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3D Game Art (online learning)

Entry requirements


A level

C,C,D-B,C,C

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

MMP-DMM

UCAS Tariff

88-112

A typical offer will be a UCAS Tariff score of 88 - 112. A minimum of two full A-levels (or equivalent) is required. Every application is considered on an individual basis.

About this course


Course option

3years

Distance learning (full-time) | 2024

Subject

Computer games design

Do you love computer games? Kick-start a career designing the animations that bring them to life with a degree in 3D Game Art. On this online course you’ll have access to industry standard software, ensuring everything you learn is current. Taught by industry experts this dynamic course gives you the skills and knowledge you need for an industry role and the chance to create a varied portfolio of work.

**Why study this subject?**
The global gaming market continues to expand, offering a world of opportunity. Your love of gaming together with your creative and modelling skills could see you in numerous roles - from 3D Artist and Animator to Environmental Artist or Technical Animator.

**Why study at Buckinghamshire New University?**
At BNU we focus on preparing you for work in the industry, helping you to stand out to employers when you graduate. Led by our enthusiastic and dedicated team of industry-savvy practitioners and experienced academics, you will have the freedom to explore all areas of 3D Games Art. During your time with us you may also get direct access to guest lectures and can benefit from live project briefs, master classes, and plenty of networking opportunities.

You’ll have access to all the software you need to bring your ideas to life. Our small group sizes enable staff and students to work together as a friendly and collaborative community of learners. It also means you’ll benefit from more one to one support with your lecturer.

Opportunity modules are a key part of the BNU curriculum. You’ll choose modules in both your first and second year from a broad selection in areas such as sustainability, entrepreneurship, creativity, digital skills, personal growth, civic engagement, health & wellbeing and employment. Opportunity modules are designed to enable you to develop outside the traditional boundaries of your discipline and help you to further stand out from the crowd to future employers.

**What facilities can I use?**
Whilst studying with us you will use our BucksAnywhere web service, which provides access to many of the software applications you use for learning and studying. It can be used from your own device or from a University owned PC or laptop, from any location. We’ve made sure you have access to industry-standard software, including:
*Unreal Engine
*Unity
*Maya
*3DS Max
*Substance Suite
*Zbrush

You’ll also be able to remotely access our VDI, which is a powerful computer that will give you access to additional software relevant to the course.

**What will I study?**
You will be taught the fundamentals of 3D modelling and animation, and as your studies progress, your skills with modelling will also improve, and you will also learn about games engines and design.

The focus of this course is on professional workflows for creating 3D assets such as characters, props and environments. You will learn how to export and set these up in a games engine and learn the fundamentals of interactivity and gameplay elements. The course has been intentionally designed to be flexible, to allow you as a student to select and pursue your own specialism within the field.

You’ll discover both the animation and modelling aspect of the field, which you will then develop to include more advanced aspects such as organic sculpting, hair and clothes. You’ll undertake individual and project work, having the opportunity to take a set industry style project and a creative project to develop your specialist skills and build an industry ready portfolio.

You’ll also be invited to join additional online groups where you will be able to meet the other students taking our animation, visual effects, game art and visualisation courses, both MA and BA, online and attendance. These help to foster a sense of community and are also places where extra-curricular collaborative projects, such as game jams, take place. You will also be able to meet our alumni in these broader forums. All forums are moderated by the lecturers.

Modules

**Year one**
**Core**
Introduction to 3D Modelling;
Texturing and Look Development;
Lighting and Rendering;
Animation Principles and The Moving Figure;
Visual Narrative.
**Opportunity**
2 x 10 credit year one Opportunity modules

**Year two**
**Core**
Game Engines;
Virtual Environments for Games;
Digital Sculpting;
Simulated FX.
**Optional**
Plan Your Showreel (Placement);
Learn a new skill;
Rigging;
Project;
Character FX.

**Year three**
**Core**
Industry Production Project;
Portfolio;
Showreel.
**Optional**
Creative Project: Preproduction
Creative Project: Production.

Assessment methods

Our BNU teaching team are industry-professionals, with years of experience working in the sector and training future generations of animators. Through their support and the course you’ll gain the skills and knowledge you need within the industry.

You’ll spend time learning and practicing the skills required by each unit before undertaking summative assessments the form of projects which will enable you to apply and combine their newfound skills together in a meaningful way while tackling tasks commonly found in the industry.

You’ll be taught via online classes and 1:1s supported by a virtual learning environment (VLE) which will serve as a repository for course materials and other essential information such as assignment briefs, in line with university policy.

You will be given access to synchronous sessions each week of termtime with a lecturer who will be online throughout. During these sessions, you will also have the opportunity to ask questions and get real time responses and feedback from lecturers and other learners. Normally these will begin with a group seminar or demonstration and then break into 1:1s where you will have the opportunity to discuss your individual progress directly with their lecturer. Sometimes these seminars will be used for presentations and review in a manner that mimics the dailies process in industry.

In addition to this there will be video based lecture content focused on the demonstration of essential skills and clarification and expansion of key concepts and techniques. This will be facilitated via the online learning platform, where you will be able to access a set of recorded lectures which will be an average of 10 minutes in length. These will be delivered as appropriate to each individual module.

Other learning techniques that will be employed appropriately to the situation include:

Demonstrations for new techniques
Group work
Video feedback
Peer review
Use of books, magazines, video and online resources
Research methods
You will regularly be set formative tasks related to the weekly content or be working towards your own project objective as agreed with the lecturers. This will enable you to apply your learning in new contexts. You will also be able to submit your work for asynchronous formative review from the lecturer which will be delivered as a video commentary on your work.

You will also be expected to join a closed online group where you will be able to discuss the work and ask questions throughout the week. It is expected that both lecturers and students will contribute and answer questions. This will also be a place for you to post your work for peer discussion and review.

Assessments will be largely practical coursework along with critical analysis and evaluation which will come mainly in the form of essays and presentations. The practical elements will mimic the kind of work that junior artists will carry out in industry, as far as reasonably practicable.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£15,000
per year
International
£15,000
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

Extra funding

Buckinghamshire New University offers a range of bursaries and scholarships. For more information, please visit https://www.bucks.ac.uk/study/fees-and-funding/financial-support-bursaries-and-scholarships

The Uni


Course location:

Buckinghamshire New University

Department:

School of Creative And Digital Industries

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

70%
Computer games design

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Computer games and animation

Teaching and learning

70%
Staff make the subject interesting
90%
Staff are good at explaining things
90%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
90%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

40%
Library resources
50%
IT resources
90%
Course specific equipment and facilities
50%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

80%
UK students
20%
International students
98%
Male students
2%
Female students
60%
2:1 or above
30%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
C
E

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Computer games and animation

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£20,000
low
Average annual salary
83%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

22%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals
11%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
11%
Design occupations

This is a relatively new subject area for this kind of data, so we don’t currently have very much information to display or analyse yet. Gaming is a growing industry, and if it continues to grow we should see the rather high unemployment rate coming down over the next few years. Much the most common jobs for graduates who do get work after six months are in programming roles - but as things stand, be aware that jobs in the field are very competitive and personal contacts - either through family, friends or via specialist employment agencies - are a crucial way into the industry so be prepared to talk as well as code!

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Computer games and animation

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£22k

£22k

£21k

£21k

£26k

£26k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
University of Plymouth | Plymouth
Game Arts and Design
BA (Hons) 3 Years Distance learning (full-time) 2024
UCAS Points: 96-120
Lower entry requirements
Teesside University, Middlesbrough | Middlesbrough
Games Design with Foundation Year
BA (Hons) 4 Years Distance learning (full-time) 2024
UCAS Points: 64-80
Nearby University
University of the Arts London | Camden
Games Design
BA (Hons) 3 Years Distance learning (full-time) 2024
UCAS Points: -
Same University
Buckinghamshire New University | High Wycombe
3D Game Art with Foundation Year
BA (Hons) 4 Years Distance learning (full-time) 2024
UCAS Points: 32-56

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here