3D Character Animator

3D Character Animator - Indie Platform FighterI'm looking to hire an experienced 3D Character Animator to help bring the fighters in an upcoming indie platform fighter to life.The game is a fast-paced, combat-focused platform fighter featuring gods, deities, and religious figures from different traditions battling one another. I'm looking for someone who can create dynamic, highly readable, hard-hitting combat animation, with attacks that feel powerful, responsive, expressive, and satisfying in gameplay.What I'm Looking ForRequiredStrong professional portfolio demonstrating 3D character animationIdeally 5–10+ years of 3D animation experienceExperience working on indie games or other real-time game projectsExcellent understanding of:Combat animationBody mechanicsWeight and momentumTiming, anticipation, follow-through, and impactExaggerated poses and readable silhouettesAbility to create everything from quick jabs and movement animations to large, epic special attacks and finishing movesUnderstanding of the technical constraints of animation for real-time gameplayComfortable iterating based on how animations actually feel in-gameStrongly PreferredCascadeurBlenderUnityExperience exporting animation assets and implementing/testing them inside UnityBonus SkillsI'd especially love to find someone capable of handling more of the full 3D character pipeline, including:Retopology (for minor clean-up work)UV unwrappingTexturingRigging (especially for animals, or characters with multiple arms or wings)Weight paintingCharacter and animal animationPreparing/exporting characters and animations for UnityTroubleshooting rigs, meshes, animation clips, and import settingsThese additional skills are a major plus, but animation is the priority. If you're an exceptional combat animator who specializes specifically in animation, I still want to hear from you.The ProjectThis is an indie platform fighter built around a roster of mythological and religious characters, with an intentionally comedic, irreverent, and satirical tone.Important: The game contains deliberately blasphemous and sacrilegious humor and jokes about gods, religions, religious beliefs, and religious figures. Applicants need to be genuinely comfortable working on that kind of material.Who Would Be a Great FitI'm looking for someone who:Loves making combat animation feel ridiculously satisfyingUnderstands that gameplay readability matters as much as beautiful animationCan exaggerate movement without making it feel weightlessIs comfortable working collaboratively and iterating quicklyHas experience with small or independent game-development teamsCan take a relatively simple stylized character and give them a huge amount of personality through movementIf you've worked on a fighting game, platform fighter, action game, or anything involving exaggerated character combat, I'd especially like to see it.