Mighty Yeti Studios is a premier creator-owned indie animation house specializing in high-quality kids and family entertainment. We are currently in active episodic production for our flagship preschool series, Classtronauts, and are seeking a versatile Set Dress, Layout, & Set Rigging Artist to join our remote global team.

In our production pipeline, this role is the “architect of the scene.” You are responsible for taking individual, high-quality assets and thoughtfully assembling them into cohesive, production-ready environments. This is where our world truly starts to feel real. We are looking for an artist who views organization, technical precision, and pipeline awareness as core components of their creative craftsmanship.

Mighty Yeti Studios operates on the cutting edge of indie animation, building original IP for global audiences. Classtronauts is an imaginative preschool series that relies on vibrant, well-structured environments to tell its stories.

Because we are an agile studio, we value “multihyphenate” artists. While this role focuses on layout and rigging, we are highly interested in candidates who also possess strong Hard Surface Modeling skills. If you are an artist who can build the prop, rig it, and then place it perfectly within a dressed set, you will find a perfect home at Mighty Yeti.

Set Dressing & Environmental Layout

You are the final eye on the environment before it moves into the lighting and rendering phase.

• Scene Assembly: Take assets from our master library and assemble them based on layout direction and specific episodic needs. You must ensure the set feels “lived-in” while remaining functional for character animation.
• Visual Storytelling: Use your design sense to place props in a way that supports the narrative. A classroom should look like a classroom, but a Classtronauts classroom needs that extra touch of wonder and logic.
• Efficiency & Optimization: Build scenes that are lightweight. You must understand how to use instances and proxies effectively to ensure that even the most complex sets remain interactive for the animation team.

Prop & Set Rigging Artist

Not every rig in our show is a character. We need mechanical precision for the world they inhabit.

• Mechanical Rigging: Build and maintain robust rigs for vehicles, gadgets, and mechanical set elements (doors, control panels, moving platforms).
• Functional Simplicity: Create rigs that are intuitive for animators to use. We prioritize clean controls and predictable deformations.
• Troubleshooting: Identify and resolve rigging “pops” or mesh intersections early in the layout phase to prevent costly fixes during the final animation pass.

Pipeline Compliance & Downstream Support

At Mighty Yeti, we believe that “the next artist is your customer.” Your work must be delivered in a state that makes the Lighting and Compositing teams’ lives easier.

• Strict Organization: Adhere to internal naming conventions and scene hierarchies. In an episodic environment, a misnamed node can break a render.
• Technical Quality Control: Flag asset issues (UV stretches, inverted normals, or topology errors) during the set dress phase. You will collaborate closely with the modeling department to resolve these before they become “show-stoppers.”
• ShotGrid Integration: Use ShotGrid for all task tracking, versioning, and asset delivery, ensuring the production team has real-time visibility into the state of the episode.

Technical Requirements

• Maya Power User: Deep proficiency in Autodesk Maya for layout, set dressing, and rigging is mandatory.
• Rigging Fundamentals: Strong understanding of constraints, IK/FK systems, and expression-based rigging for mechanical objects.
• Arnold Awareness: You should understand how scene assembly impacts Arnold’s rendering performance (e.g., how shaders are assigned and how lights interact with the set).

Professional Experience

• The 3-Year Rule: At least 3 years of professional experience in set dress, layout, or rigging specifically within episodic TV or feature animation.
• Fast-Paced Delivery: You are comfortable working on a “per-episode” basis, meeting deadlines without sacrificing technical quality.

The “Yeti” Success Factors

• The “Clean Scene” Pride: You are the kind of artist who takes pride in a perfectly organized Outliner.
• Collaborative Ownership: You take full ownership of your assigned sets, ensuring they are “ready-to-use” the moment you hand them off.
• Hybrid Potential: (Optional but preferred) If you can model the assets you are rigging and dressing, please highlight your Hard Surface Modeling portfolio.

Mighty Yeti Studios is a remote-first organization. We offer:

• Global Flexibility: Work from your own studio on your own schedule, provided you hit production milestones and attend essential sync meetings.
• Agile Pipeline: Benefit from a streamlined, Python-based pipeline that minimizes “busy work” and maximizes creative time.
• Career Growth: As an indie studio, we offer the chance to have a massive impact on the look and feel of an original global series.