The Student Room Group

Applying for Animation?

I'm hoping to apply for animation and was wondering which unis and courses other people applying for this are considering.

I think one thing that concerns me is just how different every animation degree seems to be from one another, and how studying at an art-specific university might give me an entirely different experience than studying at a general university (i.e. i worry there won't be much focus on the creative side at a general one.)
Here are the handful I'm considering at the moment:
BU, Herts, NUA, Farnham, Portsmouth, Ravensbourne.

I have applied before (I had to cancel my app due to illness) and originally I considered NUA and Falmouth as well, though I've now heard they're not particularly good universities.

Just curious to see what other applicants are choosing and why! :^)
Heya ClockworkPaws,

I currently study BA(Hons) Photography at Plymouth College of Art, which is a specific Art and Design institution.

PCA offers a range of courses from Glass to Game Arts, including BA(Hons) Animation. Our course allows you to explore all areas of Animation, as well as allowing you to practise art in a broader sense, with open work areas to encourage students to try out other practices as well as the discipline that they study in. Our website gives in-depth information about the course structure and modules, as well as examples of current students work and our Alumni.

Personally, I think that studying at an institution full of artists and designers is wonderful, you always have that in common with the people you pass in the hallways and it definitely gives a great sense of creative community. We are encouraged to explore other areas that we may not have considered before, and we also encouraged to collaborate with students across the college.

Please let me know if you'd like more information or if you want to know more about my experiences, as I am happy to share with you.

Hope this helps,
Harriet :smile:
Second Year BA(Hons) Photography Student and Student Ambassador at Plymouth College of Art
Original post by ClockworkPaws
I'm hoping to apply for animation and was wondering which unis and courses other people applying for this are considering.

I think one thing that concerns me is just how different every animation degree seems to be from one another, and how studying at an art-specific university might give me an entirely different experience than studying at a general university (i.e. i worry there won't be much focus on the creative side at a general one.)
Here are the handful I'm considering at the moment:
BU, Herts, NUA, Farnham, Portsmouth, Ravensbourne.

I have applied before (I had to cancel my app due to illness) and originally I considered NUA and Falmouth as well, though I've now heard they're not particularly good universities.

Just curious to see what other applicants are choosing and why! :^)


Hi ClockworkPaws,

Hope your having a lovely day! At Ravensbourne we have a BA Animation course where you learn how to create in both 2D and 3D. I recommend definitely having a look at part students work on the BA (Hons) Animation youtube playlist to gain a better insight into work that has been produced to see if it is suited to you.

In addition to this, I also recommend having a look at the BA Motion Graphics course as well. You learn how to animate in 2D and 3D as well but is a slightly different approach to animation but still using traditional and new techniques throughout the design process.

In terms of the differences between the courses I would really recommend going around to the different universities and reading their course structure for the year e.g. if its predominately lecture based or if it is more workshop lead to gather a better understanding of the course you are looking for. Furthermore, I would also recommend thinking about what is the best way you learn and what structure you enjoy the most to give you a better understanding of what is most suited to you. Every university will have a different experience but making sure you pick the one you feel most comfortable at, in terms of the location, atmosphere of the university and the course itself is the most important thing.

I also recommend coming along to an open day where you will get to speak first hand to course tutors from this discipline and be able to answer any question you may have in regards to the course. Ravensbourne is situated by the 02 area and we have a uniquely designed building which is definitely something to look at to see your potential work space. Furthermore, have a look at portfolio requirements for this course as well and if your struggling with this you can always come along to a workshop on portfolios or if you come to our open day there will be a talk on portfolios on the day.

I hope this helps and I wish you all the luck on your search for the right university!

Daniella
Original post by ClockworkPaws
I'm hoping to apply for animation and was wondering which unis and courses other people applying for this are considering.

I think one thing that concerns me is just how different every animation degree seems to be from one another, and how studying at an art-specific university might give me an entirely different experience than studying at a general university (i.e. i worry there won't be much focus on the creative side at a general one.)
Here are the handful I'm considering at the moment:
BU, Herts, NUA, Farnham, Portsmouth, Ravensbourne.

I have applied before (I had to cancel my app due to illness) and originally I considered NUA and Falmouth as well, though I've now heard they're not particularly good universities.

Just curious to see what other applicants are choosing and why! :^)

Hiya!

I'm Belinda, I graduated with Leeds Arts University last year and now I work here! :smile:

Have you had a look at our courses at Leeds Arts University? We offer BA (Hons) Animation and BA (Hons) Comic & Concept Art. Our Animation course concentrates on exploring traditional and digital methods of animating, in both 2D and 3D formatting. Our Comic & Concept Art course is a brand new course this year and has been proven really popular! The course concentrates on visual narrative/communication, character development for 2D, 3D and 4D production; print and web-based publishing, film production, game design and live performance. Please have a look at our course pages for more details!

Leeds Arts University is an amazing university with a strong creative community. It's super easy to collaborate with other students on other courses because it is an arts specialist university and make friends who have similar interests to you!

We have also been ranked no 1 in The Guardian University League Tables 2019 for Design & Crafts, in the whole of the UK!

The University has also enjoyed success at the WhatUni Choice Awards, picking up first prize for best facilities in 2014 and 2016, and runner up in 2017 and 2018!

Please don't hesitate to ask any further questions!

Belinda :smile:
You might want to consider UCA Rochester rather than UCA Farnham for animation. Same university - but the course at the Rochester campus is creative skillset approved whereas the Farnham one isn't yet.
I've applied for Bournemouth, Nottingham Trent and UWE for animtaion and Kent and Surrey for digital media.
Basically, after doing some research, the most highly regarded course for 3D (which is what i want to do) is bournemouth and in my opinion their students produced the most impressive work. After visiting UWE, i discovered i like their course structure cause it gives you the chance to experiement with 2d, 3d and stop motion, which although i am pretty set on 3D, some of the students said they all went into the course with a particular type in mind, but changed once they realised they liked/were better at another (which is worrying). I had also heard good things from nottingham trent and the others. Kent and surrey are digital media so instead of just animation they do other things such as film and television and vr and camera operating etc

BUT, my worries are:
1 - is it smart to take such a narrow path and study just animation (and even narrower with just 3D animation at bournemouth, eventhough they are the most highly regarded)
2 - what if i change my mind and discover i want to do 2D or stop motion (i feel like its unlikely but its happened to others) but im stuck in a 3D course
3 - my parents are worried that doing a narrow course will put me at a disadvantage for finding jobs after uni, whereas places like kent and surrey offer a wider range of skills that can be applied to more jobs
BUT if im completely set on animation, i might as well go to the best uni for it and get the most experience because to be successful in this field you need to have an amazing showreel with good connections (which i think bournemouth can offer)

idk if i helped at all, those are just the reasons for why i applied to those unis but as you can see i really need to decided what i am going to do :frown:
Original post by teenagemess
I've applied for Bournemouth, Nottingham Trent and UWE for animtaion and Kent and Surrey for digital media.
Basically, after doing some research, the most highly regarded course for 3D (which is what i want to do) is bournemouth and in my opinion their students produced the most impressive work. After visiting UWE, i discovered i like their course structure cause it gives you the chance to experiement with 2d, 3d and stop motion, which although i am pretty set on 3D, some of the students said they all went into the course with a particular type in mind, but changed once they realised they liked/were better at another (which is worrying). I had also heard good things from nottingham trent and the others. Kent and surrey are digital media so instead of just animation they do other things such as film and television and vr and camera operating etc

BUT, my worries are:
1 - is it smart to take such a narrow path and study just animation (and even narrower with just 3D animation at bournemouth, eventhough they are the most highly regarded)
2 - what if i change my mind and discover i want to do 2D or stop motion (i feel like its unlikely but its happened to others) but im stuck in a 3D course
3 - my parents are worried that doing a narrow course will put me at a disadvantage for finding jobs after uni, whereas places like kent and surrey offer a wider range of skills that can be applied to more jobs
BUT if im completely set on animation, i might as well go to the best uni for it and get the most experience because to be successful in this field you need to have an amazing showreel with good connections (which i think bournemouth can offer)

idk if i helped at all, those are just the reasons for why i applied to those unis but as you can see i really need to decided what i am going to do :frown:


Hi, thanks for considering Bournemouth :-) Have you been in touch with the academics here to discuss your concerns over the course structure? They'd be the best people to advise you on how you can further expand your experience.

It's such a confusing time but really important that you take some time out to just think about what you really want from the course and where you see yourself in 10 years time. With regards to Bournemouth, we have fantastic placement opportunities and our new Poole Gateway building will be home to some state of the art facilities. Bournemouth itself is also an amazing place to study.

I also think many students going into their degrees don't 100% know which path they want to take and don't always get an idea until the end of year 2! For this reason I also recommend looking into what additional qualifications you could do post degree, perhaps a masters or even just look at what workshops are out there. University is much, much more than just the course content, everything you learn will apply to your career from meeting deadlines to group work and being super creative.

If you can, look at some jobs you'd be interested in and see what requirements they have, maybe even email the companies to see if they'd consider someone with the Bournemouth degree explaining that you are currently deciding where best to study.

I wish you the best of luck and we hope to have you here soon.

Vicki
Original post by BU Students
Hi, thanks for considering Bournemouth :-) Have you been in touch with the academics here to discuss your concerns over the course structure? They'd be the best people to advise you on how you can further expand your experience.

It's such a confusing time but really important that you take some time out to just think about what you really want from the course and where you see yourself in 10 years time. With regards to Bournemouth, we have fantastic placement opportunities and our new Poole Gateway building will be home to some state of the art facilities. Bournemouth itself is also an amazing place to study.

I also think many students going into their degrees don't 100% know which path they want to take and don't always get an idea until the end of year 2! For this reason I also recommend looking into what additional qualifications you could do post degree, perhaps a masters or even just look at what workshops are out there. University is much, much more than just the course content, everything you learn will apply to your career from meeting deadlines to group work and being super creative.

If you can, look at some jobs you'd be interested in and see what requirements they have, maybe even email the companies to see if they'd consider someone with the Bournemouth degree explaining that you are currently deciding where best to study.

I wish you the best of luck and we hope to have you here soon.

Vicki

Is there any update on whether computer animation arts/animation and visualisation courses are still scheduled for closure as stated here: https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/16395740.bournemouth-university-to-cut-jobs-and-courses-in-shake-up/
Original post by PQ
Is there any update on whether computer animation arts/animation and visualisation courses are still scheduled for closure as stated here: https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/16395740.bournemouth-university-to-cut-jobs-and-courses-in-shake-up/


Hi there,

It is unfortunate that you and maybe others have found this misleading article. The National Center for Computer Animation (NCCA) at BU has not/ is not closing it's animation courses. What happened instead was that the courses were restructured and given updated names to better reflect the content.

What was Computer Animation Arts is now known as Computer Animation Art and Design, and what was Computer Visualisation and Animation (my course!) is now known as Computer Animation Technical Arts.

However, the Software Development for Software Games and Effects course did close two years ago, but starting this academic year we have welcomed a new Visual Effects course into the NCCA family.

Please find the links to all the course info here, or feel free to ask me any questions - I reply every Friday :smile:

https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/about/our-faculties/faculty-media-communication/our-departments/national-centre-computer-animation/undergraduate-courses

- Laura, 3rd year Animation student at BU
Original post by teenagemess
I've applied for Bournemouth, Nottingham Trent and UWE for animtaion and Kent and Surrey for digital media.
Basically, after doing some research, the most highly regarded course for 3D (which is what i want to do) is bournemouth and in my opinion their students produced the most impressive work. After visiting UWE, i discovered i like their course structure cause it gives you the chance to experiement with 2d, 3d and stop motion, which although i am pretty set on 3D, some of the students said they all went into the course with a particular type in mind, but changed once they realised they liked/were better at another (which is worrying). I had also heard good things from nottingham trent and the others. Kent and surrey are digital media so instead of just animation they do other things such as film and television and vr and camera operating etc

BUT, my worries are:
1 - is it smart to take such a narrow path and study just animation (and even narrower with just 3D animation at bournemouth, eventhough they are the most highly regarded)
2 - what if i change my mind and discover i want to do 2D or stop motion (i feel like its unlikely but its happened to others) but im stuck in a 3D course
3 - my parents are worried that doing a narrow course will put me at a disadvantage for finding jobs after uni, whereas places like kent and surrey offer a wider range of skills that can be applied to more jobs
BUT if im completely set on animation, i might as well go to the best uni for it and get the most experience because to be successful in this field you need to have an amazing showreel with good connections (which i think bournemouth can offer)

idk if i helped at all, those are just the reasons for why i applied to those unis but as you can see i really need to decided what i am going to do :frown:


Hey there, it's Laura the animation student again!

In case anyone else finds this, I'd like to link my previous reply to you in which I explained the breadth of an animation course.

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4460790&p=80920496&page=2&highlight=#post80920496

I'd also like to mention that Bournemouth is home to the National Centre for Computer animation, which has some incredible industry links which was the deciding factor in my choosing to come here :smile:
While the animation courses here are definitely 3D-focused, we are free to experiment and include mixed-media/ 2D animation work in our assignments, as long as some element of it is 3D.

- Laura, 3rd Year Animation Student at BU
Original post by ClockworkPaws
I'm hoping to apply for animation and was wondering which unis and courses other people applying for this are considering.

I think one thing that concerns me is just how different every animation degree seems to be from one another, and how studying at an art-specific university might give me an entirely different experience than studying at a general university (i.e. i worry there won't be much focus on the creative side at a general one.)
Here are the handful I'm considering at the moment:
BU, Herts, NUA, Farnham, Portsmouth, Ravensbourne.

I have applied before (I had to cancel my app due to illness) and originally I considered NUA and Falmouth as well, though I've now heard they're not particularly good universities.

Just curious to see what other applicants are choosing and why! :^)


Hello, always happy to hear about someone interested in animation :biggrin:

At the NCCA at BU, we're all about the marriage of arts and science. Therefore we offer 3 different courses for you to choose from based on how arty or sciencey you are. Take a look here: https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/about/our-faculties/faculty-media-communication/our-departments/national-centre-computer-animation/undergraduate-courses

It's no longer the case, but when I applied I had to undergo a life drawing test, a logic test, and a maths test to check I had all the right art and science skills for the more technical course. Now the application process involves only a portfolio so they can get a feel for how aesthetically minded you are and your passion for creativity. Don't be put off by the "general" university type!

- Laura, 3rd year Animation student
Original post by BU Students
Hello, always happy to hear about someone interested in animation :biggrin:

At the NCCA at BU, we're all about the marriage of arts and science. Therefore we offer 3 different courses for you to choose from based on how arty or sciencey you are. Take a look here: https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/about/our-faculties/faculty-media-communication/our-departments/national-centre-computer-animation/undergraduate-courses

It's no longer the case, but when I applied I had to undergo a life drawing test, a logic test, and a maths test to check I had all the right art and science skills for the more technical course. Now the application process involves only a portfolio so they can get a feel for how aesthetically minded you are and your passion for creativity. Don't be put off by the "general" university type!

- Laura, 3rd year Animation student


Hi! I applied to BU a couple years ago and also did the three tests (we may have applied at the same time!)
I scored rather low on the maths so I think I'm much better suited to the Computer Animation Art and Design course, which I might apply for tomorrow. Do you have any advice on this course, what it's like studying at BU and how much 2D art you get to do? I know you aren't taught any 2D animation at all but are you ever able to experiment or learn it through other workshops? Thank you for your response!
Original post by ClockworkPaws
Hi! I applied to BU a couple years ago and also did the three tests (we may have applied at the same time!)
I scored rather low on the maths so I think I'm much better suited to the Computer Animation Art and Design course, which I might apply for tomorrow. Do you have any advice on this course, what it's like studying at BU and how much 2D art you get to do? I know you aren't taught any 2D animation at all but are you ever able to experiment or learn it through other workshops? Thank you for your response!


Hello! Sorry for not getting back to you before the deadline, hope you got on alright with the application process :smile:

We could have been in the same maths test, wouldn't that be funny!
They have now 'restructured' the courses and now there are no entrance tests, only the portfolio review/ interview and only in some cases. However, if you struggle with the technical side (maths and programming) then the CAAD course is likely better suited to you as you said.

To receive an offer for CAAD you need to have a passion for creativity in any form, as you will be working on character design, environment design, storyboarding, texture painting and compositing which are all 2D art things. As for 3D of course you have the modelling, lighting, animation and FX side. I would say the animation courses here are very intensive compared to other degrees so be prepared to dedicate a sizeable chuck of your time to it, and get into good time management habits early.

As you said we aren't taught 2D animation, but you are definately able to incorperate some into your projects. The only requirement is that it has some 3D element to it as well as the 2D. You may be able to work on entirely 2D animations on projects run by Animation Soceity, but these would be extra-curricular.

Hope this helps!
- Laura
I've just finished my third-year Animation at Farnham and I wouldn't recommend the course, It's ideal for someone who has animated before and is more a film making course than Animation. Everyone I know from the course who is a great animator went into the course as a great animator, but if you are looking to become one this isn't the place for it. During my time there I was shown the basics in year one but nothing more. Throughout the third year, there was little to no teaching that is carefully worded as 'independent film making' in the course description. You have a maximum of 30 mins a week with a tutor.

Quick Reply

Latest