Animator Job Description
Animator
provides utilization of both Maya and proprietary art tools to implement animated characters and objects in games. Offers guidance to other team members related to Maya & MotionBuilder tools.
Animator Duties & Responsibilities
To write an effective animator job description, begin by listing detailed duties, responsibilities and expectations. We have included animator job description templates that you can modify and use.
Sample responsibilities for this position include:
Develop pipelines for efficiently getting animation from 3D tools such as Maya into Unity3D and continuously improve character rigs and export tools reduce time from concept to game ready assets
Plate speed up/slow down manipulation
QC black levels, grain, color, mattes
Create captivating character, object, and environment animation that breathe life into our games
Work closely with the art director, art lead, and creative team to develop concepts, prototypes, animatics and production ready content
Work closely with engineers and designers to implement animation efficiently to allow for rapid iteration of game design and aesthetics
Create a wide variety of animation ranging from environments, to characters, to props, and some visual effects
Manage and maintain animation libraries
Help create and maintain animation style guides
Animator Qualifications
Qualifications for a job description may include education, certification, and experience.
Licensing or Certifications for Animator
List any licenses or certifications required by the position: CPR
Education for Animator
Typically a job would require a certain level of education.
Employers hiring for the animator job most commonly would prefer for their future employee to have a relevant degree such as Bachelor's and University Degree in Animation, Art, Graphic Design, Design, Computer Animation, Fine Arts, Education, Computer Science, Video, Film
Skills for Animator
Desired skills for animator include:
Maya
Existing engines and animation packages within the industry
Autodesk Motionbuilder
Motion Builder
Python
3DSMAX
Commercial 3D authoring packages
Maya and similar packages useful
Human Anatomy
C#
Desired experience for animator includes:
Willingness to work extended shifts on short notice to cover breaking news and developing news assignments
A degree with an emphasis on animation desired
Additional Minimum 3 years of complex relevant experience within animation
Takes initiative in pursuing new assignments
Familiar with the Unreal Engine
Acting background/experience
Animator Examples
1
Animator Job Description
Job Description Example
Our company is looking to fill the role of animator. We appreciate you taking the time to review the list of qualifications and to apply for the position. If you don’t fill all of the qualifications, you may still be considered depending on your level of experience.
Responsibilities for animator
- Outstanding ability to tell story through key gestures and strong poses
- Must be able to storyboard animation sequences, create animatics, and deliver high quality production animation
- Proven experience working from existing storyboards, developing your own storyboards for animation creation
- Must exhibit strong traditional animation skills and be able to demonstrate that knowledge
- Must be able to quickly match existing styles of animation to maintain a cohesive look help develop ideas to further existing styles and create new ones
- 8+ years of game art creation in a production environment
- Get inspired by the Artistic Director of Animation’s references and directives to understand the quality objectives in regards to fluidity, uniformity, justice
- Create expressive character animation that portrays a wide range of emotions
- Deliver content on schedule that meets technical requirements
- Perform as a key contributor of the animation production process
Qualifications for animator
- Mesh Skinning Vertex weighting experience a plus
- Facial Rigging and Animation Pipeline
- We have openings for junior, mid-level and senior animators
- Bachelor's Degree or equivalent in Traditional Animation and 3 years experience, or at least 5 years of experience working in cel, stopmotion or computer animation
- Undergraduate degree or equivalent experience in communications, digital video production, broadcast, or related field
- An education or interest in animation techniques
2
Animator Job Description
Job Description Example
Our innovative and growing company is searching for experienced candidates for the position of animator. To join our growing team, please review the list of responsibilities and qualifications.
Responsibilities for animator
- Make sure all work is clean and organized with regards to assets within each file file structure and storage
- Work within the established technical specifications and process for creating animations
- Contribute to the success of the team, and the studio, through your personal contribution to the product
- Work with the Director in establishing character design and movement
- Animating both primary and secondary characters and elements
- Submitting shots for review and follow through with notes and feedback if required
- Generate high end animations that communicate compelling visual stories with extreme levels of realism
- Mentor other animators to improve their skill sets and to ensure quality levels are maintained or exceeded
- Interface with Design staff to visually articulate brand vision, product, and surface nuance through the use of high quality rendering, composition, lighting, and cinematic artistry
- Manage render farm tasks
Qualifications for animator
- At least 1 shipped title as an animator
- An animation test may be required
- Assist in supporting and evolving the cinematics team with constructive feedback both technically and artistically
- Able to own the skinning process for a variety of characters, garments, and gear
- Have shipped AAA PC or console titles in a senior animator position
- A passion for stylized forms of animation
3
Animator Job Description
Job Description Example
Our company is growing rapidly and is hiring for an animator. If you are looking for an exciting place to work, please take a look at the list of qualifications below.
Responsibilities for animator
- Apply notes or feedback provided by Supervisors/Leads
- Processing requests from pipeline departments
- Set extensions
- Basic rig and wire removal
- Communicate with team Supervisors/Leads
- Maintain the ‘bid’ in coordination with the VFX Executive Producer represents the company externally and internally
- Hold team dailies
- Perform rounds at artists desks
- Provide schedule visibility to the team and the executives
- Help the supervisors ‘sell’ the shots to the clients(s)
Qualifications for animator
- Skill in related disciplines – illustration, modeling, visual effects, or technical art
- Strong storyboarding skills a plus
- Must have strong understanding of Animation State Machines or Anim Trees
- Experience working as an animator in the games industry
- Passionate about video games and animation
- Working with motion capture, recording and editing
4
Animator Job Description
Job Description Example
Our company is growing rapidly and is searching for experienced candidates for the position of animator. We appreciate you taking the time to review the list of qualifications and to apply for the position. If you don’t fill all of the qualifications, you may still be considered depending on your level of experience.
Responsibilities for animator
- Bid shots with help from the VFX Supervisor and the team and present to the VFX Executive Producer to review
- Manage, mentor and empower Production Managers in their respective areas
- Illustrate the 2D characters for the project
- Create custom illustrations (as above) to complement written content and social posts
- Produce high quality animations under the supervision of the agency's Art Directors
- Meet set deadlines with completed and fully realized animations
- Work in a highly collaborative environment to fully realize our characters and environments through movement
- Communicate with our team when assistance is needed or challenges are presented on the project
- Creating design and composite elements
- Animating storyboards (animatic tests)
Qualifications for animator
- Strong ability to deliver on time and to set realistic time estimates for own work
- Motivated & committed - Good Team player with a can-do attitude
- Knowledge of common practices and the understanding of industry trends
- Strong composition sense
- Proficient with MotionBuilder (story, work with layers)
- Must exhibit strong traditional animation principles (timing, spacing, squash and stretch, etc…) and be able to demonstrate that knowledge
5
Animator Job Description
Job Description Example
Our innovative and growing company is searching for experienced candidates for the position of animator. If you are looking for an exciting place to work, please take a look at the list of qualifications below.
Responsibilities for animator
- Know the game’s story and gameplay (game design documents)
- Oversee smooth cross-software development
- Create rigs of various complexity
- Work with animation graphs, scripted game events
- Solve challenging technical issues on the tool side in-game
- To work closely with lead animators/supervisors/Creative Director for directions
- Ensuring the delivery of world-class character assets and animations for our games
- Working with Animation Director, Lead Character Artist, and Lead Technical Artist to design, implement, and communicate best practices to the entire art production team
- Leading and managing character asset and animation delivery pipelines for our studio and beyond
- Mentoring team members in animation best practices
Qualifications for animator
- Knowledge of the human anatomy, physiological reactions, body language in order to express character emotions through movement
- 3+ years of professional character animation experience using Maya, Max, or equivalent
- Understanding of creative and technical challenges particular to video game animation
- Animation experience with FK and IK skeletal systems
- At least 6 years of experience in animation, including at least 2 years in a leadership role
- Good knowledge of 3Ds max and technical constraints related to the production of video games