Character FX Supervisor

The Character / Creature FX Supervisor is a Houdini specialist, with extensive production experience, that can develop and test tools for character FX pipelines.

We require a talented individual to lead a team and work closely with the Animation Supervisor and other department heads to meet the creative vision for cloth, hair and skin for our characters.

You will also be expected to build the team, manage Leads and give direction to R&D and Pipeline TDs, providing them with clear briefs, targets, and support so that they can meet their goals.

What you’ll get to do:

• Work closely with the Art Director, Production Designer, and Animation and FX Department Supervisors to assess technical implications of creative briefs
• Clearly understand the creative requirements of a sequence and develop or lead the development of technical solutions that will enable these requirements to be met
• Offer constant technical leadership to all members of the Character FX team
• Assist with the development of prototypes/examples that clearly demonstrate the creative requirements of the production then assist in the development and dissemination of workflows based on these examples
• Attend all Character FX and animation reviews to offer feedback and technical solutions to problems
• Contribute technical feedback in reviews and to artists directly as required
• Mentor and advise Character FX artists and leads in technical aspects of their role
• Work with the Character FX leads to develop a common approach to character requirements including both tools and procedures
• Clearly articulate character FX requirements to technical departments to enable them to develop tools to support the agreed approach
• Identify areas of inefficiency within the groups’ workflow and implement solutions to rectify
• Identify and contribute to group and department pipeline updates
• Supervise Software TD’s to build tools that speed up the group's workflow
• Review assets leaving the group and give detailed, specific, feedback to Artists/TD’s where assets are not creatively ready for distribution
• Working with Production to prioritise task and flag any issues in potentially going over schedule

What you bring:

• At least 5 or more years CG production experience in a Lead or Supervisor capacity
• Expert level of understanding of Houdini
• Experience with cloth, fur and feather tools
• Strong scripting and/or programming experience
• Muscle and skin simulation experience a plus
• Proven ability in high end FX & character FX work
• Excellence in problem solving and balancing quick turnaround with long term quality
• Must be able to work with and manage a wide range of personality types within a team
• Must possess strong communication skills and be able to efficiently organise and prioritise the work of a team across multiple both technically and creatively

In return, you will receive:

• The opportunity to join a growing, independently owned and operated, award winning studio based in sunny Sydney!
• A chance to work on ground-breaking animated feature films
• Exposure to working within a USD pipeline
• A dedicated Learning and Development and Artist Management team focused on your personal career growth
• Currently piloting a flexible work program, allowing Animals to work from home one day per week
• A world renowned working environment packed with clubs, activities and events
• A generous leave policy including paid ‘Volunteer’ days
• A variety of employee benefits including superannuation, employee discounts, breakfast, free use of barista coffee machines and snacks!