R&D Engineer - Artist-Facing Tools

Full Time Job
Job Summary:

Description

Position at Industrial Light & Magic

We are looking for engineers for our Artist-Facing Pipeline engineering team to help build our next generation of 3D asset management and data-handoff tools. We need people who have:
• A passion for developing tools for master artists.
• A knack for simplifying complex processes.
• Experience with visual effects production pipelines.

Who We Are

Industrial Light & Magic, founded in 1975 by George Lucas, has created some of the most iconic moments in motion picture history. From Star Wars to Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers, The Avengers, theme park rides and interactive experiences, ILM continues to expand the possibilities of what visual entertainment can be.

ILM’s R&D and Core Pipeline groups develop the ground-breaking technology that our artists use to create dazzling visuals. ILM’s innovations have won 29 Scientific and Technical Academy Awards ® . Today, we are 70 visually-minded software engineers, working side-by-side with over a thousand digital artists in a fast-paced, intensely collaborative, creatively-driven film production environment, across studios in San Francisco, Singapore, Vancouver, London, and Sydney.

With over 40 years of experience, ILM is the best in the business, but we’re never content with the status quo. With a full slate of upcoming movies, we have the ambition to improve everything we do:
• Develop ever more powerful tools and production techniques that push the bounds of visual complexity and cinematic fidelity, and continue to create images no one has seen before.
• Improve our most powerful artist tools so they’re easier to learn and easier to use.
• Modernize our core infrastructure, and increase the throughput of our global compute and storage processes.

What You’ll Do
• Actively develop tools, structures, and pipeline systems that define how artists assemble and manage massively complex 3D scenes.
• Design user interfaces for authoring, validating, publishing, and tracking 3D and 2D data as it moves through the production pipeline.
• Extend, optimize, and simplify a complex network of automated batch processes.
• Integrate commercial and open-source systems into the ILM production pipeline.
• Work with and extend ILM’s proprietary content creation systems.
• Work in a collaborative team of software engineers, and work directly with highly specialized and supremely talented artists, in ILM’s studios in San Francisco, Vancouver, London, and Singapore.
• Split your time between long-term software development projects and day-to-day support of active shows.

Education
/ Experience
• BS or advanced degree in computer science or related field, or equivalent experience.
• Proven years of experience in professional software development and/or VFX production.

Personal Skills
• An intuitive understanding of the demands of a fast-paced, creatively-driven visual effects production environment.
• Collaboration: a readiness to trust others, be trustworthy, and play nice.
• Communication: an ability to express yourself concisely, a willingness to speak up, and a conviction to keep everyone informed of progress and issues.
• Empathy: an ability to listen intently and understand artists’ needs.
• Creativity: an insightful and analytical thinker, and a creative problem solver.

Technical Skills
• Expert knowledge of programming in python and/or C on Linux.
• Thorough knowledge of computer graphics and animation concepts: character rigging, geometric deformations, dynamic simulation, shading and rendering, etc.
• Experience with commercial animation and VFX software applications: Maya, Houdini, Nuke, RV, Shotgun, etc.
• Knowledge of industry-standard scene data formats: Alembic, USD, etc.
• Experience with GUI toolkits: Qt, PyQt/PySide, etc.
• Thorough knowledge of software design/development principles: design patterns, object-oriented design, agile development, etc.
• Experience with revision control and release management: Perforce/SVN, Git, etc.
• Experience working with a large, complex, mature, and dynamic code base.

This position is with Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. LLC, which is part of a business segment we call Industrial Light & Magic. Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. LLC is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, colour, religion or belief, sex, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, disability or pregnancy or maternity. Disney fosters a business culture where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a rapidly changing world.
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About Industrial Light & Magic:

Founded in 1975 by George Lucas, ILM is the leading effects facility in the world, serving the motion picture, commercial production, and attraction industries. ILM has created visual effects for over 325 feature films and has played a key role in seven of the top 10 worldwide box-office hits of all time and has contributed to 25 of the top 50. ILM has set the standard for visual effects, creating some of the most stunning images in the history of film. At the forefront of the digital revolution, the company continues to break new ground in visual effects, VR, AR, and Immersive Cinema.

About The Walt Disney Company:

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with the following business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to its preeminent name in the entertainment industry today, Disney proudly continues its legacy of creating world-class stories and experiences for every member of the family. Disney's stories, characters and experiences reach consumers and guests from every corner of the globe. With operations in more than 40 countries, our employees and cast members work together to create entertainment experiences that are both universally and locally cherished.

This position is with Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. LLC, which is part of a business segment we call Industrial Light & Magic.

Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. LLC is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status or any other basis prohibited by federal, state or local law. Disney fosters a business culture where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a rapidly changing world.

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