About the role
Company Culture and Environment
At the core of Epic’s success are talented, passionate people. Epic prides itself on creating a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment. Whether it’s building award-winning games or crafting engine technology that enables others to make visually stunning interactive experiences, the team is always innovating. Being Epic means being a part of a team that continually strives to do right by the community and users. The company is constantly innovating to raise the bar of engine and game development. Epic Games deeply values diverse teams and an inclusive work culture.
What We Do
Push your artistic talent to the limit on a team of world-class environment, character and concept artists who strive to innovate and inspire.
Role Responsibilities
Epic Games is looking for a Technical Designer in Animation (TDiA) to join the team working across various animation systems. As a TDiA, you will use your animation sense and technical understanding of character animation to design and create gameplay animation systems that facilitate appealing, high-quality character motion. You will be the primary point of contact for animation implementation issues and any animation-related technical challenges, and you will work closely with Animation, Design, and Programming colleagues to ensure the animation pipeline operates smoothly and efficiently. You will also help identify potential issues and deploy correct solutions, using your technical knowledge to help bridge and facilitate communication between the animation team and other departments.
In this role, you will:
- Creation of animation behavior tools/techniques/philosophies that allow the building of complex movement systems
- Design and implement animation state machines/behaviors and runtime solutions
- Work closely with the Animation, Design, and Programming departments to analyze, troubleshoot, and solve in-game animation implementation issues and animation-related technical challenges
- Closely collaborate with the animation leadership to maintain the style and quality bar for animations in the game
- Look for opportunities to improve the animation pipeline/workflow and help provide solutions for technical animation problems, including performing training and creating documentation for the animation team
Qualifications
- A strong animation sense with a clear understanding of realistic and stylized character motion and how to achieve them with modern animation methods
- Expertise with animation pipelines, including source content creation tools such as Maya, MotionBuilder, and the Unreal Engine, using our Control Rig tools
- Exceptional problem-solving ability with strong written communication and teamwork skills
- Familiarity with gameplay animation tools and concepts, such as blend trees and state machines; experience with Unreal Engine Animation Blueprints required
- Experience with AAA game development, preferably on a large team using Unreal Engine
- Self-motivation, a strong work ethic, and the ability to work independently
- Coding knowledge or experience with C++ is not required
Benefits
Epic Games covers all things that are medically necessary and improve the quality of life.
- Insurance: 100% of premiums paid for employees and dependents, including Medical, Dental, and Vision HRA
- Financial and Disability: Long Term Disability, Life Insurance, and 401k with competitive match
- Mental Well-being: Robust program through Modern Health providing free therapy and coaching for employees and dependents
- Time Off: Unlimited PTO and sick time
- Work-Life Balance: Company-wide paid breaks throughout the year and a paid sabbatical after 7 years of employment
About Epic Games
Epic Games is a leading interactive entertainment company. For over 30 years they have been making award-winning games and engine technology that empowers others to make visually stunning games and 3D content. Epic's Unreal Engine technology provides game developers the ability to build high-fidelity, interactive experiences for PC, console, mobile, and VR, and is used across industries such as media and entertainment, automotive, and architectural design.