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Computer Animation and Visual Effects

Entry requirements


A level

C,C,C

96 UCAS Tariff points

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

MMM

96 UCAS Tariff points

UCAS Tariff

96

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Computer animation and visual effects

As the digital creative industries use more computer animation and visual effects in TV, film and design work the demand for people with both the creative and technical skills to support this has increased. This course will support these emerging roles in the digital creative industries through a combination of practical and theoretical teaching in the creative process from idea conception to production. You will produce digital content for entertainment, education and promotional purposes using industry standard tools developing your expertise in computing for the creative industries.

In addition to the £40 million STEM building, you will also have the chance to work in our specialist creative technologies labs and use a range of cutting-edge technologies such as motion capture, green screen studio, and VR to develop your practice and build a professional portfolio. This course is part of the Creative Technologies cluster in the School of Computer Science and Technology and is closely related to the degree course BSc (Hons) Computer Games Development which shares some of the teaching and technology.

**Why choose this course?**
- Learn practical and theoretical aspects using a wide range of platforms for computer animation and visual effects from both technical and design perspectives.

- Study a range of disciplines from computer science to digital design and how they interact with a range of visualisation technologies created for platforms from television and film production, to video games design and web-based graphics.

- Gain expertise in computing for the creative industries, through attaining both technical and creative skills through hands-on experience creating digital animation and games with 3D graphics software, compositing and modelling packages.

- Explore CGI as you produce digital content for entertainment, education and promotional purposes using industry standard tools.

- Benefit from a course that gives you the knowledge and skills for a wide range of careers-including 3D modeller, technical animator, compositor and digital visualisation for emerging display technology platforms.

- Challenge yourself by integrating your new-found knowledge into a body of original work, enhancing your transferable skills of communication, problem solving and teamwork.

- Benefit from studying in the latest hi-tech software environment; all our laboratories and specialist teaching spaces are specifically for use by undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Department.

Modules

Areas of study include:
- 2D Graphics and Digital Art
- Digital Video and Animation
- Fundamentals of Creative Technologies
- Games and Digital Asset Design
- 3D Graphics and Animation
- Compositing for Visual Effects
- Professional Industry Portfolio
- Studio Development Project
- Advanced Animation and Visual Effects
- Disruptive Technologies
- Undergraduate Project for Creative Technologies

Every effort is made to ensure this information is accurate at the point of publication on the UCAS website. For the most up-to-date information, please refer to our website.

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
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Luton Campus

Department:

School of Computer Science and Technology

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What students say


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

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.


Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

19%
UK students
81%
International students
76%
Male students
24%
Female students
77%
2:1 or above
53%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
E
A

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.

£23,000
med
Average annual salary
65%
low
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

33%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals
21%
Information technology technicians
7%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

This is a newly-classified subject area for this kind of data, so we don’t currently have very much information to display or analyse yet. Over time we can expect more students to study them — there could be opportunities that open up for graduates in these subjects as the economy develops over the next few years. But at the moment this looks to be a good degree if you want to work on the technical side of film and TV and this is the most common industry for new graduates.

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.

£20k

£20k

£27k

£27k

£29k

£29k

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.

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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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