Animation Technical Director-Contract

Job Description:

Overview


The Animation Technical Director will work with the internal and external animation, programming and audio teams to communicate and oversee adherence to technical policies in accordance to Leap Frog standards and guidelines. This position requires a highly communicative, friendly and proactive problem-solver willing to work with cross-functional teams to improve the entire content production process.




Duties & Responsibilities

Establishes, plans and administers technical policies and standards for the animation department.

Ensures the highest technical standards for animation content development.

Supervises and advises in all technical aspects of animation production for all platforms.

Acts as a liaison between the animation department and the software team. Establishing workflow and standards that facilitate an optimal interface between the groups.

Communicates technical aspects of animation production to other groups within the organization.

Pipeline and workflow development. Optimize animation production process and methodologies.

Supervises the creation of custom fonts optimized for platform specific hardware

Creates tools using various programming languages that improve production efficiency through automation.

Collaborate with the engineering departments to create specifications for platform hardware requirements.

Writes documentation of the tools, processes and content creation techniques for the animation group.

Works with animation producer to create budgets and schedules for animation projects as needed.

Relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals.

Specifies and implements hardware and software systems based on the needs of the department.

Participates in the training of animation staff (both internal and external).
(The above statements describe the general nature and level of work being performed in this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, and additional responsibilities may be assigned.)


Knowledge & Skills

Excellent communication skills required. Previous training experience

Action Script or other programming experience is desired.

Strong understanding of Flash 8 libraries, file structure, vector art creation process.

Three years of interactive/multimedia Production Art experience.

Previous art process and tools development.

Strong skills in Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash 8, After Effects, Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro

Experience using MS Word, MS Excel, MS Project, Visio

Experience creating fonts.

Python, Action Script, Applescript, VBScript, Perl. HTML, XML, Javascript,

Useful but not imperative: Java, C++, C

Broadcast production experience. Software development experience.

Knowledge of media formats, image processing, color theory, computer and NTSC display properties.

Understanding of the technical issues related to design for broadcast and game platforms.


Education & Training

Bachelors degree. Other training related to video and gaming production helpful.

Minimum 3 years experience as a technical director in a related field (game development/video production).