We are hiring a Freelance Motion Capture Technical Animator/ Post-Production Artist to support the development of VR game assets for EmbodyXR®

Your Role

As part of our asset creation process, we are creating a custom movement library for our new title EmbodyXR® which includes motioncapture / performance capture of dance sequences, and animating prop manipulations (eg juggling props).

The role focuses on processing and refining motion capture performances, cleaning and retargeting animation data, animating and integrating props, and preparing polished pre-rendered animation assets for deployment within a Unity-based XR pipeline.

This is a hybrid technical and creative production role suited to someone with strong experience in mocap cleanup, animation workflows, rigging, and retargeting. Experience animating or refining prop motion within motion captured performances is also part of the role.

Our pipeline

We Motion Capture with different systems including: Move.ai, Miniem, Rokoko; and for shoots with our partners at University of the Creative Arts, Vicon. We use all systems depending on the movement sequences and production phase (prototyping/final assets). This creates our raw footage that needs post production treatment to be VR game ready.

Post production: Blender, Cascadeur, Motion Builder, Maya (or your preferred software to fit pipeline)

Unity Games Engine.

Ideal Profile

You are highly technical, detail-oriented, and comfortable bridging the gap between motion capture performance capture and delivery of game ready assets. You understand both the artistic nuance of movement and the technical requirements of runtime animation systems within XR environments.

Deliverables

The successful freelancer will typically deliver:

• cleaned mocap animation sequences
• refined and retargeted character animation
• animated and integrated prop motion
• Unity-ready FBX or cached animation files
• organised export structures and pipeline documentation

About EmbodyXR®

EmbodyXR® is an immersive Virtual Reality dance art experience, aimed at raising mental health awareness & mitigating anxiety in Young People. Having delivered a Midlands regional tour of our headset experience across Coventry, Nuneaton, Leicester & Birmingham, we are collaborating with University of the Creative Arts (UCA) researchers and wellbeing team, to move onto the next phase of the project towards a commercial release.

About University of the Creative Arts 

In collaboration with Mercurial Dance, UCA are delivering on our wellbeing content and research elements, along with making available MoCap facilities. All foreground IP is owned by Mercurial Dance Ltd.

About Mercurial Dance 

We Move People. At Mercurial Dance we believe that dance has the power to change lives, and that if more people danced, for pleasure, and discovered their movement voices they (and the world) will be a happier, healthier place. To inspire this we create shows, run workshops and make digital experiences that get people moving. More information in our studio profile and here.

Responsibilities

• Mocap Post production of Game Ready Animation Assets for integration into Unity
• Clean, refine, and polish raw motion capture data, removing jitter, drift, foot sliding, and tracking artefacts
• Edit and blend performance sequences for continuity and timing
• Retarget animation data across multiple character rigs, preparing and optimising them for use in standalone VR
• Ensure compatibility with humanoid rig systems and runtime animation controllers
• Support avatar implementation and animation state workflows
• Collaborate with creative and technical teams to achieve and advance our work

Skills

✅   Essential Skills

• Strong professional experience in motion capture post-production
• Advanced knowledge of,  Autodesk MotionBuilder, Maya or Blender, Cascadeur and FBX animation workflows
• Experience preparing animation assets for Unity
• Strong understanding of skeletal hierarchies, humanoid rigs, retargeting systems, root motion, IK/FK workflows
• Understanding of real-time performance constraints and optimisation
• Experience animating or refining props within motion capture performances
• Ability to work independently and deliver production-ready assets to key deadlines

✨  Bonus Points

• Experience with immersive XR/VR experiences
• Knowledge of: Miniem, Move.ai, Rokoko, OptiTrack & Vicon pipelines
• Understanding of OpenXR workflows

Technology

• Autodesk MotionBuilder
• Blender
• Unity
• Autodesk Maya

Skills

• Animation Systems
• Keyframe Animation
• Mo-Cap Clean Up
• Rigging