Hertfordshire 2D animation; worth it?

Hi there Millie!

I'm in my second year studying 2D Animation at Herts, lovely to see you're excited for university!

I definitely remember when I was applying for Herts, on my interview day when I had the introductory presentation I felt the same way. Presuming it is the same tutor, he does come off quite intimidating at first and can come across as quite pessimistic & scary - But he's lovely really! Genuinely!

I think in the introductory presentation, they don't want any students to come in with wrong ideas about animation - especially 2D - thinking that there's absolutely bags of money to be made. They already get hundreds of applicants, so they want to ensure that the ones they select will stay for the entire duration if possible as opposed to getting through part of the year and realising Animation isn't for them. You go into 2D animation for the love of it, definitely not the pay.

I would certainly argue that I think they go a little too hard in the pessimism & fearmongering, but that's not something I have control over.

Please take into consderation that I haven't completed my course yet. But, being on the course has already helped me get opportunities I otherwise wouldn't have been able to get. In June, I will be starting an internship at Disney's branch in London, which I don't think I ever would have been able to get if it weren't for my connection with the course.

Additionally, post-graduation, if you want to go overseas for work (which, unfortunately, a lot of 2D animation is american based) a degree is very helpful leverage.

There is no guarentee that having a degree will help you get an animation job. It is a difficult field to go into, and I think it is a field you go into knowing about the high risk. But if animation is something you love to do, don't second guess yourself out of doing it. I remember being in your position and because of how fearmongery the introduction presentation felt to me, I almost decided against my whole journey then and there.

It's a hard question to answer because, potentially you could get into the animation industry without a degree, but potentially you won't. Opportunities are sort of like that, sometimes a person has access to opportunities without the assistance of something else, other people don't.

It's not so much 'will or will you not get a job', because that's incredibly difficult to predict. But I can at least say with certainty that the course provides you with opportunities to take on and add to your arsenal of hirability. They very frequently send out emails like "Hey! Look! these are competitions that are going on! Enter them if you can!" Or "Hey! Look! Internships you might be able to get!".

I like Herts a lot. It has some amazing lecturers, and I do very much feel pushed. However, I don't want to gloss over the flaws either.

It is a very VERY intense course.
They do tell you this at the start, but I think even going in aware of this it is still crippling. There are usually multiple modules running alongside each other (which is typical for all university courses), but each assignment is usually huge in it's own right. I'm a person who struggles to manage multiple "big" projects at once, so this was, and to a degree still is, very difficult for me personally.

Individually, I love all of the assignments. They can be fun or incredibly educating. But when you have three assignments where you have to create a multitude of 2D animations, as well as other assignments in character design and illustration, it can be confusing and stressful and very overwhelming. I feel like I've not necessarily been able to produce my best work due to this a lot of the time.

Some people are able to manage this totally fine, but it's very easy to be tipped off balance.

There are other things about the course I could mention, but this is already a LONG LONG message that you're probably getting tired of reading, haha!

I guess to bullet point my thoughts ;
- The intro presentation does feel very pessimistic and scary, but I promise it's not that bad.

- The university provides you with a lot of opportunities to engage in. Whether you take those opportunities is down to you.

- The course is very intense & overwhelming. Sometimes it feels overly intense.

- Make sure you truly look at the university and decide whether or not Herts is the right one for you. Herts is great! Absolutely! But I definitely think some people absolutely gun for it due to it's reputation in animation and don't consider whether the teaching styles and other factors suit them.

If you'd like portfolio advice, or would like to learn more about any other specifics of the University of Hertfordshire, you're more than welcome to shoot me a message!!

Wow hi!! I haven’t logged on in a while: but this comment was super helpful and completely made my day reading this.

Well, short life update since this post: i got accepted during my portfolio interview!!

I know exactly what you mean when talking about the tutor who tried to scare us haha: it’s definitely a technique but also 90% true to the fact that animation is a hard industry. I love art and animation so hopefully I won’t be having too many mental breakdowns during the course lmao.

Honestly as of right now I’m not sure what path I want to take; between the 2D or 3D course. i think i’m lucky that the first year consists of both/VFX so i can truly understand the right path for me. I think both are awesome: honestly I love 2D the most but reflecting on what you said about job prospects i’m extremely career orientated 😵*💫 but you never know… i think it’s worth a shot either way and Hertfordshire seems like an extremely supportive course w great connections to Studios that can always help! It gives me more confidence to pursue what I enjoy no matter what.

Honestly when this comment was written a couple of months ago the money side was stressing me out: but after job interviews for other opportunities post college i’ve come to a MAJOR peace that I would rather take animation no matter what: because what an incredible subject to study! It absolutely beats any 9-5 office job for me.

All in all i’m so excited to start in September: and maybe even see you there

PS please feel free to say anything you haven’t mentioned! any and all information is super helpful and insightful. every day i get more excited to start studying here.
All the best,
Millie

Hi there to anyone reading this!!

I am coming to the end of my 2nd year studying animation at college. and the 2D animation course at Hertfordshire is my current goal for september 2022. I love doing animation a lot and art is a large part of my life, i super hope to translate it into a professional career in the future working in the industry.

When watching the introductory presentation from this year, i noticed how pessimistic the tutor was when explaining the amount of creative jobs there are in the UK. I’m super motivated and i don’t want this to stop me, but i was wondering if there are any students here either currently studying or HAVE been to Hertfordshire that could give me some insight on the industry post studies? Im not looking for guarantees, as i know nothing is ever promised in the future. However, if anyone can shed some light on exactly how redeeming it would be to get a degree in this subject, i’d be all ears to educate myself a bit more before deciding if this is right for me!!

If anyone applying wants to share portfolios or advice feel free to message me!

Hi there!

My name is El and although I went to Coventry for Illustration & Animation, I thought I could give you some insight into studying animation at Uni.

Firstly, Hertfordshire is a brilliant University from what I heard of past graduates from the University and I'm aware it's held in high regard in the art industry- I'm focusing on a career at Aardman and so many people who work there came from Hertfordshire! So that all sounds positive; even I've looked into doing further education at Hertfordshire such as a masters!

About the pessimistic outlook from the lecturer, usually this is just to stop the people who aren't that bothered about doing a career in art coming to their courses. A lot of people take art because they think it'll be easy or fun and it's truly frustrating when you go into class and see those who aren't bothered in the studios. Those type of students always leave during 2nd year and I'm sure the lecturer is just giving them a head start!
But also, he is right, jobs in art are hard to come by and everyone wants to do it... because who doesn't want to get paid creating wonderful things? But this isn't to scare you, it's to prepare you for the toughness this life is going to have but if you are truly passionate and determined to get a career; you'll be okay! That passion never dies and people will realise that one day.

An artist that I've been speaking to, Emily Bond, has only just graduated from Hertfordshire after doing a Model Design course and she was instantly picked up from Aardman to be their next character and model designer, which is crazy! I was so jealous of her... but it shows what Uni and their gallery shows can offer you once education is complete. Gallery Shows are brilliant in bringing clients and companies who are just as desperate as you to find the right person for their job.

I hope this helps! Good luck!

El

Hi there Millie!

I'm in my second year studying 2D Animation at Herts, lovely to see you're excited for university!

I definitely remember when I was applying for Herts, on my interview day when I had the introductory presentation I felt the same way. Presuming it is the same tutor, he does come off quite intimidating at first and can come across as quite pessimistic & scary - But he's lovely really! Genuinely!

I think in the introductory presentation, they don't want any students to come in with wrong ideas about animation - especially 2D - thinking that there's absolutely bags of money to be made. They already get hundreds of applicants, so they want to ensure that the ones they select will stay for the entire duration if possible as opposed to getting through part of the year and realising Animation isn't for them. You go into 2D animation for the love of it, definitely not the pay.

I would certainly argue that I think they go a little too hard in the pessimism & fearmongering, but that's not something I have control over.

Please take into consderation that I haven't completed my course yet. But, being on the course has already helped me get opportunities I otherwise wouldn't have been able to get. In June, I will be starting an internship at Disney's branch in London, which I don't think I ever would have been able to get if it weren't for my connection with the course.

Additionally, post-graduation, if you want to go overseas for work (which, unfortunately, a lot of 2D animation is american based) a degree is very helpful leverage.

There is no guarentee that having a degree will help you get an animation job. It is a difficult field to go into, and I think it is a field you go into knowing about the high risk. But if animation is something you love to do, don't second guess yourself out of doing it. I remember being in your position and because of how fearmongery the introduction presentation felt to me, I almost decided against my whole journey then and there.

It's a hard question to answer because, potentially you could get into the animation industry without a degree, but potentially you won't. Opportunities are sort of like that, sometimes a person has access to opportunities without the assistance of something else, other people don't.

It's not so much 'will or will you not get a job', because that's incredibly difficult to predict. But I can at least say with certainty that the course provides you with opportunities to take on and add to your arsenal of hirability. They very frequently send out emails like "Hey! Look! these are competitions that are going on! Enter them if you can!" Or "Hey! Look! Internships you might be able to get!".

I like Herts a lot. It has some amazing lecturers, and I do very much feel pushed. However, I don't want to gloss over the flaws either.

It is a very VERY intense course.
They do tell you this at the start, but I think even going in aware of this it is still crippling. There are usually multiple modules running alongside each other (which is typical for all university courses), but each assignment is usually huge in it's own right. I'm a person who struggles to manage multiple "big" projects at once, so this was, and to a degree still is, very difficult for me personally.

Individually, I love all of the assignments. They can be fun or incredibly educating. But when you have three assignments where you have to create a multitude of 2D animations, as well as other assignments in character design and illustration, it can be confusing and stressful and very overwhelming. I feel like I've not necessarily been able to produce my best work due to this a lot of the time.

Some people are able to manage this totally fine, but it's very easy to be tipped off balance.

There are other things about the course I could mention, but this is already a LONG LONG message that you're probably getting tired of reading, haha!

I guess to bullet point my thoughts ;
- The intro presentation does feel very pessimistic and scary, but I promise it's not that bad.

- The university provides you with a lot of opportunities to engage in. Whether you take those opportunities is down to you.

- The course is very intense & overwhelming. Sometimes it feels overly intense.

- Make sure you truly look at the university and decide whether or not Herts is the right one for you. Herts is great! Absolutely! But I definitely think some people absolutely gun for it due to it's reputation in animation and don't consider whether the teaching styles and other factors suit them.

If you'd like portfolio advice, or would like to learn more about any other specifics of the University of Hertfordshire, you're more than welcome to shoot me a message!!