The Best Tablets for Animation

What Kind of Tablet Should our Students Buy? This is a question we often get asked at BNU, especially for those animators working remotely on their own hardware. 

Nowadays there are many different kinds of tablets available, and cheaper versions than the traditional Wacom brand. 

Why Something is Better Than Nothing

It's not always good to be a perfectionist

From time to time animation students will get stuck on a project, and will request extra time, or hand their work in late - and then apply for Mitigating Circumstances.

Sometimes this flows from perfectionism, performance anxiety, or even a sense of imposter syndrome - a student feeling that their work isn't good enough. 

In truth though, it is always better to hand in something than nothing; an imperfect submission is always better than no submission at all.

Meet "Artifact" by Kristis Bandzevicius

Meet "Artifact", a new short film created by BNU animation student Kristis Bandzevicius. "Artifact" was written, produced and directed by Kristis, currently studying for his MA in 3D Animation at Bucks.  "Artifact" was completed during the course of Kristis' studies at BNU, and is currently being entered into film festivals. 

Interruption of Studies at BNU

On occasion students at BNU find that for whatever reason, personal or professional, they need to apply for an interruption of studies (also known as a suspension of studies). 

Interruption of studies means exactly that - you interrupt your studies, typically for a year, then pick up the course in a year's time.  In other words, you press the Pause Button. 

To find out the details of the Interruption of Studies procedure, take a look at this handy PDF, which sets out how it's done. 

DA702 Character Acting Starts 10 Jan 2022

Animation by Alex Southcombe

Starting in the New Year our masters' students tackle DA702, the second animation module on our online masters' degree in 3D animation. Classes start on 10 January 2022.

The module is titled DA702 - Character Performance, and builds up to an entry into the March 2022 Eleven Second Club competition.  

On March 1st 2022 the club's official line of dialogue will be released, and our students have until March 30 to submit their finished work. DA702 PR1 assignment is due on Wednesday 30th March 2022 at 2pm.

Cartoon Museum Opens "The Laughter Lab"

Last night was the opening of a new exhibition at London's Cartoon Museum, titled Laughter Lab: What’s So Funny?, which seeks to "uncover the science behind funniness".  

The exhibition invites visitors to contribute to a science experiment which hopes to find out what makes a cartoon funny. 

The experiment is being conducted in collaboration with Robin Dunbar, Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Oxford. What makes us laugh? It's a complex question, with some surprising science behind it. 

Why Students Should Submit Work Early

Deadlines matter, and at BNU the lecturers have little leeway in accepting late submissions. The "No Detriment" policy that was in place following the Covid Pandemic is now at an end, and BNU deadlines are now a lot more rigid than they have been for the past year.

Our recommendation here at BNU is this: Don't wait until the due date to submit your work.  Instead, aim to submit your work the night before. 

BNU Terminates "No Detriment Policy"

"No Detriment Policy" has now ended

Last year Buckinghamshire New University introduced a "no detriment" policy in response to the Corona Virus Pandemic. 

The policy remained in force until the end of the 2020-21 Academic Year and - in effect - gave all our students an extra 10 working days (two calendar weeks) to hand in assessments, beyond the formal deadline.

"No detriment" meant that the work submitted would not suffer any detriment, ie it would still be graded as if it were handed in on time. All our students should be aware that this policy is now at an end, and no longer applies.