About the role
Company Overview
Lively prides itself on making games full of character. The world is fun and silly and sad and infuriating and banal and beautiful and ugly, and all of those things have a place in their games. Lively hunger for difference, celebrates it, supports it, and thrives on it for the benefit of employees, products, and the community. Lively is an equal opportunity workplace.
Role Responsibilities
An Animator at Lively works as part of the animation team on the character pipeline, from rigging to implementing gameplay character move sets. This hybrid technical and creative role involves building flexible game-ready rigs to bring a range of high-energy characters to life, from high-impact action motions to personality-packed idle states.
- Report to the Lead Artist.
- Work with the Lead Technical Animator to establish a reliable pipeline to author gameplay and performance animations.
- Responsible for the creation and integration of world-class character animations in the game engine.
- Apply animation principles to create high-quality animations while optimizing them to meet technical constraints and making requested changes based on artistic direction.
- Work in close collaboration with the Lead Artist, Game Designers, and Programmers to understand quality objectives, gameplay intentions, and engine capabilities to deliver at a high quality.
- Communicate and work closely with Game Designers and Programmers to find effective solutions, fix issues, and achieve goals on time.
- Quickly prototype and previsualize animation systems and ideas that will serve as a basis for animation and gameplay-related discussions.
- Support requirements for in-game cut-scenes and performance animation to deliver fantastic experiences to players.
Requirements
- Animation production experience on at least one shipped mobile game.
- Experience or a portfolio showcasing stylized motion.
- Advanced skills in games development software such as Maya and Unity Game Engine.
- Must excel at creating flexible joint hierarchies, skin weighting, and engine-optimized deformation set-up.
- Exceptional key frame animation skills.
- A reel that showcases world-leading animation quality in character and other related gameplay animation systems.
- Expert level of understanding of the principles of animation.
- Strong understanding of animation and how it applies to gameplay.
- A passion for character animation, playing games, and film.
- A passionate and self-motivated individual, with a willingness to work in a team and communicate effectively.
- Ability to prioritize own tasks and be responsive to deadlines.
- Exceptional problem-solving skills, with the ability to quickly identify issues and proactively resolve them.
Preferred Qualifications
- Traditional art skills are a distinct advantage.