Framestore London Hiring

LOCATION  : LONDON

POSITIONS : Concept Artist 
                      : Digital Matte Painters
                      : Effects Technical Directors 
                      : Lighting/Generalist Technical Directors
                      : Render Wrangler 
                      : Senior Animator - Commercials 
                      : Shader Writers
                      : Texture Artists 


LOCATION  : NEW YORK



POSITIONS : 2D Paint and Roto Artist 
                      : Animators 
                      : FX TD      
                      : Lighting/Generalist Technical Directors 
                      : Rigger/Creature TD  

  

Concept Artist 

CONCEPT ARTIST JOB SPEC
Framestore is currently seeking accomplished Concept Artists to join the Art Department.
You will be working with the Art Director to develop concept artwork that fits the overall look and art style for current and upcoming film and commercials projects . You will be responsible for providing production artwork, including; character designs, environments, props, effects and shot design.

Requirements:

• Must have excellent 2D skills and traditional art knowledge.
• An excellent understanding of anatomy, character design, colour theory, perspective, lighting, and composition.
• Design a variety of original concepts, including; interior and exterior environments and accompanying scenery objects.
• Be fluent working with digital media (i.e. Photoshop or Painter)
• Quickly render imaginative concepts from verbal and written direction.
• Work well in and communicate ideas within a team environment.
• Be a self-motivated individual, with a strong work ethic.

Desirable:

• Experience with Z Brush or mudbox
• Experience with 3D software such as Maya and Modo.
• A passion for Film VFX

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 Digital Matte Painters

We are currently looking to increase our Matte Painting team and have medium to long term positions available. We are looking for mid to senior candidates with relevant production experience working as a digital Matte Painter.

Skills required:

• The ability to paint in Photoshop
• A portfolio that shows realistic matte painting experience
• Ability to provide sample artwork
• Strong artistic and painting skills
• Knowledge of 3D and film pipeline beneficial but not essential
• Live Action matte painting experience required.

We would like to see a varied selection of 2D matte paintings with an example of the original plate and final matte painting for each one. We are currently recruiting across all levels for positions starting in July 2011

 APPLY NOW >>>>


Effects Technical Directors


With an emphasis on the aesthetics and techniques to create photorealistic effects with natural, FX TDs will take 3D scenes from animators/matchmovers to:

• Create particle, RigidBody , fluid, cloth, fur & hair simulations.
• Apply lighting and shaders to produce the final rendered image or pass the simulations onto a Lighting TD.
• Uses an array of commercial and proprietary FX tools.
• Works in partnership with modellers, animators, lighters, texture artists & compositors to ensure shots are delivered to the highest standard.
• Works within the team on a production to determine the various design solutions needed to create the effects.
• Designs and creates images, elements, effects, pipelines, tools and techniques for digital visual effects.
• Help design solutions where a more procedural approach can be used to help create the effects required.
• Produces test and often final renders of all FX elements for a shot.
• Creates working quick-comps for review by the supervision team.

Experience and skills

• Excellent Houdini and/or Maya
• Thorough understanding of techniques and technologies relating to FX simulation / animation.
• Experience in producing effects such as smoke, fire, clouds, water, steam and explosion, also simulation techniques for RBD, cloth and hair.
• Working knowledge of Renderman & Mantra preferred, experience with other renderers also useful.
• Good understanding of the entire visual effects process, from shooting to modelling and texturing, animation, rendering and compositing.
• Familiar with pipeline issues especially working between multiple packages.
• Working knowledge of at least one compositing application (Shake, Nuke, Halo, etc) and a solid understanding of the compositing process.
• Should have strong Vex/hscript/Mel scripting skills. Python and Unix shell scripting also advantageous.
• Programming skills with C/C++ also an advantage along with knowledge of the Houdini HDK and Maya API.

Main software used by FX TD's at Framestore

• Houdini (including Mantra, VEX, Python & hscript)
• Maya (including Mel & Python)
• Shake or Nuke
• Paint programs (photoshop, gimp etc..)
• Renderman

APPLY NOW >>>> 


Lighting/Generalist Technical Directors

Framestore is looking for Lighting TD's and Generalist TD's at intermediate to senior level to work on a number of exciting feature film projects. Solid experience with lighting and rendering techniques for a Maya, PRMan and Shake based pipeline is necessary.

• Full knowledge of Maya/Renderman, including familiarity with Mel Scripting
• Environment and/or character/creature lighting
• Unix shell scripting is an advantage

* Familiarity with pipeline issues 

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Render Wrangler

The Render Support department monitors and manages the physical render farm cluster and the software which the render farm runs ensuring high availability of resources 24 / 7. The render Support team also support the Data operations department providing out of hours data support.

• Monitoring and reporting on render jobs for each show.
• Monitoring, tracking and reporting render resource usage for each project.
• Balancing multiple shows resource needs within the company's physical capacity.
• Identifying render errors and fixing / escalating to the relevant department.
• Liaising with TDs regarding possible render optimisation.
• Assisting with out of hours data ops requests.
• Monitoring disk / data usage out of hours to ensure availability of disk resources

Essential:

• Excellent communication skills.
• Fundamental understanding of visual effects and computer graphics concepts and terminology.
• Familiarity with Linux.

Desirable;

• Experience with Maya, Prman, Nuke, or Houdini.
• Python or shell scripting experience is desirable.

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Senior Animator - Commercials

Animation - Senior Animator for Commercials
Our busy and renowned Commercials department is looking for an experienced and highly skilled Senior Animator to join the team.
You should be proficient using Maya, and ideally should have previous experience of working on large scale commercial projects. Successful applicants should have the ability to work well as part of a team and also have the potential to lead. A proven ability to meet tight deadlines.

• Several years of experience in a similar role.
• Very good experience in creature and character animation.
• Excellent communication, organisational, and interpersonal skills.
• A thorough knowledge of Maya.
• A working knowledge of rigging and mel/python scripting would be a bonus, though not essential.

To be considered for this position please apply online and add a link to your online showreel.
Please note that your application will not be considered without an online showreel 

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 Shader Writers

Shader Writers are primarily responsible for designing, creating and modifying Renderman Shaders in the Renderman Shader Language ( RSL ), for use in 3d renders using Pixar's Renderman ProServer. You may also be required to apply these same skills to any additional renderers we might adopt in the future.
These shaders can be developed directly for production use on shows, as well as to enhance the centralized core shader library. In both cases they must be made compatible with an existing shader framework. It may also be necessary for a shader writer to develop other plugins or stand-alone programs that are related to shading or shading workflow, such as C/C++ shadeops and other utilities that deal with render assets in the context of shading, lighting and lookdev primarily with Renderman.
Shader Writers will also be required to perform lookdev for shows where their shader development necessarily requires it.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Minimum of 3 years production experience writing RSL 1.0 shaders. ( This can be flexible for junior positions where applicants from a non-vfx background may have equivalent skills. )
• Strong Artistic Lookdev skills & knowledge of lookdev issues such as HDR lighting and colour spaces for example. Ideally as demonstrated by candidates showreel or equivalent.
• Degree or higher in computer science or related discipline.
• Strong technical skills including software design and implementation combined with a solid understanding of maths, geometrical optics, rendering principles such as BRDFs, space transforms etc..
• Excellent organizational, communication, documentation and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work as part of a team – in particular, must be able to take technical direction in shader design when necessary and share ideas openly.
• An understanding of shading the following: hard-surfaces, volumes, particles, Fur, traditional RayTracing, MotionBlur, Pointbased techniques, monte carlo integration, physically based shading, importance sampling, spherical harmonics, etc.

Desirable Skills & Experience

• Production experience with RSL 2.0 - shader classes, coshaders, structs, new shadeops and features and so forth.
• Experience with other shading languages may be beneficial – e.g. GLSL/Cg, OSL, OpenRL
• C/C++ multi-threaded Renderman DSO development using Linux
• Maya API experience
• Maya user experience
• Knowledge of 2D comp workflow. Experience using Nuke.
• A general understanding of the VFX production process.
• Have implemented one or more algorithms as presented in research papers such as SIGGRAPH.

* Experience using GIT scm/software version control is desirable but not essential. 

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Texture Artists 

Candidates should have the ability to create painterly textures from traditional painted reference material, creating both organic and hard surface textures. The successful candidate will be a flexible, creative artist with the proven ability to meet deadlines.

Skills Required:

• Extensive knowledge of Photoshop
• Experience in a 3D paint package
• Ability to work within a team of other texture artists
• Feature experience would be an advantage
• Traditional arts background would be preferred

To apply for these roles you should apply online and include a link to you portfolio showing your texture work; test renders, or images of UV maps/projection maps.

APPLY NOW >>>> 

NEW YORK  POSITIONS                                                               

 2D Paint and Roto Artist

Position Summary:

The 2D Paint and Roto Artist is responsible for clean up, wire/rig removal, dust busting and rotoscoping elements within film scans.

Responsibilities:

• Rotoscoping, painting, tracking and rendering work as needed.
• Examining and evaluating the look of mattes and paint fixes for visual consistency and quality.
• Meets project deadlines / milestones, as set by their supervisor(s).

Qualifications:

• The basic skills of rotoscoping, painting, tracking and rendering are a prerequisite.
• Ideal candidate will have some experience working in feature films.
• Knowledge of Nuke or Shake required.
• Knowledge of Linux desirable.
• Excellent organizational, communication and interpersonal skills.

* Willingness to work overtime when necessary in order to meet deadlines. 

APPLY NOW >>>> 

Animators

We are always interested in hearing from experienced animators who are interested in future vacancies at our New York Office. Animators should be comfortable using Maya, and ideally should have production experience in commercials and/or film. Successful applicants should have the ability to work well as part of a team and should have proven ability to meet deadlines.

• Several years of experience in a similar role.
• Experience in creature and character animation.
• Excellent communication, organisational, and interpersonal skills.
• A thorough knowledge of Maya.

To be considered for these positions please apply online and send in a physical copy of your animation showreel to: Framestore Animator Recruitment, 133 Spring Street, PH, New York, NY 10012.

• Due to the high volume of applications we will only reply to those that have been shortlisted for interview.

* At this time, preference is given to applicants with permission to work in the U.S.

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FX TD 

Framestore New York is expanding its CG department and we are looking for talented FX TDs of all levels to handle work on a burgeoning commercials and film slate. Both Houdini and Maya artists are needed for a range of positions. This is a great opportunity to join a world class vfx studio and work with a top notch CG team, creating award winning FX work.

The emphasis is on the aesthetics and techniques to create photorealistic effects. FXTDs will take 3D scenes from animators/matchmovers to:

• Create particle, Rigid Body, fluid, cloth, fur & hair simulations.
• Apply lighting and shaders to produce the final rendered image or pass the simulations onto a Lighting TD.
• Uses an array of commercial and proprietary FX tools.
• Works in partnership with modellers, animators, lighters, texture artists & compositors to ensure shots are delivered to the highest standard.
• Works within the team on a production to determine the various design solutions needed to create the effects.
• Design and create images, elements, effects, pipelines, tools and techniques for the production of visual effects.
• Help design solutions where a more procedural approach can be used to help create the effects required.
• Produce tests and final renders of all FX elements for a shot.
• Create work-in-progress quick-comps for internal review with Supervisors.


Experience and skills

• Excellent Houdini and/or Maya
• Thorough understanding of techniques and technologies relating to FX simulation / animation.
• Experience in producing effects such as smoke, fire, clouds, water, steam and explosion, also simulation techniques for RBD, cloth and hair.
• Working knowledge of Renderman & Mantra preferred, experience with other renderers also useful.
• Good understanding of the entire visual effects process, from shooting to modelling and texturing, animation, rendering and compositing.
• Familiar with pipeline issues especially working between multiple packages.
• Working knowledge of at least one compositing application (Shake, Nuke, Halo, etc) and a solid understanding of the compositing process.
• Should have strong Vex/hscript/Mel scripting skills. Python and Unix shell scripting also advantageous.
• Programming skills with C/C++ also an advantage along with knowledge of the Houdini HDK and Maya API.


Main software used by FX TD's at Framestore
• Houdini (including Mantra, VEX, Python & hscript)
• Maya (including Mel & Python)
• Shake or Nuke
• Paint programs (photoshop, gimp etc..)
• Renderman  

APPLY NOW >>>> 

Lighting/Generalist Technical Directors 

Framestore’s New York office is expanding its commercials and film CG department and is looking for experienced Lighting TD's and Generalist TD's at intermediate to senior levels to work on a number of exciting commercial and film projects. Solid experience with lighting and rendering techniques for a Maya, MentalRay Standalone and Shake based pipeline is necessary.


• Full knowledge of Maya/MentalRay/RenderMan, including familiarity with Mel Scripting
• Environment and/or character/creature lighting
• Familiarity with pipeline issues

* At this time, preference is given to applicants with permission to work in the U.S.

APPLY NOW >>>> 

Rigger/Creature TD

Framestore NY is looking for Riggers to create and refine realistic skeletal, muscle, facial and mechanical rigs on a wide variety of CG creatures and/or mechanical props for high-end VFX projects.

Responsibilities

• Create fully scripted rigs and refine them according to animation and lighting needs
• Prototype, implement and refine puppet (skeleton), body (muscles), facial, cloth (deformer based) or mechanical rigs
• Troubleshoot and fix rig issues, collect artistic feedback and fine tune rig behaviour
• Become an expert user of the extensive rigging toolset
• Contribute to rig modules or libraries to add functionality
• Create simple tools to help animation workflow and rig interaction
• Work within the pipeline and rigging standards
• Meet delivery deadlines under production constraints


Skills & Experience

• A passion for creating believable CG characters and the attention to detail
• Advanced Maya Mel or Python, GUI scripting, ability to follow strict coding standards
• Experience with fully scripted modular/functional rigging
• Analytical and artistic skills, creativity, visual problem solving
• Team work, communication, and time management
• Experience with medium or large libraries, shared code base, cvs or equiv
• Ability to write technical documentation and present your work (wiki, screen cap, etc)
• Basic knowledge of anatomy for bipeds and quadrupeds, skeletal and muscle
• Good understanding of constraints and deformers, how they work and their limitations


Desirable Knowledge

• Maya muscle custom rigs, pose-space deformations
• Skin jiggle, sliding and wrinkle techniques
• Facial anatomy, realistic eye and mouth rigs, Facs breakdown
• Life drawing or organic modelling esp. human anatomy
• Basic knowledge of dynamics (maya hair, comet, nCloth, nParticle, etc)
• Strong math background, esp matrix math, geometry algorithms
• C or C++ programming Maya plugins
• Experience with body Mocap: rig hookups, offset rigs, retargetting, etc.

APPLY NOW >>>>

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