Hair Setup Artist / Groomer

Our Studio

At Spire Studios we empower world-class and diverse creative and technical talent from all mediums to entertain global audiences through animated feature films with heartfelt storytelling, captivating worlds, and inspiring characters.

Key to our vision is developing a real-time enabled pipeline that brings intimacy back to the animation process while pushing the creative envelope. Our team has worked on many of the earliest and most successful 3D animated films, and have experienced firsthand the exponential increase in visual complexity and crew sizes as narrative appetite and audience expectations have grown. GPU accelerated rendering and game engines unlock new workflows that can upend long held assumptions underpinning the assembly line approach of legacy studios.

The Job

The Hair Set-Up Artist / Groomer will collaborate with the Character Art Director, Head of Character Animation, and Character Effects Lead to create and execute the Director’s vision of hair and fur, as well as hair and fur simulations on the show. In this role, you are expected to help manage templates, workflows, and tools related to hair and fur grooming.  

Responsibilities

• Procedurally groom hair and fur.

• Prepare the approved groom for animation rigging.

• Setup the approved groom for simulation including, but not limited to, creating the simulation rig for the asset.

• Run realistic and stylized simulations in a production environment.

• Develop and maintain all department documentation of current pipeline and techniques.

• Develop specialized tools, used in character effects, to help enhance the pipeline and the department's hair workflow.

Requirements

• Strong understanding of current grooming systems and techniques.

• Intermediate to advanced understanding of general grooming tool sets, with the ability to troubleshoot.

• Dynamic simulation background.

• Strong knowledge of programs like Maya and/or Houdini.

• Experience with rigging tools and surfacing modeling techniques.

• At least 3 years of experience in film/animation/visual effects/gaming.

• Knowledge of MEL, Python, or other scripting languages is a plus.

• Ability to multitask and prioritize.

• Ability to take constructive feedback.

Compensation

• Competitive salary.

• Go home at a decent time to hang out with your family and friends.