Previs Artist

The Previs Artist will contribute to many artistic and technical aspects of Sony Pictures Animation’s previs projects using both Maya and Unreal. They will collaborate with the Executive in charge of Pre Production, the Previs Department Head, and the technology team in developing and maintaining libraries of assets, materials, textures and motion files for use by the pre-production teams including production designers and art directors including rigging and prep assets for previs artists in both Unreal and Maya. Will contribute to the development and support of workflows for artists as part of early pre production through previs for animated feature projects.

Sony Pictures Animation is an animation studio based in Los Angeles, California, creating both feature animation and animated series with artists from around the world. We pride ourselves on empowering filmmakers to lead the creative process, and allowing the hand of the artist to be truly felt, with the goal of producing bold and innovative visual storytelling!

Responsibilities

• Develop rigged characters and character export tools to other vendors
• Develop libraries of assets, materials, fx, and motions for previs artist
• Support the art and previs teams with asset compatibility between DCC’s
• Prep assets for pre production (textures, materials, and rigging)
• Build and debug shader and materials graphs throughout pre production
• Help with lighting and shading levels in Unreal Engine
• Work closely with software development teams in the creation of a new previs pipeline
• Work closely with all departments on pipeline improvements and developments
• Support supervisors/artists with use of this pipeline and it’s tools
• Support artists and supervisors
• Work with Unreal Sequencer in terms of assembling shots, animations, camera, etc both in house and with vendor assets

Essential Skills

• Experience working with Maya or other DCC software
• Excellent knowledge of the Unreal Engine asset and animation pipelines
• Experience with character rigging and retargeting for Unreal Engine and Maya
• An understanding of Camera, Animation and Film Language
• Technical troubleshooting skills within Maya and Unreal
• A solid knowledge of Previs/VFX/CG shot production and its iteration process
• Understanding of Materials and Shader Editor in Unreal Engine and Maya
• A desire to learn from others and to take on increasingly challenging work
• A vivid imagination

Software knowledge

• Autodesk Maya
• Unreal Engine 5
• Autodesk MotionBuilder
• Perforce
• ShotGrid

The anticipated base salary for this position is $45/hour to $75/hour. This role qualifies for benefits pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement. The actual salary offered will depend on a variety of factors.