Character Effects Artist

DreamWorks Animation is hiring a Character Effects Artist to join their feature film production team in Los Angeles. This role sits within the CFX department and is responsible for cloth, fur, hair, and prop simulations that bring characters to life across animated feature productions. It suits a technically grounded artist who moves comfortably between simulation work and creative problem-solving within a production pipeline.

About the Role

The Character Effects department at DreamWorks handles both the setup and shot simulation side of CFX, meaning this person is involved from initial character prep through final deliverable on feature animation projects. Day-to-day work includes running cloth and hair simulations, cleaning up animation, and developing tools that improve the CFX pipeline for the broader team. It is a hybrid position requiring a minimum of four days per week in the Los Angeles studio.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and craft character effects including cloth and fur simulations that meet art direction for individual shots in feature film production.
• Build and maintain generalized tools within the character effects pipeline to improve efficiency across the department.
• Create cloth and hair simulations, prop animation, and animation cleanup for shots moving through production.
• Solve simulation and deformation problems independently, interpreting and expanding on art direction without requiring close supervision.
• Execute technical animation tasks including deformations, procedural modeling, and animation for assigned shots.
• Troubleshoot recurring simulation issues and develop reliable solutions that hold up across the VFX pipeline.

What You Bring

• Solid working knowledge of Maya and Houdini within an animation studio or VFX pipeline environment.
• Scripting proficiency in MEL and Python, with the ability to build and adapt tools for production use.
• A strong eye for motion and a grounded understanding of animation principles as they apply to simulated character elements.
• Experience with dynamic simulation and surface modeling techniques is preferred, as is prior feature film or episodic television production credit.
• Exposure to rigging tools is a plus, and candidates should be prepared to submit a reel or portfolio demonstrating simulation work.

Why This Role

DreamWorks Animation is one of the few studios operating at the scale where CFX artists work on fully original animated features with global reach, which makes the production experience here genuinely different from smaller shops. The studio places real weight on its artists having non-traditional paths, and the CFX team is structured to support both independent contributors and collaborative production work. The compensation range for this Character Effects Artist position is $89,752 to $130,000 annually.

Apply now for the Character Effects Artist role at DreamWorks Animation and bring your simulation work to feature film production.