Mocap Animator

Side • Fort Lauderdale, FL

5d

About The Position

Side is seeking a Mocap Animator to clean, track, solve, and retarget motion-capture data for video game production. The role involves repairing missing or incorrect tracking data, removing artifacts while preserving the original performance, and transferring the processed motion onto 3D character rigs. The animator also applies keyframe animation to improve poses, timing, balance, and interactions, helping captured performances meet gameplay or cinematic requirements.

The position works to production deadlines and hands off clean data to character animation and cinematic layout teams. It requires detailed, organized work with performance files and the ability to interpret creative direction while balancing the actor’s original performance against technical and artistic needs.

Requirements

• 3–5 years of experience in cleanup or tracking within video game production.
• Advanced proficiency with data-cleanup and retargeting software such as Autodesk MotionBuilder and Vicon Shogun Post.
• Solid understanding of Autodesk Maya and animation curves in engines such as Unreal Engine or Unity.
• Deep understanding of human anatomy, weight distribution, and realistic movement to infer missing data accurately.
• Exceptional patience and attention to detail for repetitive, meticulous vector-data manipulation.
• Ability to visually reconstruct complex movements when substantial camera data is missing.
• Highly organized workflow for handling large volumes of performance files under tight schedule constraints.
• Advanced proficiency in traditional 3D keyframe animation, including animation curves, graph editors, Euler angles, and gimbal-lock resolution.
• Command of weight, anticipation, staging, arcs, and secondary action to enhance captured data naturally.
• Deep understanding of Forward Kinematics (FK), Inverse Kinematics (IK), and character-rig behavior with external constraints.
• Ability to balance preservation of actor performance with keyframe adjustments for gameplay or cinematic needs.

Responsibilities

• Identify, label, and track raw point-cloud data from studio shoots, correcting marker swaps and mislabeled tracking points.
• Reconstruct missing tracking data caused by actor occlusions using interpolation, smoothing algorithms, or reference footage.
• Remove jitter, spikes, and other artifacts from tracking curves while preserving the nuances and weight of the original performance.
• Solve processed marker data onto 3D character rigs, accounting for differences between actor and character proportions.
• Correct structural clipping, stabilize feet, and fix basic posture and interaction anomalies.
• Sync cleaned motion data with reference video to preserve the actor’s emotional intent, timing, and weight distribution.
• Meet production deadlines and provide clean data to character animation and cinematic layout teams.
• Fix retargeting issues, including hand or foot sliding, floor penetration, clipping, and unnatural joint stretching.
• Apply traditional keyframe animation to amplify poses, sharpen timing, address balance issues, and match stylized or cinematic art direction.
• Adjust animation curves to achieve accurate contact and interaction with virtual props, weapons, vehicles, and uneven terrain.
• Interpret directors’ creative notes and translate performance critiques into technical animation adjustments.
• Determine when to preserve the actor’s organic performance and when to use keyframes for gameplay responsiveness or cinematic clarity.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Education Level: No Education Listed