Company description
Ubisoft is a global leader in video games, with teams spread across the four corners of the world who create original and memorable gaming experiences, from Assassin's Creed to Rainbow Six, including Just Dance and many more. We believe that diversity of perspectives drives progress for both players and teams. If you are passionate about innovation and want to push the boundaries of entertainment, join our adventure and help us create the unknown!
Job description
As a Senior Technical Artist - Characters (Unreal) at Ubisoft Montréal, you will be the go-to person for technical questions related to character creation, from receiving concepts to integrating them into the game engine. You will define how characters are produced on the project and set up the end-to-end production pipeline. You will lead the resolution of complex problems in character modeling, texturing, rigging, skinning and in-game integration, while advising the project on its overall technical direction.
What you will do
- Define the technical needs related to character creation, rigs, skinning, levels of detail, materials and engine integration
- Define the technology vision for characters with the technical directors and associate technical directors, in line with the artistic and animation vision
- Define the character production pipeline, including work methods from creation to engine integration, naming and export conventions, and validation steps
- Establish and communicate the character production standards covering asset structure, version tracking, rigs, skeletons, materials and textures
- Create or recommend tools for character artists, rig creators and animators, including tools for export automation, asset validation, rig creation and batch processing
- Optimize and correct character assets taking into account geometry, draw calls, skinning cost, memory usage and shader complexity
- Solve complex character problems, including deformation quality, integration of clothing and hair, and modular character systems
- Collaborate with animation and programming teams on in-game character features and systems, and communicate progress to project stakeholders and technical directors
- Document standards and tools, track the evolution of character creation technologies, contribute to team coordination around common goals and take part in performance reviews within the specialty
Qualifications
What you bring to the team
- Hands-on experience with the end-to-end character production pipeline, including asset creation and their integration into a game engine
- Knowledge of rigging and animation requirements sufficient to guide the production pipeline and work with animation teams
- Knowledge of technical budgets, polygon counts, materials, asset structure and modular character customization
- Experience establishing work methods and standards for character production
- Experience with Unreal Engine 5, or relevant experience with the character production pipeline in Unreal Engine 4