Character Modeler-DreamWorks TV

DreamWorks Animation

Apply HERE.

Title:               Character Modeler, TV

Department:   TV Production HUB

Reports To:    Production Supervisor, TV

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Responsible for creating models during prebuild including characters, character blend shapes, and character UV unwraps.

  • Ensure that character assets are of high quality while staying within the production’s parameters, pipeline and schedule detailed and adaptable to various styles.
  • Generate overview notes for the designs in order to meet the requirements for the production.
  • Responsible for ensuring all deliverables are completed on time and according to production standards.
  • Ensure that creative and technical Modeling standards are adhered to by partner studio within the confines of the production schedule.
  • Provide recommendation and suggestions for designs and animatics while ensuring timelines are met.
  • Document workflows and processes using Camtasia video and Publisher software.
  • Review & note assets submitted by our Partner Studios.
  • Serve as character modeling point person in show specific meetings and reviews.
  • Complete all tasks within a timely manner.
Required Skills
Requirements:

  • Ideally 2-4 years of industry experience in film, broadcast, and/or games
  • Advanced knowledge of hard surface characters and organic models.
  • Intricate understanding of Maya’s referencing system and ability to organize complex hierarchies.
  • Solid modeling and rigging skills.
  • Prior experience working in a fast paced production environment.
  • Creative problem solving skills and adaptability skills.
Job Location
Glendale, California, United States
Position Type
Full-Time/Regular

Layout Artist- Blizzard Entertainment

Layout Artist

Employer: Blizzard Entertainment
Location: Irvine,CA
Date Posted/Updated: 12/16/16
Job ID: 129507

Apply HERE.

Job Description:

Blizzard Entertainment is currently seeking an experienced 3D generalist to join our cinematics layout department as a layout artist (temp). The layout department is the -hub- of cinematics, facilitating the flow of assets from modeling, surfacing and rigging, as well as assembling and helping to compose shots from previz, working through animation, simulation and FX, all the way to lighting and compositing. The temp layout artist will work with previz, modeling, and rigging to translate rough scenes into production-ready shots, support animation and camera with environments, continuity, and troubleshooting, and coordinate with modeling, animation and FX with shot by shot set dressing and crowd population. Broad technical and artistic understanding of 3D pipelines, shot composition, and film language are all important.

Responsibilities
– Using Maya, assisted by internal tools and python scripts, translate previz scenes into scenes ready for animation.
– Support animation at various stages, managing layouts, caching and assembling characters with look variants, and rendering for review.
– Add or adjust shot set dressing, crowd cycles, static character poses, and continuity changes.
– Fill in any additional gaps, and catch and solve technical and artistic problems revealed through assembly that are not handled by other departments or through typical pipeline procedures.
– Organize and manage assets, and work closely with programmers to develop, improve, or fix tools that not only serve the layout department, but the cinematics department as a whole.
– Work with artists, programmers, leads, supervisors, directors, and production staff on multiple projects simultaneously, balancing the needs of each and ensuring communication between them.

Requirements
– A minimum of 3 years’ experience in production or feature film in a 3D generalist role, such as layout or previz.
– Depth of knowledge in 3D pipelines, both technically and artistically.
– Strong understanding of the principles of storytelling, film, and composition.
– Basic skills in modeling, rigging, animation and cameras.
– Some experience with lighting, rendering and compositing.
– Data administration skills and interests (e.g. asset management, scene building, tools, etc.)
– Familiar with scripting, especially within a 3D environment.
– Strong, proactive communicator and problem-solver able to learn and work independently and creatively with diverse personalities under resource and time-limited conditions.

Pluses
– Extensive experience with Maya
– Proficiency in python scripting
– Knowledge of RenderMan and/or Redshift renderers
– Some experience with 3dsmax and Nuke
– Expert organization and communications skills, both written and oral
– A thirst for learning and a knack for efficiency
– A passion for Blizzard games, stories, characters and worlds

The Cintiq Companion from an Animator’s Perspective

In this edition of Old But Good Tech, we’ll review Wacom’s Cintiq Companion which at this point is 3 years old and two generations behind the times. That of course doesn’t mean it’s not a viable option for an artist or animator, so read on and we’ll go over why we think it’s still a good purchase.

The beauty herself!

The tablet features a full HD display with touch control, Wi-Fi connectivity, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera and rear 8-megapixel camera, stereo headphone jack, and microphone. It also comes with the Wacom Pro Pen with 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity. Out of the box the Companion runs Windows 8 (mine is updated to Windows 10) and houses a third-generation Intel Core CPU and Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU. The base Windows 8 version houses 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, and the Windows 8 Pro version includes 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. My device features a 512gb HD and 8gb of memory as well as an i7 chip.

I bought my Companion off eBay for $900 have been using it now for about 4 months and in that time I have found it to be a capable device if you take the time to hack it to work correctly. Below are my reactions to this old school device.

Unboxing
First off, when you buy one the basic things you get are: the tablet, tablet stand, power cord, pen, pen case, nibs, and a faux leather carrying case complete with two custom pockets for the charger and the pen case. Your mileage may differ since it’s hard to find a new one at this point but it is cool to note that if yours doesn’t come with a pen, the Cintiq 22HD’s pen works with it as well which is nice, although it doesn’t look the same.

The Stylus box

A comparison of the Companion’s pen vs. the 22HD’s pen.

The carrying sleeve that comes with the device. Also note the pockets for the stylus box and charger cord.

Hardware
From a Hardware standpoint the Cintiq Companion performed admirably with any piece of software I threw at it. It worked well with every Adobe application,  Photoshop, Illustrator, Audition, Premiere and Animate all performed exactly as they would using my desktop Cintiq. I found them all responsive and snappy when trying to access menus or drawing or scrubbing the timeline.

The Companion’s programmable buttons.

There are four buttons and a ring with a button inside it which combined with Wacom’s software you map functions to and you can even have the same button do different things depending on which program you’re using which is extremely valuable to me and I get a lot more use out of having them as opposed to another device like the Surface Pro 2 which has no such buttons especially when using it without a keyboard for programs like Animate (Flash), Storyboard Pro and Photoshop which are all keyboard heavy apps. The device itself is extremely solid if not a little heavy and I read that the Cintiq Companion 2 is lighter in weight but I don’t personally use it while holding it in my arm so I really don’t care about the weight so much but you might.

The Cintiq Companion’s stand

The stand the unit comes with is extremely odd in its setup and feels clumsy because doesn’t attach securely and instead just has tabs that fit into slots which I find to be lazy in such an expensive flagship device. There are some larger folios that you can purchase which is the same form factor but are essentially attached to the unit which cost more but I think might be worth it if you find you’re traveling with it and setting it up and breaking it down a lot. As I said I don’t use it like that much so for me the stand is fine.

The slot the Companion’s stand slides into. No it does not lock which is one of the reasons I don’t like it much.

A view of the Cintiq Companion’s 3 stand ‘flaps’ which slide into slots depending on what height you want.

One other frustrating thing which has largely been reported about his the power button is exactly where you put your hands to grab it and therefore makes you turn the device off constantly whenever you pick it up. Another odd choice by Wacom was putting the webcam top of the device when it is in portrait display as opposed to landscape display which really to me is quite short-sighted. I don’t know who they assumed it was going to be drawing in portrait mode all the time I’m but I guess they clearly thought people would prefer it that way. In the companion 2 they moved it to the landscape View. So I guess they realized their mistake and fixed it.

Storyboard Pro works perfectly well on the Companion but the menus are small and I did miss the screen real estate compared to my 22HD but that said it’s definitely still usable. Plus you can connect an external monitor to it to add to that real estate. Harmony worked well too and I even managed to animate a little scene without much issue, although I never finished it.

Autodesk Maya also works perfectly with the Cintiq Companion and my only gripe was the tiny menus which was fixable with a small hack (more on that later). I have built multiple models with many parts using and it handled each model like a champion and did not lag when rotating the models I built. I built this kitchen using the companion and it rotates with ease.

Granted the kitchen I built does not have a lot of textures so there is that to consider about its performance but I don’t really spend much time texturing 3D models so for me it works perfectly.

Another example is this shelving area which I also built using the Cintiq Companion and Maya and the companion performed admirably when rotating this model around as well despite there being many small parts to the scene. It has yet to be sluggish in anything I have thrown at it!

When using the Companion, it’s performance seems exactly like using a much larger Cintiq only smaller. The strokes work just as quickly and it feels very responsive when trying to draw quickly as opposed to other devices like the Surface Pro which I have found to lag behind when I draw. One of my biggest tests is using Adobe Animate to see if a device’s Graphics chip can keep up with rapid drawing because it is the processor-intensive application and many people post frustrations when trying to use it with a tablet PC because of its lag of underpowered hardware. The Cintiq Companion however, chews it up and spits it out with ease and I have not seen any delay whatsoever while using it. I’ve tried a lot of Tablet PCs over the years and really it is the only one that is able to handle Adobe Animate.

A small piece I animated using Adobe Animate on the Cintiq Companion

All this said there are a few small things that you need to do to make the Cintiq Companion 1 usable when you take it out of the box. Particularly so because of the high-resolution screen if your eyesight is not fantastic as it’s high resolution screen causes most applications to display extremely tiny menus. Adobe’s applications are notorious for this issue and I have read many times people returned the device rather than finding a solution but sine there are ways to hack the system to fix it, I feel that to return the device is silly for something so fixable. Now granted you might be saying, “Gee I know nothing about hacking and I don’t want to ruin my expensive device.” and I’m with you there but it’s really not a huge issue as this is fairly simple to do and can be done with a simple piece of code which I posted about last year during my review of the Surface Pro 2.

One exception that I found using it however was with Maya whereby regardless of hacking the system to display larger fonts and menus Maya would not actually display them larger regardless. But again thanks to google, I found a hack for fixing Maya’s tiny menus as well and was able to increase the fonts the size that I could see far more easily. That’s said I think you are willing to make a few small tweaks to it it is an extremely powerful and useful machine. In fact I would say that it is the only Tablet PC that I have found that is able Toon Boom Harmony and Storyboard Pro capably

To sum it all up I feel the Cintiq Companion 1  is a  hardy device and I think both hobbyists and professionals alike  we’ll enjoy it regardless of it being an older  device. The added plus is that now that it is an older device it’s cheaper and more likely to be  attainable for an artist.  There are things about the companion to that I have read make it  a better device  but it’s also more expensive because it’s newer and if you don’t have the money the Companion 1 will work very well in your workflow and be a great addition to your arsenal.

I did not see any units available for sale as of this writing on eBay or through Google’s Shopping search but they pop up now and again and you just have to look for them! If you decide to get one based on this review or already have one let’s us know in the comments below!

Lighter/Compositor- DreamWorks TV

TV – Lighter/Compositor

Apply here

Tracking Code
4007-01.2 (PIB)
Job Description
Title:               Lighter/Compositor, TV

Department:   TV Production HUB or Lighting

Reports To:    Production Supervisor, TV or Line Producer, TV

Summary:

Working closely with the Lighting & Compositing Supervisor and CG Supervisor, CG-TV, to develop lighting looks and light rigs for CG series and for lighting and compositing final scenes.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

  • Design and create lighting and the look of environments and characters for digitally composited sequences to reach the vision of the Animation Director, TV and Supervising Producer, CG-TV while meeting the production schedule.
  • Set up, light, rig and comp Character and Environment Assets.
  • Manage personal asset lighting load, meeting all deadlines of milestones to material delivery, based on the established schedule and technical requirements.
  • Initiate, set up, organize and document any lighting tools.
  • Perform technical work in support of shot lighting using various production tools.
  • Perform creative lighting development setup as required using lighting and compositing tools.
  • Optimize setups for rendering.
  • Serve as lighting & compositing point person in production specific meetings and reviews.
Required Skills
Requirements:

  • Aesthetic eye for light composition and detail.
  • Strong understanding of color, contrast, and lighting design is required.
  • Ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
Required Experience
Qualifications:

  • Ideally 3-5 years’ experience in the television, feature film or gaming industries.
  • Experience in Maya and Nuke required.
  • Node-based compositing experience required (preferably Nuke).
  • Experience compositing render passes generated from V-Ray and Mental Ray.
  • Python scripting experience preferred.
  • Working knowledge of Linear Workflows.
  • Experience with asset management software.
  • Experience in Television, series, or game production highly desirable.
Job Location
Glendale, California, United States
Position Type
Full-Time/Regular

BUNYAN & BABE-Available Exclusively For Free on Google Play

BUNYAN & BABE-Available Exclusively For Free on Google Play

Starring the Voice Talents of

John Goodman, Kelsey Grammer, Jeff Foxworthy, Mark Hamill

and YouTube Sensation Johnny Orlando

BUNYAN & BABE

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Available Exclusively For Free on Google Play*

Starting January 12

and In Theaters February 3

Click HERE to Watch the Trailer

Los Angeles, Calif., (December 16, 2016) – Bunyan & Babe, a modern take on the American folk story of the legendary lumberjack and his pet blue ox, starring the voice talents of John Goodman, Kelsey Grammer, Jeff Foxworthy, Mark Hamill and YouTube star Johnny Orlando, will be available exclusively for free* on Google Play starting on January 12 from Cinedigm.  An HD version of the animated film will be available exclusively to redeem for free through Google Play here from January 12 to February 16, 2017. Bunyan & Babe will also make its debut in theaters in twelve markets including New York and Los Angeles on February 3.

*US/CA only, ends 2/16/17

In Bunyan & Babe, Travis (Johnny Orlando) and his sister Whitney visit their grandparents for the summer and stumble upon the evil plan of a greedy real estate developer (Kelsey Grammer, “Cheers,” “Frasier”) to steal the land of the town’s longtime residents.  While running from one of the developer’s goons, Travis falls through a magical portal which transports him to the world of American hero, Paul Bunyan (John Goodman, The Big Lebowski, “Roseanne”) & his pet ox, Babe (Jeff Foxworthy, “The Jeff Foxworthy Show”).  Bunyan and Babe get wrapped up in a brand new adventure, and with the help of their new friends Travis and Whitney, they save the town.  Together they learn firsthand that you don’t have to be big to do big things.

The Dove Foundation called Bunyan & Babe “entertaining and fun for the entire family.” The film is Dove “Family-Approved” for all ages.

To automatically redeem Bunyan & Babe on January 12:

https://play.google.com/store/movies/details?id=qw9U5CS6ZkY&e

 

Bunyan & Babe Trailer:

https://youtu.be/qMYJjMFUdDw

Bunyan & Babe:

Runtime: 85 Mins

Rating: PG

Widescreen

About Google Play

Google Play is an online store with millions of digital songs, movies, TV shows, apps, games, books and more. With access to 40 million songs, thousands of new release movies and next day TV shows, millions of apps and games, and thousands of news sources, Google Play is your one stop shop for digital entertainment on any device.=

About Cinedigm

Cinedigm is a leading independent content distributor in the United States, with direct relationships with thousands of physical retail storefronts and digital platforms, including Wal-Mart, Target, iTunes, Netflix, and Amazon, as well as the national Video on Demand platform on cable television.

 

Additionally, given Cinedigm’s infrastructure, technology, content and distribution expertise, the Company has rapidly become a leader in the quickly evolving over-the-top digital network business. Cinedigm’s first channel, DOCURAMA, launched in May 2014, and is currently available on iOS, Roku, Xbox and Samsung, with additional platforms currently being rolled out. Cinedigm launched CONtv, a Comic Con branded channel in partnership with WIZARD WORLD, on March 3, 2015. The Company’s third OTT channel, DOVE CHANNEL, launched on September 15, 2015 and is a digital streaming subscription service targeted to families and kids seeking high quality and family friendly content approved by Dove Foundation.

CG PRODUCTION MANAGER

Nickelodeon_logo_new

Apply Here!

CG PRODUCTION MANAGER

Job Locations
US-CA-Burbank

Overview and Responsibilities

SUMMARY:

  • Nickelodeon Animation Studio is looking for a Production Manager for an animated TV series with interactive components. This person will manage the daily activities of production. He or she must have experience either in CG animated TV series, video game production, or both. Real-time rendering experience is a big plus. Preference will be given for technical experience with real-time rendering and CG production pipelines.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Communicate with Line Producer daily regarding the status of the department.
  • Coordinate the workflow for all supervisors and artists in the CG Department.
  • Keep accurate daily output information of all departments, and enforce deadlines.
  • Alert LP of potential problems and suggest appropriate solutions.
  • Update key production personnel on the status of all areas of production.
  • Maintain and distribute weekly production schedule with accurate information to upper management and production staff.
  • Run weekly department meetings.
  • Supervise Production Coordinator(s) and Production Assistants; assist Line Producer in hiring, performance reviews and terminations for these positions.
  • Oversee preparation production materials for shipping.
  • Manage schedule to ensure production meets strict deadlines. Some of these duties include:
  • Troubleshoot problem.
  • Coordinate and supervise vendor studios.
  • Coordinate and supervise freelance production staff.
  • Assist in the scheduling of key production personnel.
  • Schedule production meetings as necessary.

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Assist with ancillary projects; assist LP with special projects.
  • Act as primary liaison with vendor studio(s).
  • Facilitate communication in a timely manner between production unit and outside studio regarding production issues, questions and materials.
  • Assist Post Supervisor in monitoring and facilitating retake process; ensure that lists and notes are communicated in a timely manner; monitor retake budget.
  • Draft and coordinate all new hire paperwork for freelancers.
  • Update Recruitment and Human Resources departments on all freelance and full-time hires.
  • Review and approve weekly time sheets.
  • Gather and submit new hire information to Human Resources.
  • Coordinate Facilities and IS&T requests.
  • Coordinate materials for festivals, awards, etc.

Basic Qualifications

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Real-Time Rendering experience a plus.
  • Knowledge of Maya, Word, Excel, Outlook, familiarity with internet and email.
  • Knowledge of EPBudgeting, FileMaker Pro, Photoshop, Illustrator a plus.
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills.
  • Ability to work well under pressure.
  • Ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment.
  • Possess complete knowledge of animation production process.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

  • BA/BS preferred, or 2 – 3 years of animation production / video game experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experien