Founded in
1998 with a team of just 30, award-winning Double Negative (Dneg) has grown to
become one of the industry's success stories and is now one of the world’s
largest providers of visual effects for Film (operating from locations in both
London and Singapore with a third facility opening this year in Vancouver).
Dneg collaborates with film makers from the first stages of projects; producing
ideas and concept imagery and developing previs and vfx production plans,
whilst their VFX R&D team create the tools for Dneg artists to produce
ground breaking digital environments, creatures, digital characters and effects
from the real (water, smoke and fire) to the magical.
They have
received awards recognition from the Visual Effects Society (Inception and
Sherlock Holmes), BAFTA (Inception and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Part 2) and the Academy Awards (Inception).
Most recent
works include Man of Steel, Rush, Captain Phillips, The World's End, The Hunger
Games: Catching Fire, Thor: The Dark World, Transcendence and Godzilla. Shows
currently in production include Interstellar, Ex Machina, In The Heart of the
Sea, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Book of Exodus, Hercules, Hunger Games:
Mockingjay, Terminator: Genesis, Insurgent, Grimsby, Ant-Man and Batman vs
Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Key Purpose of the Job
Double Negative’s R&D department develop ground-breaking
software to ensure that the studio remains at the cutting-edge of global
VFX production.
Our R&D Programmers support multiple film
projects in parallel, from initial design through on-set supervision and
production to post-production, by delivering pioneering tools that
enable our artists to tackle increasingly complex challenges, with
stunning results.
R&D Programmers at DNeg are tasked with a
variety of responsibilities spanning the full software development
life-cycle; designing, supporting and maintaining software, integrating
tools into our Pipeline, and even further extension as work adapts and
new challenges arise.
Double Negative is always excited to hear from talented programmers: a passion for solving complex problems is a must!
Needs To Do
- Liaise with artists and project supervisors to understand current and upcoming production challenges
- Investigate appropriate solutions and techniques to address challenges
- Present ideas to the R&D Lead or Senior Programmer in the team
- Plan the development of tools and break-down the plan into tasks
- Communicate development timeframes to the Software Project Manager and stakeholders
- Develop usable tools that are fit for purpose and integrate into DNeg’s Pipeline
- Maintain, revise and extend existing tools
- Take responsibility for the testing of your own tools with the assistance of the R&D Software Tester
- Support end-users during production
- Produce technical documentation and user manuals
Needs To Know
- Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent subject
- Proven experience developing VFX-related tools
- Solid understanding of computer graphics and mathematics
- Excellent knowledge of C++ and Python (other languages a plus)
- Solid knowledge and experience of a variety of programming libraries, such as Boost, OpenGL, etc.
- Experience with relevant application APIs such as Houdini, Maya and Nuke
- Understanding of relevant third-party technologies, such as Alembic, OpenEXR, OpenColorIO, etc.
- Experience of development in a Linux environment
- Familiarity with other VFX software packages is advantageous
Needs To Be
- Knowledgeable and interested in emerging industry technologies
- Smart, driven and adaptable
- Logical and practical in approach to solving complex problems
- Able to future-plan beyond the scope of the current development task
- Team oriented and organised
- A strong communicator – both verbal and written
- Able to articulate complex technical information to non-technical people
If you are an experienced VFX software developer, and are looking
for an opportunity to join a large R&D team of world-class
programmers, then we want to hear from you! Please email with your CV and covering letter.