BC - Senior VFX Rigger - Stop Motion VFX Project

Senior VFX Rigger

All applicants must be residents of British Columbia, Canada.
Must be legally entitled to work in Canada ie. Citizen, PR, Open Work Permit.

At this time, we’re pleased to offer this role as an option to work from home OR work from our Vancouver studio in the beautiful Gastown area, close to the Waterfront Station in Downtown. (Remote is not available outside of BC; there is no hybrid)

At this time, we’re pleased to offer this role as an option to work from home OR work from our Vancouver studio in the beautiful Gastown area, close to the Waterfront Station in Downtown. (Remote is not available outside of BC; there is no hybrid)

About Zoic 
Zoic Studios is a Visual Effects company that specializes in high end visual effects for television, film, and advertising. Our mantra is Visual Evolution - we focus on every part of the process, from the final picture to the pipeline used to create them.   

Are you looking for your next creative and technical challenge? Come join our team!  

Why Join Zoic? 

• We are an Artist owned and operated VFX studio. 
• We love what we do and always stay curious about new technology and techniques. 
• We respect work/life balance in a hectic industry. 
• We work with a team from all walks of life and backgrounds. 

We are excited to share an incredible stop-motion animated feature project that promises creativity, collaboration, and a fantastic chance to showcase your skills! Contracts starting early / spring 2025.

General Summary

The Sr VFX Rigger is responsible for the creation, delivery and maintenance of high-level rigs. This position works closely with project leadership to determine topology requirements and provides technical assistance and expertise to facilitate animation workflow.

Job Functions

• Create, maintain, improve and support rigs through production, including any necessary scripts and tools to facilitate any animation requests.
• Ability to create and maintain the existing Python code base used in rig creation.
• Develop flexible and rebuildable rig modules that integrate with the existing Python code base.
• Work across multiple departments such as modeling, animation and character effects in order to trouble shoot creative and technical issues.
• Perform modeling and animation tasks for rig development, as needed.
• Work with crowd team to support rigging needs for large crowds, and work with the motion capture expectations to support rigging needs for shoots.
• Communicate effectively with production and leadership regarding asset performance expectations, pipeline compatibility and deadlines.
• Assist to ensure the team meets production deadlines as established by production.
• Assist with mentoring, training and development of talent within the department.

Qualifications

• 5 years of CG/Visual Effects feature rigging experience on theatrically released films.
• Strong knowledge of rigging in Maya, Python, Maya node networks, how they relate to rigging, and how to effectively debug at a node/connection level.
• Proven ability developing Python scripts, tools and/or C++  plugins within a CG animation pipeline. MEL, PyQt, bash, a plus.
• Strong understanding of Motion Capture integration for rigs and related workflows.
• Strong understanding of scripted rig build systems, animation/rigging pipelines and manual rigging techniques.
• Experience building a wide variety of rigs (organic/mechanical/prop/body/face/costume, etc.).
• 3D math knowledge and strong understanding of geometry, kinematics and deformation.
• Background in visual arts/design with a strong understanding of form and movement, preferred.
• Modeling skills and ability to understand and troubleshoot polygonal mesh flow for deformation.
• Proficiency working in a Linux environment.
• Expertise running cloth, nCloth and hair simulation, a plus.

Additional information

• British Columbia Employees Pay Range: $45 - $65 (The actual base salary offered will depend on a variety of factors, including without limitation, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and if applicable, the location of the position)
• Zoic does not cover relocation costs.
• Any and all WFH positions require the candidate to have a reliable internet connection via ethernet and work on Pacific Standard Time.
• This job description contains the basic requirements for the position and is NOT intended to be a complete list of responsibilities; other duties may be assigned.
• Due to the volume of applications, we receive, we regret that only those selected to interview will be contacted.