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Best UK university for animation?

Hi, I am hoping to do animation at university and am thinking of applying to Bournemouth Uni (or AUB), Hertfordshire, Dundee and maybe Edinburgh. Any advice as to which would be the best place to go to/ which is the hardest to get in to?
Original post by stephan123
Hi, I am hoping to do animation at university and am thinking of applying to Bournemouth Uni (or AUB), Hertfordshire, Dundee and maybe Edinburgh. Any advice as to which would be the best place to go to/ which is the hardest to get in to?


what grades do you think you ll achieve?
Reply 2
Hi, I'm doing the IB and am predicted to get 38 points.
Reply 3
Hello Stephan123

I'm one of the lecturers on the Digital Animation Programme at Hertfordshire; regarding the work we want to see in your portfolio, it will depend on which degree you are applying for. We will want to see drawing skills for all four degrees (life drawing of the nude figure from life, perspective drawing of architecture in at least two point perspective), but each of the degrees has different requirements after that.

For 2D Animation we will want to see character designs (Front, side, back, three quarter, to scale and in colour; if you want to impress us then show pose sheets and facial expressions and associated props, bonus points for mouth shapes / phonemes). We'll also want to see environment designs for your backgrounds. Some character animation is also important - this can be simple walks, runs, jumps etc - show short but high quality work instead of epic but mediocre work. Examples of storyboards (draw them to the correct aspect ratio) is useful, as are any comics you've created.

For 3D Animation - all the above character and environment work (you don't need 2D character animation though), plus 3D models (these don't have to be textured, just modelled well). We like to see 3D character animation (use a free rig from www.creativecrash.com) if you can, but it's not essential if you're more of a modeller / traditional artist. If you have made your own rigs please show them, but we do not expect applicants to be able to do so.

Games Art - all the character design or environment design work (depending on whether you're more interested in one or the other, but having both is awesome to see) plus 3D models. If you can texture these and for bonus points get them into a realtime engine (Unreal Engine 4 or Unity for example) then that's even more impressive. If you have examples of working levels / maps you've made and can show a video of the interaction in the level that's even better. If you can demonstrate technical skills with scripting /coding/ blue prints then that is also very interesting to us.

Visual Effects - examples of 3D models, examples of compositing where you have integrated 3D models into film backplates are the most important areas. Examples of effects work - water simulations, cloth simulations, fire and explosion, destruction effects are also good to see if you can create them. Colour grading of film footage is also interesting to see, especially if it uses rotoscoping masks to position colour in specific areas of the image. Examples of code used to customise a 3D or 2D program is also interesting to us. Examples of matte painting (photorealistic background paintings) are also interesting. Photography is an excellent skill to demonstrate.

Bonus items:

Sketchbooks that are actually full of drawings (and not postcards and notes about artists that your teacher made you write)

Strong photography that shows composition and lighting.

Animal anatomy drawings and realistic sculpture of human or animal anatomy.

All the above work will be relevant to the universities you are applying to, although many of them might not need to see the 3D work (we do if you are applying to a 3D related course)

Regarding which place is best, the University of Hertfordshire is currently ranked as the best in the UK for Animation and Games Art by the CG Rookies Awards:
CG Rookies Awards 2017 - Best Next Gen Games Art and Best Animation School in the United Kingdom. Fourth Place in the World (Games Art) and Fifth Place in the World (Animation)
http://www.therookies.co/schools/bes...ls-world-2017/
http://www.therookies.co/schools/bes...ls-world-2017/

We are also rated as one of the best Animation, Games Art and Visual Effects Courses in the UK by Creative Skillset.

We are rated as one of the best Film Schools in the world by the CILECT organisation in France.
Reply 4
Thank you very much for the information on Hertfordshire and the portfolio requirements for 2D and 3D, which is really detailed and helpful.
Reply 5
No problem - if you have that sort of work (especially the traditional skills) it will be what the other universities you mentioned would want to see (we tend to want to see a mixture of digital and traditional work, many of the other universities prefer to see only the traditional work - but obviously check with them first in case my knowledge is out of date for this year)
Original post by stephan123
Hi, I am hoping to do animation at university and am thinking of applying to Bournemouth Uni (or AUB), Hertfordshire, Dundee and maybe Edinburgh. Any advice as to which would be the best place to go to/ which is the hardest to get in to?



Hi, Im a student at Bournemouth University and I hope I can provide you with some answers based on some personal experience.

In regards to where is the best place to go, that is a tricky question and comes down to what meets your own requirements and what you want to do in the future best. Different universities offer different types of courses in animation and the way they are structured also vary. For that reason its really important to read each of the courses and what they cover carefully and compare them as to what meets your needs. Bournemouth offers a variety of Animation and special effect courses alone so it can sometimes seem quite tricky to make a decision.

Here's a link to the courses:
https://www1.bournemouth.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/undergraduate-subject-areas/computer-animation-games-visual-effects

If you still cant make a decision based on the course structure visit an open day at the universities your looking at and not only can they answer some of your questions but you will also get a feel for the area, I know that also had a large impact on my decision making.

What sort of things were you looking for in the course?

-Dom K
Reply 7
Hi, thanks very much for the reply, I think my first choice is probably going to be BU.
Reply 8
Check out the Rookies. They've got the top 10 3D Animation schools in Europe.

The UK ones in that Top 10 Europwe list are Bournmouth Uni, Uni of South Wales, and Uni of Herfordshire.

https://discover.therookies.co/schools/best-animation-schools-in-europe/
Original post by stephan123
Hi, I am hoping to do animation at university and am thinking of applying to Bournemouth Uni (or AUB), Hertfordshire, Dundee and maybe Edinburgh. Any advice as to which would be the best place to go to/ which is the hardest to get in to?
Hello...I have written a children’s picture book Believe in Pixie Hart (sophie-valentine.com) I am looking to get my illustrations turned into an animation. I was wondering if it would be a project one of your students might be interested in taking on!? Thank you for reading my message...Sophie :smile:
(edited 4 years ago)
Hiya!
If anyone wants some more up to date info about our animation courses, give me a shout! We have some amazing facilities - why not have a look on our next open day?
Alice :smile:
Original post by N_th
Check out the Rookies. They've got the top 10 3D Animation schools in Europe.

The UK ones in that Top 10 Europwe list are Bournmouth Uni, Uni of South Wales, and Uni of Herfordshire.

https://discover.therookies.co/schools/best-animation-schools-in-europe/
Yes please I would love some up to date info on what the unis are looking for in a portfolio especially someone who hasnt done animation before ( i studied art and moving image alevel so i have lots of storyboards and drawings/ sketches paintings/ ceramic models etc if any of that would be useful and i have some sketches of 2d animated characters. Thanks :smile:
Original post by Lauren_ciara
Yes please I would love some up to date info on what the unis are looking for in a portfolio especially someone who hasnt done animation before ( i studied art and moving image alevel so i have lots of storyboards and drawings/ sketches paintings/ ceramic models etc if any of that would be useful and i have some sketches of 2d animated characters. Thanks :smile:

BU doesn’t do 2D animation (and iirr doesn’t ask for a portfolio for their computer animation degrees).

Arts University Bournemouth might be a better option if you’re interested in 2D animation
Original post by Lauren_ciara
Yes please I would love some up to date info on what the unis are looking for in a portfolio especially someone who hasnt done animation before ( i studied art and moving image alevel so i have lots of storyboards and drawings/ sketches paintings/ ceramic models etc if any of that would be useful and i have some sketches of 2d animated characters. Thanks :smile:

Hello Lauren_ciara,

I am Tia and I sudy BA Hons) Communication and Media at Bournemouth Uni.

Bournemouth University doesn't offer 2D animation but we do offer BA (Hons) Computer Animation Art and Design and BA (Hons) Computer Animation Technical Arts. They do both require a portfolio which I believe will be your sketches, graphics, etc. as the lecturers will want to see you are able to draw. But, as I'm not 100% sure on the specifics, it might be worth messaging one of our current animation students on unibuddy (https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/unibuddy) or attending one of our virtual open days, there is one on Wednesday, one in February and one in March. You can sign up here: https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/open-days

Hope that helps, Tia :smile:
Reply 14
Cardiff Met is brilliant, great tutors and best contact hours. The facilities are incredible as well!

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