Masters in 3D Design and Animation in ${country}

3D visualisation and animation play a role in many areas, and the popularity of these media just keeps growing. Digital animation provides the eye-catching special effects in the 21st century's favourite films and television shows; 3D design is also essential to everyday work in everything from computer games development, online virtual world development and industrial design to marketing, product design and architecture.

GCU's programme in 3D Design for Virtual Environments will help you develop the skills to thrive in a successful career as a visual designer. The programme is practical and career-focused, oriented towards current industry needs, technology and practice. No prior knowledge of 3D design is required.

The curriculum will help you build your creative vision and technical skills as a 3D designer.

• Explore the use of video and animation in digital video, multimedia and web publishing
• Experiment with interactive media types and techniques
• Sharpen your skills in creative thinking and generating ideas
• Master digital video production and digital media integration techniques
• Gain pre-production skills like planning, storyboarding and conceptualising
• Practise production skills like 3D modelling, animation, lighting and rendering
• Develop post-production skills in video editing and integrating 2D and 2D visuals
• Work with cutting-edge computer applications and digital environments

At GCU, you'll join a friendly community of smart, talented people who love the work they do. People who love to take on a creative challenge and are just as happy to collaborate as they are to compete. People who look for ways to support the common good and make the world a more beautiful, welcoming place.

Our mission is producing graduates who have the skills to make a positive impact with their work - and the perspective to understand why it matters.

This course offers you the opportunity to choose your own route through the field of animation, studying either MA Animation or the bracketed specialism, Visual Effects.

Animation is a discipline that adapts, challenges and leads the moving image industry. It is in the DNA that we all share since it can be applied equally to live action, games, XR, live performance, online, and any number of time-based media as well as being an important form in itself.

Creating animation is a collaboration, and at the heart of this course we encourage students to develop a strong network within the School of Digital Arts and industry focussed links. Animation is not a mono-discipline but multi-faceted, and our bracketed animation specialism reflects the many ways that animation can be applied and examined. From science communication, to award winning short films, to mind-bending VFX, animation touches and transforms many areas.

You will drive your creative projects in your chosen practice with staff who will guide and challenge you. Our postgraduate community is led by a specialist team of academic staff and visiting speakers who are practising artists, animators and researchers. They bring their passion and knowledge of the varied industries that animation feeds and share advice and expertise about how students will join them.

The postgraduate student experience is designed to provide you with opportunities to hone your specialist technical skills, challenge your thinking, and make professional links with the global creative community and industry.

Northern Ireland’s vibrant animation industry and community make it a highly desirable destination for study, networking and career advancement. This programme focuses on the three core components of animated production: Narrative, Character and Performance. Students will develop their skills in narrative construction, character development, animation and advanced production techniques, allowing them to explore the unique opportunities and challenges computer animation brings to storytelling.

MA Animation USW's MA Animation course produces highly skilled artists able to make a significant impact and contribution in today’s evolving industry, developing new ideas for commercial platforms on the international stage.

Taught by our BAFTA award-winning staff and visiting industry professionals, graduates will be able to apply for a range of influential creative positions in the film, television, advertising, games, visual novels, and mobile app fields.

Graduates have gone on to work for multi-award-winning studios, including Aardman Animations, A Productions, DNEG, Framestore, Industrial Light and Magic, Passion Pictures, DreamWorks Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks. Graduates have produced award-winning work, receiving prizes and nominations at animation festivals worldwide.

Our MA Animation course will enable you to enhance your animation skills under the supervision of industry professionals. Whether you’re looking to create brilliant character animation, an outstanding animated film, or develop amazing sound design skills, we’ll help you to master your craft.

The animation industry is expanding. Animation is used in games design, advertising, special effects or to simply tell a story or a joke. It can be seen online, in a TV series, in a feature film or as part of a documentary.

Throughout this course you’ll be encouraged to unleash your creativity as you develop advanced practical skills and technical expertise in the areas you’re most interested in – from stop motion to 2D animation and 3D digital animation. You’ll work alongside industry professionals who will guide you towards creating a professional-standard body of work that will show off your skills and prepare you for a thriving career in the animation industry.

The design activities and tutorials you undertake will be geared towards identifying an area of interest that you’d like to explore in depth for the duration of the course – so you could opt to specialize in character design, digital animation, storyboarding, sound design or other areas. The area you choose to specialize in will form the backbone of the rest of the course.

You’ll refine your animation skills to develop a longer form animated film, serial or series, and prepare to ‘take it to market’.

You’ll learn to write story and script and will work with actors to bring vocal life to your creations. You’ll make practical materials and animated footage, learn the art of self-promotion and gain the relevant skills to build an electronic press kit and series bible.

You’ll learn the art of the pitch, and deliver it in front of panels and industry professionals. You’ll also become skilled in the contextualisation of your own work, and be able to apply a range of cultural critique to it.

The Computer Animation postgraduate degree equips you with the creative skills and technical knowledge needed for jobs in the CGI, games, and VFX industries.

With an emphasis on industry-relevant workflows, our project-based curriculum is designed to teach you specialist skillsets in the 3D production pipeline. Underpinned by core concepts and visual narrative, these specialisms include:

• 3D character animation
• Organic and hard-surface modelling
• Digital sculpting
• Shading and texturing
• Lighting and rendering
• Compositing
• Character rigging

Throughout the course you will build a showreel for your professional portfolio. It is one of a suite of digital media courses that immerses students in a studio environment to work as part of an interdisciplinary team from across the full programme.

Equally importantly, our assessments and tutor feedback will help you develop the following employability skills:

• Analysis, observation, and self-critique
• Communication of concepts and techniques
• Project-planning and time-management
• Research and problem-solving
• Interpretation and implementation of feedback
• Teamwork and collaboration.

Computer animation is used across so many creative industries, from computer games and advertising, to television and film. If you're ready to learn the skills you need to work in the exciting computer animation industry – and take your education to the next level too – this is the Master's course for you.

On this MSc Computer Animation degree, you'll develop technical skills, learn to use the latest kit, and put your expertise into practice as you take on a computer animation project that matches your interests and career ambitions.

When you graduate, you'll have all the tools you need for a career in the creative and media industries.

The Master of Science (MS) in Digital Production Arts (DPA) Program, offered since 2017, is a technical professional degree aimed at producing graduates who intend to seek employment in the software development of the electronic arts industry. Its focus includes the technical components of visual effects production for the film, electronic games, and commercial video industries. The MS in DPA is designed primarily to attract technically-minded students interested in learning applied technical knowledge and gaining the related experience to become competitive and pursue employment as a 3D graphics programmer, software engineer, tool builder, and/or technical director in the digital production entertainment industry, but interest may also include related fields, such as commercial virtual reality, 3D printing, and visualization. While the GRE is required for the MS, a portfolio submission is optional