Expert Character Artist – Heads

Expert Character Artist – Heads

Requirements

• Outstanding portfolio showcasing expertise in character art and look development for video games, featuring a diverse range of character portraits.
• At least 5 years of experience in creating Character Art in AAA game development with at least one full development cycle completed and credited in your name.
• Experience working in Modern Game Engines with an awareness of game budgets, limits, and memory constraints.
• Excellent artistic and design skills, including a keen eye for composition, color theory, and visual storytelling with a focus on character portraits.
• Expertise with hair and fur development and workflows.
• Proficiency in industry-standard 3D modeling and texturing software (e.g., Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, ZBrush, Substance Painter/Designer).
• Solid understanding of PBR (Physically Based Rendering) principles, with In-depth knowledge of shader creation, material pipelines, and advanced texturing techniques.
• Strong grasp of FACs, facial scan workflows and animation integration.
• Ability to consistently resolve issues from a visual, production, and technical perspective.
• Excellent communication skills and a proactive approach to problem-solving.
• Ability to adapt to evolving project needs and work under tight deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Acts as a trusted creative leader for complex, system-wide facial and or creature blendshape development, bringing original concepts to life through exceptional technical execution.
• Fosters positive cross-disciplinary collaboration between animation, tech art rigging, and development teams to ensure character facial systems meet artistic and technical requirements.
• Routinely takes on the most creatively complex facial artwork, demonstrating ability to work independently while managing asset creation effectively.
• Creates formal networks involving coordination between photogrammetry, rigging, and animation departments to establish efficient facial animation pipelines.
• Recommends viable solutions using original ideas and outside-the-box concepts for facial performance challenges for in-game implementation.
• Possesses extensive industry experience with advanced blendshape creation across multiple projects/tasks of varying complexity.
• Demonstrates exceptional understanding of how facial animation contributes to impactful gameplay and storytelling.
• Proactively influences development of pipeline efficiency and workflow improvements around facial systems and blendshape pipelines.
• Sets high standards for character and creature facial assets, ensuring they align with established style guides while introducing innovative technical approaches.
• Mentoring junior artists in facial animation techniques, serving as a role model for upholding core values within the team.
• Works independently for extended periods, establishing achievable production schedules while maintaining visibility to all stakeholders.
• Advises leaders on technical risks, opportunities and decisions regarding facial animation systems.
• Focuses on refining existing facial animation pipelines and improving overall quality and performance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in performance capture and lip sync generation workflows.
• Experience in muscle/fat, hair and cloth simulation workflows.
• Comprehensive knowledge of cinematic design and storytelling through facial animation.