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Sr. Technical Artist, Microsoft
Location: Redmond, Washington
The Xbox Design Studio is the leader in gaming and entertainment experiences for customers worldwide. The experiences we create are for a diverse audience, from hardcore gamers to casual media consumers across TV, PC, Web, and Mobile and beyond. We partner closely with Engineering, Business, and other Design teams to envision, design, and deliver entertainment experiences that are simple and beautiful.
Xbox Design is looking for a passionate and experienced Senior Technical Artist to join our Avatars Team and work closely with engineers and creatives across Xbox. The role offers the opportunity to explore and define content-creation methodologies and ensure teams achieve the best experiences, both within Microsoft Studios and across our 3rd party ecosystem. With strong communication skills, self-motivation, and a passion for enabling others, you will be responsible for creating assets, workflows, and tools. Come with us as we take Xbox Avatars on their biggest adventure yet with the highest-fidelity and a largest-stage we’ve ever had, beautifully showcased in our new Xbox experiences. We work in a fun, fast-paced environment where you work with other talented and passionate people.
Candidate Responsibilities:
Act as the technical art expert for Xbox Design and Avatars.
This includes handling all aspects of 3D content-authoring.
Partner directly with internal studios, our external developers to deliver the highest-quality avatar visuals in the industry to Microsoft’s platforms.
Act as a technical art expert, handle all aspects of technical direction from producing prototypes, defining processes, writing tools, and sharing knowledge.
Partner with designers and engineers to author content plans and provide feedback across disciplines.
Incubate and develop innovative solutions to visual problems and workflows.
Use your passion for learning, implementing, and sharing the latest innovations in real-time graphics and content-authoring.
Identify and author software and tools to achieve this goal.
Leverage relationships within Microsoft’s Windows and Devices Group, HoloLens, Microsoft Research, and Games Studios to bring new approaches to content creation and technologies to our brand.
Demonstrate essential skills in planning and defining criteria for production worthiness, designing specifications, assessments/reviews, teaching, and structured implementation.
Project-manage third-party subcontracted suppliers, where necessary.
Be a leading member of the art community at Xbox. Share knowledge across Microsoft by generalizing technologies and integrating industry best-practices.
Form and lead internal cross-team groups to establish and update these best-practices.
Candidate Requirements:
5+ years of industry-related experience.
A minimum of 3 years of production experience in games.
Computer Science degree, or related, comparable experience.
Strong communication skills.
Show a deep understanding of the character-rigging pipeline.
3+ years’ experience with commercial game engines like Unreal Engine 4 and/or Unity3D or equivalent propriety engines.
Demonstrable experience working with DCC applications such as Maya, Max, Modo or Houdini.
The ability to extend the capabilities of these packages via plugin APIs is required.
Strong Python programming skills for tool-authoring/high-level engine modifications are required.
Programming skills in C++ and C# are required.
Willingness to travel for developer-visits and conferences. A high capacity to learn new tools and process.
Bonus Skills:
Prior-experience presenting on artistic or technical topics at industry conferences.
Experience with data acquisition such as 3D-scanning, motion-capture, and the processing of this data.
Open-source tool development experience
Interested? Apply now.
About the Gamasutra Job Board
Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.Looking for a new job? Get started here. Are you a recruiter looking for talent? Post jobs here.
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