Facial Modeller

Wētā FX is currently taking applications from experienced Facial Modellers to join our Wellington hub.

This role will be performed onsite at Wētā FX’s Wellington hub. Ideally, you will already be based in Wellington or be open to relocating, eligible to work in New Zealand, and available to start as soon as possible.

The Facial Models department is responsible for delivering believable facial puppets to the motion team for photorealistic and stylised shows. Collaborating with Character Modellers, Facial TDs and Animators to craft the look and performance of our award-winning characters and creatures.

Successful candidates will have proven experience in production environments, and the ability to sculpt accurate facial expressions from video, 2d reference images and scan data.

Requirements:

• An impressive reel demonstrating attention to facial surface detail, underlying facial anatomy, and photo-realistic facial expressions
• Minimum 3 years’ experience working on character faces in a production environment
• Experience sculpting the face and working with facial blendshapes based on the Facial Action Coding System (FACS)
• Anatomical knowledge of facial muscles and their function
• Experience using Maya in a production environment
• Able to use a wide range of scan data captured from an actor's performance to extract key shape information and incorporate into an actor or character’s facial puppet
• Understand Linux desktop and system commands to perform daily tasks comfortably
• Be comfortable taking direction and working independently while being an effective team player
  
• Excellent problem-solving & organisational skills with the ability to meet deadlines
  
• Be a clear and confident communicator

Additional beneficial experience:

• Experience shotsculpting in a high pressure feature film environment
• Skills in rigging and geometry deformations
• Experience with Zbrush / Mudbox, Cyslice and UV layout
• ability to script in MEL and Python

At Wētā FX we celebrate our diversity and believe in creating an environment where all our crew feel welcomed, respected, supported and appreciated. We define ourselves by the quality of our work, and we’re striving to build a workplace experience that’s second to none. Here at Wētā FX we value open minds and encourage our crew to be themselves.

We aim to provide a discrimination-free experience, beginning from the moment you apply for a role with us. If there is anything we can do to make the recruitment process easier, please let us know at recruitment@wetafx.co.nz

If this sounds like you – please get in touch, we would love to hear from you!

Location: Wellington, New Zealand