The Character TD Team at Insomniac Games is Growing. We are looking for a Character TD responsible for authoring facial rigs and facial riggings systems from scratch or utilizing a variety of high-resolution scan-data; participate in facial research & development efforts; pioneer and recommend new tools, techniques and technology for pushing visual boundaries, performance and efficiency; and seek to continuously push the state of the art. Responsible for a strong understanding of FACS and facial anatomy, as well as cutting edge approaches to facial technology.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following:
Authors high quality photorealistic facial rigs based on FACS using blendshapes
Authors rigging systems to augment or support blendshape-based facial rigs
Authors or contributes to systems/workflows for integrating head and body rigs
Collaborates with Character Art, Animation, and Engineering teams to deliver the highest quality assets with animator/mocap friendly interfaces that run smoothly in engine.
Contributes to tools for authoring and editing facial rigs (python/pyqt/pyside)
Contributes to automated tools and workflows for runtime optimization (i.e. smooth skinning decomposition, etc)
Contributes to tools for ingesting 3rd party facial rigs
Contributes to facial animation systems such as facial solvers and R&D (python/C++/Machine Learning)
Sculpts FACS (from scratch if necessary) using deformers and/or sculpting tools
Designs supporting facial rigging systems such as sticky-lips and corneal bulge
Processes and cleans 3D or 4D scan data from FACS sessions, and extracts useful information such as wrinkle and bloodflow maps
Focuses on performance optimization for runtime
Keeps up with state-of-the-art approaches to facial rigging for photorealistic characters in film and games
Has strong understanding of facial shape transfer techniques and ability to implement shape transfer pipelines
May be asked to direct actors through FACS during facial acquisitions.
May ingest and integrate facial assets from 3rd parties.
May be expected to maintain relationships and provide feedback to external vendors
Other duties may be assigned
Supervisory Responsibilities: This role has no supervisory duties but may mentor other TD’s with regard to facial mechanics, rigging, sculpting, or solving techniques.
Education/Experience:
Five to Seven years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience
One to four years of experience in character setup, Python scripting, a familiarity with MEL and a comprehensive understanding of all technical aspects of Maya animation.
One to two years of animation training covering all basic animation principals.
Expert-level experience with Maya
Experience sculpting details with ZBrush, Mudbox, or comparable; processing scan data with Wrap3 or comparable; with deformation transfer workflows.
Preferred experience with machine-learning based solutions for facial scanning/authoring/solving (TensorFlow, PyTorch, etc); authoring plugins that aid in facial deformation transfer or solving (python or C++); and working with faces in realtime (Unity, Unreal or other).
Working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite
Other Skills:
Strong understanding of state-of-the-art approaches to rigging photorealistic faces for film or games; of FACS, how it relates to facial anatomy, and ability to identify primary action units on sight; Understands current approaches to facial performance capture & solving; of modern approaches to scanning including lightstage and 4D scanning
Expert understanding of facial skeletal and muscle anatomy; Passion for achieving highest quality detail through iteration and refinement. Ability to think outside the box to achieve more realistic solutions or optimize runtime performance. Passion for collaborating and sharing knowledge across teams
