Crowds Technical Senior Artist (Houdini)

TL;DR

Crowds Technical Senior Artist (Houdini): Assisting the Crowds Supervisor with technical and creative approaches to sequences, creating master crowd rigs, and deploying them to the team for production shots with an accent on Houdini pipeline integration and procedural simulation. Focus on troubleshooting complex pipeline issues, mentoring team members, and developing efficient crowd behaviors for bipedal, quadrupedal, and vehicle agents.

Location: Onsite in Madrid, Spain

Company

A diversified media company creating high-quality, event-level entertainment across feature film, television, interactive, and animation divisions.

What you will do

• Set up crowd assets and HDAs within the existing Houdini pipeline.
• Create a range of crowd agents including bipeds, quadrupeds, and vehicles for efficient simulation.
• Apply and execute crowd behaviors on shots to meet high-quality standards.
• Troubleshoot pipeline issues and resolve shot-specific technical challenges independently.
• Provide support, guidance, and hands-on assistance to Crowd Animators to foster professional growth.
• Collaborate with department TDs to refine tools and workflows for crowd production.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in VFX or animation industries.
• 3+ years of experience specifically in the animation industry.
• Excellent knowledge of the Houdini Crowd system.
• Working knowledge of Maya and Houdini in production environments.
• Knowledge of procedural rendering in Renderman.
• Deep understanding of the entire CG pipeline from assets to lighting.
• English proficiency required (high level).

Culture & Benefits

• Dynamic and inclusive studio culture focused on innovative storytelling.
• Opportunity to work on high-profile animated feature films.
• Access to cutting-edge technology and creative resources.
• Commitment to artistic and professional development.