Best Universities for Computer Graphics/Animation?

Got into Computer Arts Animation at Bournemouth So happy right now.

Hey,

Congratz on getting your place- im doing 3D animation at hertfordshire also

Congrats! I've got my place in Bournemouth too in Computer Visualisation and Animation hopefully I'll see you around

Got into Computer Arts Animation at Bournemouth So happy right now.

And if you want to learn all about 3D computer animation before, while in uni itself, then maybe you can take a foundation in 2D and then do BA/MA in computer animation from somewhere where they extensively teach you 3D, like at Bournemouth and at Hertfordshire.

Whatever you do, don't get yourself into 3D foundation joke course at Bournemouth, ESPECIALLY if its delivered at one of 'cooperating institutions' like Bournemouth and Poole College.

No problem, I'm glad you didn't take it too badly. Thanks for the compliments I am indeed one of the lecturers (and interviewing staff). I'm happy to hear that you are starting to draw. Seeing as you are considering Games Art as a possible future direction I have some suggestions for you:

Buy, read and do the exercises from:

Vanishing Point - Jason Cheeseman-Meyer - a good book on perspective and how to draw it, once you can handle that, get:

The Skillful Huntsman - Mike Yamada et al - a great book on creative design for characters and environments that has a distinctly games art slant to it.

And at the same time get hold of Photoshop and watch the videos of Feng Zhu on Youtube - hundreds of very impressive concept art painting tutorials by one of the most famous concept artists in the world.

Once you feel your traditional / 2D Digital skills are coming on well, then get Maya http://students.autodesk.com/?nd=download_center from Autodesk for free, and start learning how to use it, and then get a game engine like Unreal Development Kit and start making 3D objects in Maya and exporting them to a game level / environment.

If you zip through that lot, let me know and I'll recommend a longer list.


Do you get to make films as part of film studies, or is it purely a theoretical course? Try to use Product Design as an excuse to make stuff in 3D in Maya Geoegraphy... hmmm not sure how to spin that towards games, just use it to acquire knowledge about the world. Good luck!

Hello,

I'm currently studying in my final year of a Multimedia Computing degree (Predicted 2:1) and I'm pretty sure I want to do a master degree in Computer animation. I really like short animations or designing characters and that stuff (my only experience is with blender though). How difficult would it be for me and what are the entry requirements generally?
Is that a relevant course " MSc in Advanced Computing - Creative Technology" ( http://www.bristol.ac.uk/prospectus/postgraduate/2013/prog_details/ENGF/450) ?

Thanks in advance

I'm so glad I found this thread. I wanted to apply to Scottish universities, but after some researching and seeing their students' work, I was so disappointed. Thank God for student loans! Otherwise I would've had to win the lottery to consider studying anywhere else in the UK.
I'll be applying to Hertfordshire, Teesside and UCA Rochester for sure. I'm considering Bournemouth, Glamorgan and Ravensbourne. Anyone else applying for 2013??

I have to figure out when to move to UK as I want to be present at the interviews. If I send my UCAS application in mid-December, when will I be asked to go to an interview? I know that Herts take their time, how about other unis?
Does it make any difference when I apply (as long as is within the deadline, of course) regarding my chances of getting an offer?

I've written down most of the advice given on this thread about the portfolio, but I still have a few questions. There aren't life drawing classes anywhere near where I live. Would it be a great disadvantage if my life drawings are not nudes? I've also done some figure drawings (referenced from pictures on the Internet) that I'm quite proud of.

And finally, does my portfolio have to be A1 format? That seems huge to me, I've been working on A3 mostly.

It's impossible to tell how hard it would be for you to undertake such a course without seeing your work quality, but if you are considering a career in computer animation, you should be using Maya / 3DSMax at least, Blender is a nice thing but it's not a professional software. You can download Maya or Max for free from http://students.autodesk.com/

I would say that it is very hard to learn all the skills required to become employable in a single year of master's study unless you already have a good level of experience in almost all areas of 3D beforehand. I have had a couple of students on my MA go from no experience to a job in one year, but those guys put in incredible levels of work, far more than most students would consider.

It might help you to consider either narrowing your field down a little (specifying what job role you want at the end of the study), because more focused help could be suggested.

I don't know anything about the course at Bristol, although it looks much more programming heavy (which might be a good thing for you if you come from Multimedia, and being able to program 3D is a very employable skill). You mentioned you want to be a character designer; Teesside have a specific course for concept art that might be good (I've not seen any of their work though)
http://www.tees.ac.uk/postgraduate_courses/Computer_Games/MA_Concept_Art_for_Games_and_Animation.cfm

Entry requirements will vary from uni to uni for Masters... I would expect a portfolio should be required and also a degree, but as to what other requirements will depend on the individual course.

Your perspective drawings are definitely improving. The one called untitled in the bottom row shows a good understanding of two point perspective, although the viewing angle you've chosen would be more suited to five point perspective (fish eye lens effect if you know it by that name). If you shifted your view so you were looking to the left or right a little, this would be a good image to try in three point perspective. The one point perspective train image works well technically also - but both images (or the ones you make in future) now need to consider lighting / shading - you're using flat colour at present which is OK for technical tests, now try adding colour and light to make the images interesting. The rest of the figure drawings need a lot more practice in terms of anatomical knowledge and proportion - the one drawing of a woman's head is beginning to show promise, so you are definitely improving.

Maya frame rate - do you mean this?
on the menu click Window->Settings/Preferences->Preferences
Click on the word "Settings" on the left. Under the group of options on the right called "Working Units" change the "Time" Attribute to whatever frame rate you want - film is 24, UK TV is 25 and US TV is 30

Life drawing - do as much of this as possible

I don't know how good you have to be to study for an art foundation these days (mine was twenty years ago ), I would imagine it will depend on whether the course is desperate for students or not/ how famous they are... but be warned that many foundation courses are not very good for traditional drawing / art techniques, I have interviewed students who have attended art foundation courses that did not teach life drawing - so make sure you know that the course you apply for teaches the areas you want to learn. Hopefully some of the students here could comment about this as they are much more likely to have attended an art foundation recently.