Technical Artist

Job Description

Company Overview: Age of Learning is a leading education technology innovator based in Glendale, California, with a talented team of 500+ individuals comprised of nationally-renowned educators, curriculum experts, designers, animators, engineers, and more. We develop engaging, effective digital learning technology and content to help children build a strong academic foundation for lifelong success. Our flagship product ABCmouse.com Early Learning Academy ® is a comprehensive online curriculum and the #1 learning app and website for children ages 2 through 8. More than 20 million children worldwide have completed over 5 billion learning activities on ABCmouse. We recently launched Adventure Academy , the first educational massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, serving elementary and middle school children with thousands of learning activities in a fun and safe virtual world. Other programs include an immersive English language learning product for children in China; ReadingIQ, a world-class digital library with thousands of curated books; and a groundbreaking adaptive learning system that personalizes math instruction for every learner. We are committed to helping all children succeed. Through our Education Access Initiatives, we make ABCmouse available at no cost to millions of children through schools, libraries, Head Start programs, and community centers—including public housing authorities and after-school programs. As we expand our global reach and increase the educational impact of our programs, we’re looking for passionate, ambitious, and collaborative leaders to become a part of our growing team! Summary: We are seeking Technical Artists to provide robust support to the Adventure Academy and Mastery teams in the creation and implementation of final art assets. In addition to preparing assets, this person will track technical details, facilitate cross-discipline communication, define asset requirements, create guidelines and develop methodologies. Come join us in our effort to deliver a best-in-class, cross-platform product that delights and enlightens children and their parents around the world. The Technical Artist will support the art and design teams in their production and delivery of final art assets to the development team. The Technical Artist will ensure that all assets created and delivered by the team meet the requirements for a range of platforms and technologies. This candidate will work hands-on in the preparation of final art, but will also be responsible for developing guidelines and methodologies that support all members of the design team. The Technical Artist will have a deep technical knowledge of static 3D objects, animated characters and props as well as visual effect (particles), and UI. The role will act as a conduit between the engineering department and the art and design teams.

Responsibilities:

• Provide assistance to Designers in the creation and hand-off of production-ready art and animation assets
• Help establish standards, conventions and best practices for asset creation and integration workflow
• Ensure that assets are being properly integrated. Manage resolution when problems arise
• Create and maintain art production templates covering wide-ranging needs
• Research software tools that can help enable art production.
• Diagnose problems related to asset preparation and quickly deliver solutions
• Be the development team's main contact on the art and design teams when asset integration or performance questions arise.
• Review assets relative to technical and integration requirements before hand-off
• Facilitate production-related communication between the engineers, designers and artists
• Be sufficiently versed in the technology used to create assets in order to advise artists and designers on opportunities and limitations affecting design decisions
• Act as conduit between art and engineering departments
• Work with 3D artists to take raw files to working in-game assets including animations, visual effects, static objects, skinned and rigged characters as well as UI elements
• Work to optimize and streamline the art pipeline
• Oversee and manage art related performance issues and technical budgeting
• Create and manage tools to expedite the production process
• Partner with Art Director and Engineering Director to ensure product vision and quality benchmarks are met
• Stay current with industry trends and technical advancements used in mobile game development

Required Qualifications:

• 4+ years experience in a similar role as Technical Artist within the games industry
• Advanced understanding of the Maya to Unity workflow
• Experience rigging and skinning in Maya
• Ability to write custom shaders
• Experience with Python, MEL and C#
• Experience creating VFX with Unity particle tools
• Experience working in a fast-paced environment that requires rapid project turnaround and frequent priority shifts
• Knowledge of device formats and browser limitations
• Adept at balancing trade-offs between quality and performance
• Strong verbal and written communication skills for both design and engineer audiences
• A team player who accommodates change easily and is able to work in a fast-paced production environment
• Adept at navigating multiple projects and priorities
• Self-motivated, proactive and detailed oriented
• Able to manage time and schedules efficiently
• Evidence of multiple shipped games

We Provide: Medical, Dental, Vision + 401k Highly competitive PTO policy Casual Dress Code Snacks + Drinks (Coca Cola Freestyle Machine) Gaming room including an Arcade (2,000+ games) Frequent team and company outings Limitless opportunities for professional growth! Apply for this job