Senior Technical Animator

Description & Requirements

Electronic Arts creates next-level entertainment experiences that inspire players and fans around the world. Here, everyone is part of the story. Part of a community that connects across the globe. A place where creativity thrives, new perspectives are invited, and ideas matter. A team where everyone makes play happen.

At Full Circle, we’re redefining what it means to create and play together. We are the studio behind skate., an online, free-to-play skateboarding sandbox set in an ever-evolving world. With cross-play and cross-progression, skate. moves with you wherever you play. Creativity, connection, and self-expression are at the heart of what we do. Join us to do the best work of your career and help shape the future of this iconic franchise.

We are looking for specialization in gameplay animation realization, with a focus on the implementation of runtime animation systems and state machines (

Note:

This is NOT a rigging role.). You will use EA's proprietary Frostbite engine to help realize the vision of the animation team and push character animation to new levels of believability.

The Senior Technical Animator will report to the Animation Director.

• Work with the animation team to implement animation content using EA's proprietary Frostbite engine & editor
• Work with the Animation Software Engineers, together with the Animation Director, to solve and implement animation system challenges using EA's proprietary Frostbite engine & editor
• Ensure that the animation team can achieve a high level of fluidity and believability with the animations at run time i.e. smooth transitions, natural weight shifts, variety and depth
• Ensure that the responsiveness and overall design of the character motions conform to the goals of the design team
• Proactive in problem identification and forging solutions
• Help to design and coordinate the animation workloads for the project (from a more technical perspective)
• Help to establish efficient pipelines and procedures
• Define and estimate tasks

• 5+ years experience using proprietary animation tools and setting up animation state machines with an established game engine i.e. Unreal & Unity.
• Experience working on at least 2 AAA titles
• Experience working on at least one title that shows more advanced locomotion/animation techniques, that your position has been important to realizing
• In-depth experience working with core animation implementation techniques, for example: motion matching, parametric blends, additive & model space layering, phase matching, IK solutions and ragdoll
• Experience working with both animation-driven and physics-driven gameplay systems with an understanding of the requirements for root/trajectory motion
• Experience working with node-based expressions
• A understanding of animation principles and anatomy
• Experience working on sizeable animation related challenges
• Cross discipline collaboration with multiple disciplines including designers and software engineers

• Experience working with Motion Synthesis is a huge asset
• Motion editor or key-frame animator experience
• Experience working with Maya and/or Motion Builder
• Some experience with MEL, Python, C# or C++

The ranges listed below are what EA in good faith expects to pay applicants for this role in these locations at the time of this posting. If you reside in a different location, a recruiter will advise on the applicable range and benefits. Pay offered will be determined based on a number of relevant business and candidate factors (e.g. education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, or business needs).

Pay is just one part of the overall compensation at EA.

For Canada, we offer a package of benefits including vacation (3 weeks per year to start), 10 days per year of sick time, paid top-up to EI/QPIP benefits up to 100% of base salary when you welcome a new child (12 weeks for maternity, and 4 weeks for parental/adoption leave), extended health/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, disability insurance, retirement plan to regular full-time employees.…