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Digital Animation with Illustration

Futureworks

UCAS Code: W216 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

Entry requirements


A level

B,C,C

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

DMM

UCAS Tariff

104-120

You may also need to…

Attend an interview

Present a portfolio

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Animation

Illustration

Computer animation and visual effects

**You are a creative storyteller with an obsessive passion for animation. You want to develop your technical skills and you love working with the latest technology. If you think this applies to you, then you should apply for this course. This degree is an amalgamation of animation and illustration. When we created the course we spoke to our contacts in the industry and asked them what the course should cover. As well as both 2D and 3D animation, the industry wants people who can draw and they seem to be in short supply.**

For that reason, in the first year you will gain a solid grounding in illustration for animation. The drawing skills developed in this year will lay a strong foundation for the digital work to come. Using light boxes and rostrum cameras you will explore the traditional methods of animation, including the twelve principles of animation that have guided generations of animators. Creative thinking, storyboarding and story structure are all covered and within the first year you will put everything into practise with your own 30 second traditional animation.

In the second year you will transfer your animation skills into 3D. Using the industry standard software package Maya, you will learn how to recreate the 12 principles in 3D space and create your first short film in 3D. You will learn 3D modelling, including how to make props and characters from scratch, as well as video edition and motion graphics. An industry-set brief is introduced in the second year to give you real world experience working for a client. You will also continue to illustrate, producing a set of creative responses to briefs and, in the second semester, a graphic novel or illustrated story book.

In the third year your teaching will become more self-directed, allowing every student to pursue their own creative path. You will create a short film, made in the medium of your choice, and an honours project which could be anything from modelling to illustration, animation to concept art. Your learning journey will be guided throughout by tutors who have worked in the industry so that your projects, as well as being personally rewarding, will also provide you with a professional portfolio and showreel for the time you graduate. Motion capture is also taught on third year, as are interview skills, networking and how to land your first job in the industry.

The main activities within the programme will take place within a classroom/studio/online setting. This will allow you and the staff to develop a mature and informative relationship concerning your study. Not only is this a supportive and welcoming environment but it mimics the professional arena where you will be expected to organise your working patterns based upon set goals.
It is important to note that this is not a distance learning / online course. Online activity will be a part of the course in addition to onsite studios and labs as it is an important transferable skill you will need in industry.

Students leave the programme being highly employable, and our course stats reflect this.

Modules

**HE Level 4 (Year 1):**
Fundamentals of 2D Animation (20 credits)
Year 1 Animation Project (20 credits)
History of Animation and Illustration (20 credits)
Fundamentals of Illustration (40 credits)
Pre-production (20 credits)

**HE Level 5 (Year 2):**
Fundamentals of 3D Animation (20 credits)
Year 2 Animation Project (20 credits)
Post-Production and Motion Graphics (20 credits)
Contemporary Animation and Illustration(20 credits)
3D Modelling (20 credits)
Applied Illustration (20 credits)

**HE Level 6 (Year 3):**
Motion Capture (20 credits)
Personal Portfolio Development (20 credits)
Honours Project (40 credits)
Year 3 Animation Project (40 credits)

Assessment methods

We want to do everything we can to prepare you for working within the creative industries, and this is reflected in the way we teach and assess you. The course is mostly coursework based, which means your tutors will be able to give you constant, constructive feedback. Presentation techniques will give you valuable experience of how to present your thoughts and ideas successfully and enthusiastically, so you are better at selling your ideas to prospective employers.

The written work is an important part of assessment and will improve your communication skills. A combination of lectures, tutorials, peer reviews, discussions and observations will ensure that you’re industry ready. External trips will present you with a wider range of topics and the opportunity to expand your portfolio, whilst guest speakers will help you to understand the world of animation and illustration, how it works and how you can make your mark on it.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Futureworks (Manchester)

Department:

School of Art and Design

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.

96%
Animation
95%
Illustration
79%
Computer animation and visual effects

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.

Cinematics and photography

Teaching and learning

99%
Staff make the subject interesting
96%
Staff are good at explaining things
100%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
100%
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

94%
Library resources
69%
IT resources
97%
Course specific equipment and facilities
98%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

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

Design studies

Teaching and learning

89%
Staff make the subject interesting
89%
Staff are good at explaining things
95%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
95%
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

79%
Library resources
39%
IT resources
68%
Course specific equipment and facilities
84%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

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

Computer games and animation

Teaching and learning

91%
Staff make the subject interesting
84%
Staff are good at explaining things
79%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
89%
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

79%
Library resources
52%
IT resources
78%
Course specific equipment and facilities
54%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

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

After graduation


We don't have more detailed stats to show you in relation to this subject area at this university but read about typical employment outcomes and prospects for graduates of this subject below.

What about your long term prospects?

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

Cinematics and photography

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

£17k

£17k

£20k

£20k

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.

Design studies

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

£17k

£17k

£20k

£20k

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.

Sorry, no information to show

This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.

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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.

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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

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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?

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