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Technical Director 2 - Research & Development - Shader W job

Posted: April 10, 2007
CG JOBS
subject: Technical Director 2 - Research & Development - Shader Writer , LAIKA, Inc.

LAIKA, Inc. is looking for Technical Director 2 - Research & Development - Shader Writer

Job details:

Technical Director 2 - Research & Development – Shader Writer

Award
winning animation studio, LAIKA Inc, based in Portland Oregon and owned
by Phil Knight, co-founder and chairman of Nike, is seeking a Technical
Director - Shader Writer for its Research & Development Group.

Laika
is currently in production on the Animated Feature Film “Coraline”,
based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, written for the screen &
directed by Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and The
Giant Peach). In addition the studio has several projects currently in
development including “Jack & Ben” and Alan Snow's "Here Be
Monsters".

Laika's Research & Development Department have many pioneering initiatives including:

-
building tools and pipeline for Stereoscopic Production (Coraline is
the first Stop-Motion Animated Feature to be shot in Stereo);

- developing new tools to assist in the integration of Computer and Stop-Motion Animation;

- building from the ground up several types of production pipelines;

- creating tools to assist and aid Computer Animation Production.

The
Research & Development TD bridges the gap between art and
technology. Their primary responsibility is to create and improve
efficient, artist-friendly, production workflows. By designing,
implementing and teaching better ways of working, the R&D TD
empowers an entire team of production artists to get up to work
efficiently. As a technical problem-solver, the R&D TD may be
called on to participate in design work, at least peripherally, across
the breadth of the entire pipeline. Although the main focus of the
R&D TD is on strategic, reusable workflow development, they may
periodically participate directly in production projects.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

- Design, prototype and implement artist-centric production tools, specifically Renderman and other rendering tools.

- Work with the documentation and training groups to develop source materials.

- Help production staff understand best usage of production tools and workflows.

- Troubleshoot production problems, and proactively work to minimize their impact.

- Design and execute project work plans to produce known deliverables on a pre-determined timetable.

- Proactively seek new technologies, techniques, and processes that will benefit facility production techniques.

- Present new ideas, work and technology to educate and inform others in the company

Minimum Qualifications and Abilities:

- 5+ Years of Feature Film (CG) Experience

- Strong communication skills

- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent education/experience.

- Demonstrated knowledge and experience working with Maya and Renderman

- Experience working on some flavor of a UNIX platform, preferably Linux

- Experience scripting in Perl or Python

- A background in Computer Science, Engineering, Art or equivalent job experience

- Ability to manage time according to current priorities in an efficient manner

- Ability to balance short-term production needs with long-term strategic development

- Ability to work in a self directed manner, and be adaptable to change

Preferred Abilities and Knowledge:

- 3 + years of Feature Film (CG) Experience

- Experience working with Houdini, Shake, MTOR, or equivalents.

- Experience with Qt or PyQt

- Experience in C/C++ or some other object-oriented programming language

- Experience with subversion, cvs or another revision control system

- Experience designing user interfaces

To apply online go to:

http://apps.laika.com/jobs/detail/196

For additional information on Laika, including other open positions in R&D, please go www.laika.com

Location: Portland, Oregon, United States
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