computer generated art.
- 3DSMax experience.
- Ability to create art assets to demonstrate advanced techniques.
- Ability to communicate effectively with both artists and programmers.
- Ability to solve technology issues as they relate to art production.
- HLSL, CG, or GLSL shader programming.
- Scripting language programming experience (MaxScript, MEL, etc.).
- Game development experience.

Houston £negotiable

Contact: Yelena Ref: 13275

This Texas client is a rapidly growing, award winning developer whose games have spectacular graphics and gameplay, and utilize cutting-edge technology. They have already released 5 successful titles in the last 6 years, and with three new AAA projects in development, they are quickly solidifying their place among the industry's leading multiplatform developers. They are hiring for an environment artist to work with the Lead Artist and Level Design team to maintain a coherent vision of the game's look and feel and ensure that the game has beautiful next-gen environments.

Qualifications

- Must have a minimum of 2 years experience creating 3D game environments.
- Must have a high proficiency with 3DS Max and Photoshop.
- Must have ability to quickly learn and adapt to well-established art and production pipelines.
- Must be credited on at least one commercially released game as Environment Artist.

Houston £negotiable

Contact: Yelena Ref: 13274

This Texas client is a rapidly growing, award winning developer whose games have spectacular graphics and gameplay, and utilize cutting-edge technology. They have already released 5 successful titles in the last 6 years, and with three new AAA projects in development, they are quickly solidifying their place among the industry's leading multiplatform developers. As the Lead Artist, you will be responsible for managing a team of artists in the design and production of game art for a PC/Xbox 360/PS3 FPS project. You need to be extremely creative and proficient, have a solid understanding of 2D and 3D graphics, and be familiar with all aspects of the art production pipeline ranging from modeling to motion capture to particle systems. You will collaborate closely with other department Leads and Producers to ensure stunning, next-generation visuals and stellar artistic design!

Responsibilities:
* Supervise a team of artists while managing the project schedule and resources.
* Establish and maintain visual direction, consistency and production standards throughout the project.
* Provide status reports and work closely with producers and other department leads.

Qualifications:
* Must have a positive mentality and be a team motivator.
* Must have 6+ years of total experience in computer generated art for games.
* Must have credit on 3+ commercially shipped titles.
* Strong understanding of art pipelines and how to efficiently manage them.
* Highly proficient in 3ds Max and Photoshop.
* Experience with all game art proficiencies, including FX creation, particle systems, sprites, shaders, etc.
* Ability to create art assets which demonstrate advanced techniques.
* Ability to communicate effectively with all team members and departments (Design, Programming, Art, Production).

Houston $DOE

Contact: Yelena Ref: 13273

This Texas client is a rapidly growing, award winning developer whose games have spectacular graphics and gameplay, and utilize cutting-edge technology. They have already released 5 successful titles in the last 6 years, and with three new AAA projects in development, they are quickly solidifying their place among the industry's leading multiplatform developers. The Character Artist is expected to be competent in multiple disciplines such as modeling, texturing, and/or conceptuals. The Character Artist will work closely with the Lead Artist to make sure the game has top-notch next-gen visuals and to keep pushing the boundary on high-end game graphics.

Qualifications
* 3-5 years of experience in computer generated art.
* Heavy 3DSMax/Photoshop experience. 2+ years of character art experience.
* Z-Brush and/or Mudbox expertise is required.
* Knowledge with art development on next-gen consoles.
* Solid understanding of art pipelines and how to get the most out of them.
* Motivated and driven to face challenges.
* Ability to create art assets which demonstrate advanced techniques.
* Ability to communicate effectively with member of all teams (design, programming, art) and must be able to solve problems creatively.
* Must have credit on at least one (1) commericially shipped titles.


Preferences
* Knowledge of FX creation with particle systems, sprites, shaders, etc.
* Knowledge of Motion Capture and mocap clean-up efforts is a plus!
* Scripting language programming experience (MaxScript, MEL, etc.).
* Game development experience.

Sugar Land, TX £negotiable

Contact: Yelena Ref: 13272