WB Games | Avalanche Blog

The Job

Avalanche, a division of WB Games Inc., is seeking a Senior 3D Character / Tech Artist to join our growing team of talented industry veterans working on our upcoming game Hogwarts Legacy, a new open world, action RPG set in the Wizarding World.

This role is for an experienced game artist who has vast 3d experience in all facets of the character pipeline and has experience in creating realistic human characters, clothing, and creatures. This position also requires candidates to be technically oriented, so they are able to understand and can help to improve current pipelines while keeping up with any advancements in technology.

An artistic/ technical hybrid candidate with a fun, easy going personality with hard working ethics and a proven record of experience is most welcome.
This candidate will not only help polish assets and get character assets into our Unreal Character Creator, but will also help create assets within our existing head/morph system, hair system, clothing system, texture system, fur system, skin system, and all other character related “systems” etc.
This person must understand Unreal and the PBR workflow in creating packed textures and setting up Materials that work in the Unreal Environment. You should have a deep understanding of texture maps, UVs, baking, and extracting textures from scanned data is essential. You must understand Substance Painter, Zbrush, Maya, topology, and game optimization.

One week you might be working on a character or a clothing piece, the next, you might be polishing heads, textures, or other “character” related tasks. You must be flexible and be able to multitask and ready to take on any challenge that presents itself.
Candidates must provide an online portfolio and be able to provide examples of High-resolution modelling, both organic and hard surface as well as game resolution assets.

The Daily

• Work closely with Dept. Lead/ Art Director over all character related pipelines
• Document workflows and pipelines within a character style guide
• Create both Organic and Hard Surface Models
• Create Human and Creature Anatomy/ Faces
• Create high resolution source assets in an industry standard sculpting/modeling package (Zbrush, Maya)
• Create low-poly, efficient, animation ready assets from high resolution source assets
• Create animation ready topology
• Create textures from photo realistic to hand-painted using a variety of styles
• Create high detailed Normal maps and AO maps
• Prepare outsourced work for integration to the game
• Prove to be a “GameMaker” by assisting in the creation of other game-ready assets such as environment pieces, props, etc. as needed
• Work in Unreal
• Morph Targets

The Essentials

• Character Creation experience on multiple games and potentially feature films
• Prefer an emphasis in human anatomy, character, and creature design/modeling/animation
• Preferred: 4-year 2D/3D art degree with excellent fundamental art skills such as lighting, composition, scale, and color, as well as critique skills or equivalent experience
• Technical and Artistic abilities, candidates must be able to show demonstrable background in traditional art
• 5+ years’ experience in game development modeling and texturing 3D assets and have shipped AAA titles as a Character Artist
• Expert understanding of game asset development processes, limitations, and dependencies
• Exceptional visual and technical understanding in sculpting, 3D modeling & surfacing (both high- & low-resolution game assets).
• Exceptional Human and animal anatomy knowledge.
• Must have experience using the U4 pipeline creating characters
• Hair/ Fur experience
• PBR workflow
• Excellent communication, time management, and organizational skills. Able to meet and manage multiple deadlines/weekly sprints and competing priorities
• Flexible and easy-going attitude while also task driven, self-motivated, reliable and proactive
• Attention to detail is a must
• Team player who works well with co-workers and other departments
• Rigging experience helpful
• Candidates should have Expert Level software experience with:
  • Maya, Zbrush, Adobe/Photoshop, Substance Painter, 3D Coat, Marmoset
  • Unreal
• Beneficial Experience:
  • Substance Designer, Marvelous Designer, Mari, Wrap3,
  • 3D Generalist (understanding of 3d pipeline)