Crowd TD - Mid

Position: Crowd TD - Mid

Hiring Range: $80,600 to $100,100/year for a 40 hour work week

Project Contract: TBC

Company Benefits: Extended healthcare from day 1, premiums 100% covered by Image Engine, up to 8 paid Health and Wellness days per year.

*Candidates are required to be based in British Columbia and eligible to work in Canada*

ABOUT IMAGE ENGINE

Image Engine is a world-class VFX studio based in Vancouver, BC, that has built a reputation for excellence in the visual effects industry since 1995. We specialize in crafting stunning visual effects for feature films and television with an award-winning portfolio that includes The Book of Boba Fett, The Mandalorian, Game Of Thrones, Lost in Space, Jurassic World, and District 9.

We offer a full range of visual effects services, from concept designs and pre-visualization to CG animation, compositing, and explosive volumetric digital effects. Our crew is passionate about storytelling and pushing the artistic and technical boundaries to deliver the highest quality work on every project. R&D is central to our philosophy of driving creativity through innovation and we're committed to continually evolving our robust production pipelines.

At Image Engine, we value diversity and teamwork, and we're proud to foster a workplace culture that is supportive, respectful, and empowering. We believe that our success is a reflection of our exceptionally talented team, and we're always looking for passionate and dedicated individuals to join us on our mission to create unforgettable visual experiences. Join our team and be part of something extraordinary.

POSITION PURPOSE

The MID Crowd TD is responsible for the creation and support of high quality crowd performances for film and high-end television.

When not assigned to a particular show, they will actively improve crowd related workflows or support any other department at the periphery. They will maintain a positive attitude during busy periods and deliveries maintaining motivation levels.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• 
  Creating small and large scale crowds for feature film / animation utilizing a variety of commercial and proprietary tools, utilizing a variety of techniques (crowd simulation, crowd layout, particle instancing etc..), using SideFX Houdini / Maya Atoms Crowd. Experience using any other commercial or proprietary crowd solution is also beneficial
• Taking ownership of the complete crowd lifecycle (from layout/previz to rendering/comp) including integration into specific department workflows (FX, CFX etc...).
• 
  Assist artists with any technical assistance they may require including, but not limited to, troubleshooting and debugging any day-to-day production shot issues that may arise around crowd work.
• Collaborating with the Dev and Workflow supervision for the purpose of the continued integration of crowds into the production pipeline.
• Proactively prototyping and testing shot pipelines and demonstrating crowd FX to build confidence with creative leadership.
• Work with Lead to set up crowd effects using the most appropriate techniques as per show requirements, running key shots and fulfilling shot direction. Qc-ing the technical and creative quality of incoming and outgoing assets.
• Working with all required parties to solve any technical and creative crowd related challenges to their best ability.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• 
  2+ years’ of experience developing crowd setups in VFX feature films, highend-tv or animation.
• A degree or equivalent in Computer Graphics, Computer Science or other related course.

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Technical skills

• Excellent working knowledge of Houdini.
• Working knowledge of Maya is a big plus.
• Experience using Atoms Crowd is a big plus.
• Experience in scripting with Python, Vex is a plus.
• Strong understanding of crowd workflows.
• Ability to animate character/non-character assets is a plus.

Core skills

• Ability to troubleshoot and deal with competing priorities and projects.
• Excellent problem solver who can focus on details while maintaining a view of the whole picture.
• Ability to adapt quickly to new technologies and applications in the context of a custom feature film production pipeline.
• Ability to teach new techniques and promote new approaches to push performance to the next level.
• Excellent time management and communication skills.