Senior Photorealistic 3D Character Designer and Animator

👥 Character & Animation 📍 Remote (Worldwide) 💼 Full-time 🏆 Senior
3D Character Art Photorealism Character Animation Sculpting Texturing Rigging Unreal Engine Game Development

About the Role

We're seeking a Senior Photorealistic 3D Character Designer and Animator to bring the next generation of digital humans and creatures to life. You'll be instrumental in crafting incredibly detailed, expressive, and believable characters that push the boundaries of realism for gaming, movies, and interactive entertainment. If you have an obsessive eye for detail, a deep understanding of anatomy, and a passion for creating living, breathing digital beings, this is your chance to define the future of interactive experiences.

What You'll Do

  • Lead the end-to-end creation of highly photorealistic 3D characters, from initial sculpt to final animation and engine integration.
  • Sculpt high-fidelity models, ensuring anatomical accuracy, appealing design, and exceptional surface details.
  • Develop advanced texturing, shading, and material setups using PBR workflows for maximum realism.
  • Design and implement robust character rigs optimized for performance and animator control.
  • Create high-quality keyframe animations and integrate motion capture data to achieve lifelike movement and emotional depth.
  • Collaborate closely with concept artists, technical artists, and engineers to ensure character assets meet artistic vision and technical requirements.
  • Optimize character assets for real-time rendering environments, primarily Unreal Engine.
  • Drive best practices for character pipelines, tools, and workflows within the team.

What We're Looking For

  • 5+ years of professional experience as a 3D character artist and animator in games or VFX, with a strong focus on photorealism.
  • An exceptional portfolio demonstrating mastery in photorealistic character sculpting, modeling, texturing, shading, rigging, and animation.
  • Expert proficiency with ZBrush, Autodesk Maya, and Substance Painter/Designer.
  • Deep understanding of human and creature anatomy, proportion, and underlying skeletal/muscular structures.
  • Proven experience with real-time engines, especially Unreal Engine, and optimizing assets for performance.
  • Strong knowledge of PBR rendering principles and material authoring.
  • Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with a proactive problem-solving mindset.
  • Ability to interpret and execute complex artistic direction with minimal supervision.

Nice to Have

  • Experience with cloth simulation tools like Marvelous Designer.
  • Familiarity with facial rigging systems and blend shape creation for expressive performances.
  • Experience with advanced rendering solutions (e.g., V-Ray, Arnold) for cinematic quality.
  • Background in leading character art teams or mentoring junior artists.
  • Passion for emerging technologies in character creation and animation.

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