Crowds Artist - Laika

General Summary
The Crowds Artist is responsible for creating crowds of characters and creatures to the visual style and narrative of the film.   

Job Functions 

• Create layouts and crowd performances in scenes and shots that are on style of the animation performances of the film.
• Publish crowds using Houdini to specifications needed by layout for downstream consumption.
• Take crowd-specific creative input and translate crowd behavior through performances and overall movement and timing through rules and simulations.
• Work with animation to get supporting animation performances that can be used effectively in crowd simulations.
• Collaborate with pipeline technical directors to develop processes and tools to enhance capabilities, workflow, and throughput.  
• Perform technical work in support of shot production using various production tools and help troubleshoot and develop creative solutions to complex tasks.   
• Partner with rigging, animation, lighting, and compositing teams to help support each departments’ effects integration requirements.  

Qualifications 

• 3+ years of high-end production experience in television or feature films as a Crowd Artist and/or TD.
• Experience in producing crowd simulations.
• Proficiency with particle simulations in controlling the motion and look of crowds.  
• Knowledge of applicable software and platforms; Houdini 18.0 (or higher).
• Experience in Houdini Crowd setup and simulation.
• Working knowledge of Karma rendering, Nuke compositing, and Maya.
• Working knowledge of Renderman and Katana for lighting effects, a plus.
• Understanding rigging approaches, a plus.
• Strong communication skills to perform in a collaborative work environment.   

Physical Demands and Work Environment
The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

• Physical demands: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to walk; stand; sit; use hands to operate standard office equipment; reach with hands and arms; balance; stoop; talk or hear both in person and by telephone. The employee must lift and/or move up to 15 pounds. Vision abilities include close vision, distance vision, and the ability to adjust focus.
• Work environment: While performing the duties of this job, the employee works under typical office conditions and is exposed to variable indoor temperatures. The noise level is usually quiet or moderate.  

Location 
On-site in Hillsboro, OR 

Salary 
Salary is commensurate with skills and experience.

Disclaimer
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified.

Please review our EMPLOYMENT DISCLAIMER and MATERIALS SUBMISSION AGREEMENT.