Animation R&D Programmer: Retargeting
Company: Rockstar North
Location: Carlsbad
Posted on: July 10, 2025
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Job Description:
At Rockstar Games, we create world-class entertainment
experiences. Become part of a team working on some of the most
rewarding, large-scale creative projects to be found in any
entertainment medium - all within an inclusive, highly-motivated
environment where you can learn and collaborate with some of the
most talented people in the industry. Rockstar is on the lookout
for a talented engineer to join our Animation R&D team, with a
background in animation retargeting or related techniques. This
position will help us develop advanced animation systems for our
large open world character-based games. The successful applicant
will have strong C++ programming skills, good knowledge of and
interest in character animation systems, and passion for realistic,
high quality character motion. This is a full-time, in-office
position based out of Rockstar’s new state-of-the-art game
development studio in Carlsbad, CA. WHAT WE DO • We develop
animation technology, from performance capture to a sophisticated
runtime engine, for massive open world games. • We are a global
team of programmers and researchers who collaborate on pushing the
boundaries of character animation on next generation hardware. • We
support and work closely with animation, gameplay, physics, tools,
graphics, performance capture, and technical art teams across
multiple Rockstar studios. RESPONSIBILITIES • Help invent, develop,
expand, maintain, and support an extensive runtime animation
system, pipeline, and tools. • Develop robust and performant
technology to adjust animation to different characters, situations,
and environments. • Collaborate and contribute to the research and
development of features related to procedural animation, motion
adaptation, and character motion synthesis. • Keep up to date with
the latest academic and industry breakthroughs, independently
research and develop improvements to continuously push our
technology forward. QUALIFICATIONS • A degree in Computer Science
or a related discipline, or equivalent industry experience. •
Proven development of solutions in animation retargeting, motion
adaptation, or related subjects. • Experience creating, extending
or working directly with an animation system within a game engine.
SKILLS • Good communication skills, ability to clearly share
complex technical information with other programmers, animators and
technical artists. • Strong C/C++ programming skills. • Strong 3D
math skills. • Knowledge of character animation technology,
particularly retargeting and IK systems. • Familiarity with common
optimization and multi-threading techniques. PLUSES Please note
that these are desirable skills and are not required to apply for
the position. • Industry experience working on AAA character based
games, or character based VFX animation. • C# or python programming
skills. • Experience developing within a large existing codebase,
collaborating, or working independently within a large team. •
Experience with motion synthesis or style transfer. • Practical
success optimizing or debugging large/complex multithreaded C++
code. • Involvement with pipeline or UI based tools development or
support.
Keywords: Rockstar North, San Diego , Animation R&D Programmer: Retargeting, IT / Software / Systems , Carlsbad, California