Best Universities for Computer Graphics/Animation?
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noobcake
I didn't know about Herts when i was applying but i got offers from all my applications and in the end i had to pick between UCA Farnham and Bournemouth. I chose Farnham because like you i didnt want to graduate a one trick pony. Farnham has excellent facilities and teaching for ALL types of animation (the best facilities i saw and i visited 6-7 unis) and importantly you're free to specialise in whatever media or area of the animation (film) industry you want to. It's also one of, if not the oldest UK animation course has an impressive selection of oscar winning alumni and has a high reputation in industry which IS something you should definitely consider. Employability counts for a lot.
Again thanks for your comment! Could you please tell me something more about UCA Farnham?
Everyone seems to talk about Bournemouth mainly, and I'm not interested in the Bournemouth courses, does anyone know anything about the Arts University Bournemouth?
Okay, now, my wishlist looks like this:
1. Hertsfordshire University or Arts University Bournemouth (I'm still not sure which one to put first)
3. UCA Farnham
4. Glamorgan
5. De Montfort ( just because Teeside is too far away, and De Montfort seems to have an interesting course)
If you want high reputation in industry, then Bournemouth is probably number one. I managed to get 3 job offers upon graduating this summer (A Large Evil Corporation (Commercials company), Rare Microsoft games, and Double Negative (Visual effects for films) and i dont think my work is particularly good at all. The reputation and prestige that comes from graduating from bournemouth gave me (and many of my coursemates) that little bit extra above other graduates in securing the jobs we have all acheived. This is also due to the fact that many people in industry were themselves a graduate from Bournemouth. So they understand the course and know exactly what we learn. The techy and artistic skills learnt on my course is the perfect combination that many employers look for in graduates.
We are not one trick pony at all. Each of my job offers were completely different. My role at the commericals place would have been a generalist which is a bit of everything in CG, role at Rare was a technical artist, where i'd have to make tools for the artist to use as well as little arty jobs here and there.. then the job i've accepted at Double negative is a matchmover role. All skills learnt while at Bournemouth, and the jobs are completely different.
If you want to specialise in 2D animation, then the arts uni at Bournemouth would probably be a better choice for you over the 3D course at the main uni.
Hope that helps.
We are not one trick pony at all. Each of my job offers were completely different. My role at the commericals place would have been a generalist which is a bit of everything in CG, role at Rare was a technical artist, where i'd have to make tools for the artist to use as well as little arty jobs here and there.. then the job i've accepted at Double negative is a matchmover role. All skills learnt while at Bournemouth, and the jobs are completely different.
If you want to specialise in 2D animation, then the arts uni at Bournemouth would probably be a better choice for you over the 3D course at the main uni.
Hope that helps.
Thank you, Deadfish!
Deadfish41
If you want high reputation in industry, then Bournemouth is probably number one. I managed to get 3 job offers upon graduating this summer (A Large Evil Corporation (Commercials company), Rare Microsoft games, and Double Negative (Visual effects for films) and i dont think my work is particularly good at all. The reputation and prestige that comes from graduating from bournemouth gave me (and many of my coursemates) that little bit extra above other graduates in securing the jobs we have all acheived. This is also due to the fact that many people in industry were themselves a graduate from Bournemouth. So they understand the course and know exactly what we learn. The techy and artistic skills learnt on my course is the perfect combination that many employers look for in graduates.
We are not one trick pony at all. Each of my job offers were completely different. My role at the commericals place would have been a generalist which is a bit of everything in CG, role at Rare was a technical artist, where i'd have to make tools for the artist to use as well as little arty jobs here and there.. then the job i've accepted at Double negative is a matchmover role. All skills learnt while at Bournemouth, and the jobs are completely different.
If you want to specialise in 2D animation, then the arts uni at Bournemouth would probably be a better choice for you over the 3D course at the main uni.
Hope that helps.
We are not one trick pony at all. Each of my job offers were completely different. My role at the commericals place would have been a generalist which is a bit of everything in CG, role at Rare was a technical artist, where i'd have to make tools for the artist to use as well as little arty jobs here and there.. then the job i've accepted at Double negative is a matchmover role. All skills learnt while at Bournemouth, and the jobs are completely different.
If you want to specialise in 2D animation, then the arts uni at Bournemouth would probably be a better choice for you over the 3D course at the main uni.
Hope that helps.
Rare and DNegative?! Serweeet. Good luck on your new Job!! Tech artist is my dream job!
thenoodlepirate
Again thanks for your comment! Could you please tell me something more about UCA Farnham?
Everyone seems to talk about Bournemouth mainly, and I'm not interested in the Bournemouth courses, does anyone know anything about the Arts University Bournemouth?
Okay, now, my wishlist looks like this:
1. Hertsfordshire University or Arts University Bournemouth (I'm still not sure which one to put first)
3. UCA Farnham
4. Glamorgan
5. De Montfort ( just because Teeside is too far away, and De Montfort seems to have an interesting course)
Everyone seems to talk about Bournemouth mainly, and I'm not interested in the Bournemouth courses, does anyone know anything about the Arts University Bournemouth?
Okay, now, my wishlist looks like this:
1. Hertsfordshire University or Arts University Bournemouth (I'm still not sure which one to put first)
3. UCA Farnham
4. Glamorgan
5. De Montfort ( just because Teeside is too far away, and De Montfort seems to have an interesting course)
no problem
well you can find out a fair bit from here: http://www.ucreative.ac.uk/index.cfm?articleID=18742 Here's the online description:
"This Skillset accredited animation course takes a broad approach to animation, offering you the chance to explore traditional practices in animation through storytelling, storyboarding, drawing and model making, as well as contemporary developments in digital design and computer animation.
You are given the opportunity to animate in a range of techniques/mediums and to experiment with a wide range of ideas and approaches to animation, supported by tutors with an excellent range of animation skills and industry experience. We respect all traditional and experimental approaches to animation and embrace new developments in animation production with both state of-the-art technology and excellent facilities on campus.
Our specialist facilities include:
Stop motion studio
Two fully supported XSI studios
Sound production studio
Video and film rostrum studio
Drawn animation room
Animation base room.
You will also have unrivalled access to the Animation Research Centre (ARC), a unique resource on British animation which is housed at UCA Farnham."
In MY opinion UCA Farnham has the best facilities, and widest range of techniques taught that i could find. Also one of the most successful sets of alumni i've seen, I cant really comment too much as i've only just started!
But it's highly respected within industry too. I've also heard that the bournemouth arts institute is impressive but i wasnt a fan of their course structure. But for an all encompassing course that will give you a complete and varied knowledge and skill base AND give a degree which is widely respected within the industry i would highly recommend UCA Farnham. But this IS just my personal opinion. You should visit anywhere you like the sound of and make your own mind up good luck!Thanks noobcake
Hello therrr,
I've just read the entire thread (took a while!) and i have found it really useful, however i haven't heard much about the bigger city universities and i was wondering if they have developed any interesting courses over the years that this thread has been active. Any help would be much appreciated.
I've just read the entire thread (took a while!) and i have found it really useful, however i haven't heard much about the bigger city universities and i was wondering if they have developed any interesting courses over the years that this thread has been active. Any help would be much appreciated.
I just wanted to share some new information on the IELTS, just in case someone is in the same situation as I am. I have spoken to my tutor and she said that if I haven't got a grade from the exam it could be set as pending (in the UCAS form), which means that I can still apply for a uni, but the IELTS score is probably going to be part of the conditional offer.
Thanks
Thanks
(edited 13 years ago)
becky2906
Hello therrr,
I've just read the entire thread (took a while!) and i have found it really useful, however i haven't heard much about the bigger city universities and i was wondering if they have developed any interesting courses over the years that this thread has been active. Any help would be much appreciated.
I've just read the entire thread (took a while!) and i have found it really useful, however i haven't heard much about the bigger city universities and i was wondering if they have developed any interesting courses over the years that this thread has been active. Any help would be much appreciated.
To generalise the bigger city universities do not do animation. The old 'classical' universities shall we say do your common, maths, science, history, geography etc.
Its the 'new universities' that are leading in animation. Your best animation universities are Bournemouth, Hertfordshire and Teeside.
These 'Bigger universities' you talk of, you would have to take art and then get into animation after you graduate. However, your best chance to get into the industry is going to the highly creditable animation courses at the universities I mentioned above. Hope this helps
(edited 13 years ago)
monkie
To generalise the bigger city universities do not do animation. The old 'classical' universities shall we say do your common, maths, science, history, geography etc.
Its the 'new universities' that are leading in animation. Your best animation universities are Bournemouth, Hertfordshire and Teeside.
These 'Bigger universities' you talk of, you would have to take art and then get into animation after you graduate. However, your best chance to get into the industry is going to the highly creditable animation courses at the universities I mentioned above. Hope this helps
Its the 'new universities' that are leading in animation. Your best animation universities are Bournemouth, Hertfordshire and Teeside.
These 'Bigger universities' you talk of, you would have to take art and then get into animation after you graduate. However, your best chance to get into the industry is going to the highly creditable animation courses at the universities I mentioned above. Hope this helps
^ So true. You want to spend as much time as possible using the 3d software(s) so you can later customize it with scripts and shortcuts. You can model twice as fast through customization and APM and although initially the modeling programs take thought to get around, later on it's mostly only to do with time consumption.
(edited 13 years ago)
Quick questions:
With portfolios do we have to include some animation work? so far ive only done one that im really proud of and would include, rest are either basic flash things or just 3d models
How long after applying would you be expected to have an interview?
With portfolios do we have to include some animation work? so far ive only done one that im really proud of and would include, rest are either basic flash things or just 3d models
How long after applying would you be expected to have an interview?
It depends what course you are applying for - for Hertfordshire it's not essential, but it's highly favourable and shows you've put more effort in - I would imagine it would be beneficial for any course. However don't bother putting in anything that features two frame mouth shapes and static people, possibly with obligatory flashing manga background. Show hte whole body of the character moving - that requires skill. We particularly expect anyone wanting to study 2D animation to have made some 2D animations but these can just be walk cycles / runs, jumps etc - we're not expecting short films. And how long after applying would you expect to have an interview will vary completely from university to university. We start our interviews at the end of January/Early February, and those are the students who apply earliest, usually in October. Other universities may be quicker, but we just don't have anyone to spare for interviewing until Semester B because we are all teaching!
monkie
To generalise the bigger city universities do not do animation. The old 'classical' universities shall we say do your common, maths, science, history, geography etc.
Its the 'new universities' that are leading in animation. Your best animation universities are Bournemouth, Hertfordshire and Teeside.
These 'Bigger universities' you talk of, you would have to take art and then get into animation after you graduate. However, your best chance to get into the industry is going to the highly creditable animation courses at the universities I mentioned above. Hope this helps
Its the 'new universities' that are leading in animation. Your best animation universities are Bournemouth, Hertfordshire and Teeside.
These 'Bigger universities' you talk of, you would have to take art and then get into animation after you graduate. However, your best chance to get into the industry is going to the highly creditable animation courses at the universities I mentioned above. Hope this helps
Ah OK cheers for the help. Do you know of any other universities that have a high standard for animation because i need to put down five choices! Thanks
Arts University College Bournemouth have an excellent 2D animation degree - hmmm what sort of animation do you want to study? Hertfordshire, Bournemouth NCCA and Teeside are primarily known for 3D / Games Art / VFX type animation. I've seen some good work from Glamorgan in 3D. If you want more experimental Fine Art animation you might want to look at Ravensborne. If you want stop motion animation head to the University of the West of England. It depends on whether you are looking for commercially orientated study (something with a job at the end of it) or whether you're into personal discovery/style/research Fine Art sort of animation that challenges people but almost certainly doesn't have a job involved.
Moid, how's the 2D animation course in Hertsfordshire? I mean, which one would you point out as a better course, 2D or 3D animation?
Thanks!
Thanks!
(edited 13 years ago)
becky2906
Ah OK cheers for the help. Do you know of any other universities that have a high standard for animation because i need to put down five choices! Thanks
I had the same problem as you. If you are serious about doing animation just put down the 3 courses... you do not HAVE to fill up all 5.
I filled all five when I applied to UCAS, but ended up just rejecting two of them, so there was not really much of a point. My five where; Bournemouth, Hertfordshire, Teeside, Dundee and Swansea Met. In the end I felt Dundee was just too far away and the 4 year course was just not suitable for me, and Swansea Met was terrible if I am honest.
If you want the highest standard of animation just look at show reels from graduates and make up your own mind
Bournemouth is NCCA (National Centre for Computer Animation) and I know Hertfordshire have many accreditations. I did work experience with EA Games and they recommended me those universities, and that is how I chose what to apply to. Keep sending the questions How can I answer that? It depends what you want - if you want to do 2D animation, choose the 2D animation course, if you want to study 3D animation, choose the 3D animation course! They are both good courses - the 2D course is not as well known because it has only been in existence for 4 years, whereas the 3D course has been around for 10 years. One of the 2D grads this year has just finished animating on the new Tetley teabag commercial, and she's now moving onto the sequel to it. Another 2D grad has just been shortlisted for the Virgin Media Shorts Award, there's only 12 in the final list and the grand prize is £30,000, so we've got our fingers crossed as it's the second time Hertfordshire has been shortlisted for the prize. She will get her film shown on 200 Virgin cinemas which is pretty cool. You can watch it here:
http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/ The film is called Moon.
The 3D course has had plenty of succcess so far as well - we have five films on show at the World Expo in Shanghai (only UK university to do so), we are shortlisted for a number of UK festivals (Exposures, Renderyard, some other ones I can't mention yet ), we've had work in 3D World magazine, students have been hired by Rare, Eurocom, Jellyfish, Bentley, Nexus, The Mill etc business as usual
Does that help? If not, can you explain more clearly what property you are looking for that defines 'better' in your question.
It depends what you want - if you want to do 2D animation, choose the 2D animation course, if you want to study 3D animation, choose the 3D animation course! They are both good courses - the 2D course is not as well known because it has only been in existence for 4 years, whereas the 3D course has been around for 10 years. One of the 2D grads this year has just finished animating on the new Tetley teabag commercial, and she's now moving onto the sequel to it. Another 2D grad has just been shortlisted for the Virgin Media Shorts Award, there's only 12 in the final list and the grand prize is £30,000, so we've got our fingers crossed as it's the second time Hertfordshire has been shortlisted for the prize. She will get her film shown on 200 Virgin cinemas which is pretty cool. You can watch it here:http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/ The film is called Moon.
The 3D course has had plenty of succcess so far as well - we have five films on show at the World Expo in Shanghai (only UK university to do so), we are shortlisted for a number of UK festivals (Exposures, Renderyard, some other ones I can't mention yet
), we've had work in 3D World magazine, students have been hired by Rare, Eurocom, Jellyfish, Bentley, Nexus, The Mill etc business as usual Does that help? If not, can you explain more clearly what property you are looking for that defines 'better' in your question.
I'm sorry it's a stupid question...
I decided to ask that because you've written in a previous comment that "Hertfordshire, Bournemouth NCCA and Teeside are primarily known for 3D / Games Art / VFX type animation".... and I want to study 2D
But you answered my question with "it has only been in existence for 4 years, whereas the 3D course has been around for 10 years".
It doesn't matter, it wasn't a good question Sorry
I decided to ask that because you've written in a previous comment that "Hertfordshire, Bournemouth NCCA and Teeside are primarily known for 3D / Games Art / VFX type animation".... and I want to study 2D
But you answered my question with "it has only been in existence for 4 years, whereas the 3D course has been around for 10 years".
It doesn't matter, it wasn't a good question
SorryI'm sorry it's a stupid question...
I decided to ask that because you've written in a previous comment that "Hertfordshire, Bournemouth NCCA and Teeside are primarily known for 3D / Games Art / VFX type animation".... and I want to study 2D
But you answered my question with "it has only been in existence for 4 years, whereas the 3D course has been around for 10 years".
It doesn't matter, it wasn't a good question Sorry
I decided to ask that because you've written in a previous comment that "Hertfordshire, Bournemouth NCCA and Teeside are primarily known for 3D / Games Art / VFX type animation".... and I want to study 2D
But you answered my question with "it has only been in existence for 4 years, whereas the 3D course has been around for 10 years".
It doesn't matter, it wasn't a good question
SorryThanks for the link! It's a nice short!
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