How should you get ready for September?

What kind of preparation should students do before starting with us in September at Bucks? Here's a checklist of stuff to get you started. It's not comprehensive, and you don't have to do all of it, but tick off a few of the things on this list and you will be a making a great start on your animation career here at Bucks.

Open Day at Bucks - tomorrow!

Our next Open Day at Bucks is tomorrow Saturday April 27th. Open Days are all about meeting the tutors (for Animation & VFX - that's me and Dave), finding out about the courses, and also exploring our campus.

Cartoon Movie - the place to pitch your animated film ideas

Cartoon Movie, like Cartoon Forum, should be on every animator's radar. It takes place in Lyon every March - in 2014 it will be held from 5-7 March. It is a huge pitch-fest for talent and business to get together and make independent animated feature films, and, like its cousin Cartoon Forum, you don't have to speak French - Cartoon Movie is bilingual and English is the main language spoken.

Cartoon Movie is the place to pitch your animated film idea. If you've got a concept for the next animated smash hit - this is the place to pitch it.

Bucks Animation on BBC 3 Counties Radio

literally dozens of listeners in the High Wycombe area

Just five days left to listen to me chatting with Roberto Perrone on BBC 3 Counties Radio about our new re-purposed Animation & VFX course at Bucks. Oh, the glamour of local radio! Fast forward to 1 hr and 23 minutes in to the show to hear the interview.

Enjoy!

----Alex

The Animator's Survival Kit - now available as an app for the iPad

The Animator's Survival Kit came out around a decade ago as a book, and a few years later as a DVD set. Since then it has been the leading resource for students wanting to learn animation. Anyone who is serious about the medium should have a copy of the book - until now. Here at Bucks our animation dept has just had a sneak peek at the new The Animator's Survival Kit - as an iPad app. Below is our review of this new electronic addition to the animator's library.

Cool new camera from MoVI - changing the face of cinematography

Here is an awesome new live action camera that gives smooth and steady results even though it is a hand-held device. This will make it even easier for low budget films to get results that traditionally only big budget movies can produce.

Framestore signs off on our new course

Head of Animation at Framestore Kevin Spruce has signed off on our new course at Bucks. We're thrilled that Framstore have OK'ed our course outline, and especially the module which focuses on creature animation, preparing students to be able to animate animals and creatures to a professional level, and preparing our graduates for work in the expanding animation and visual effects industry.

Who is hiring in Soho?

One of the key aspects of finding a job is knowing who is hiring. If the jobs aren't there, or your skills don't match the vacancy, then it doesn't matter how talented you are - you won't be likely to find work. So, a big part of finding a job is knowing what is out there, who is hiring, and when.

What is Cartoon Forum? - every animator should know the answer

Cartoon Forum - in Toulouse this September

Cartoon Forum is an institution that should be on every animator's radar. It takes place somewhere in Europe every year, and describes itself as the place "where projects come to life". This year it is being held from 17-20 September in Toulouse - in Midi-Pyrénées. But don't be put off - you don't have to speak French! The Forum is bilingual and English is the main language spoken.

Cartoon Forum is the place to pitch your animated TV series. If you've got an idea for the next Wombles, or Teletubbies, or Magic Roundabout - this is the place to do it.

What's wrong with VFX training in the UK? - Creative Skillset has the answers

A huge part of our mission at Bucks is to make our course industry-relevant. We want our students to have cutting-edge skills so that they have the best possible prospects of finding exciting, challenging and well-paid work in the animation, games and visual effects industry.

With that in mind, I came to the Creative Skillset Tutor Day at BFI yesterday at the South Bank, to find out what we can do better here at Bucks to improve our course. The focus of Creative Skillset is the VFX Course Handbook (you can download a copy here), a detailed document painstaking put together by Creative Skillset in close consultation with the VFX industry to identify exactly what should go into an industry-relevant course.

What is FMX?

FMX - Stuttgart April 23-26

FMX is the place to be if you want to break into the visual effects industry. It takes place in Stuttgart every year - this year from April 23-26. It's a big, bustling, crowded, brain-boiling congress of people who work in the global visual effects industry, getting together for their annual shindig. Everyone shows up - and there are lectures, screenings and panel talks on every imaginable aspect of the visual effects process.

Bucks New University's Animation Course - a Student's View - by Krzysztof Michalski

Architectural render by Krzysztof Michalski

Krzysztof Michalski has been studying Animation, Games and Interactive Media at Bucks New University for the last three years, and will graduate this summer, having built a strong portfolio in 3D digital skills. We asked him what his experience of the course at Bucks had been like, what his plans were for the future, and how we can make our course even better than it is now.

MOOCS - the next big thing in education

What is a MOOC? The answer is - a Massive Open Online Course. Wikipedia defines a MOOC as: "an online course aiming at large-scale interactive participation and open access via the web". But the key thing about Moocs is - they are huge, they are growing unbelievably fast - and they are free.

Space Stallions!

Here is a marvellous short film recently completed by students at The Animation Workshop in Denmark, one of Europe's leading animation schools. It shows what can be done when a group of like-minded students come together with talent, dedication and perseverance, and pool their talents to create a short film.