Do Animators Need a Master's Degree?

Do Animators Need a Master's Degree? It's a question I get asked often, mainly by prospective students who want to know if the committment of time and effort that is necessary to complete an MA is worth the investment.

The simple answer is, it depends on what you want to do. Academia cares about academic qualifications. Industry cares about demo reels.

If your focus is purely on industry, and finding work there, you don't really need a masters' level qualification. But if you are hoping to teach, especially in higher education, a masters' degree is more or less a necessity.

Deadline for Cartoon Forum is 8 May

Most of our students at Bucks have an idea for an animated TV series in development; even if they don't know it yet. 

Our animation students are not just technicians, they are creators, brainstorming new ideas and concepts in animation, searching for the next Peppa Pig or Charlie and Lola.

But you can't do it alone - animation is a team sport.  A successful TV series needs co-producers, financing, broadcasters and new media partners. And where do you find those? Cartoon Forum is where. The deadline to apply for this year's forum is 8 May.

Marking The Animation Masters Degree at Bucks

How does the Marking Work on our MA in Animation at Bucks? Marking can be appear to be a rather opaque process, so it's helpful to clarify some of the basics for our students.

The Master's Degree at Bucks is worth 180 credits overall, and has two components, academic and practical, with a roughly even balance between the two.

There are five Modules in the MA, each worth 30 credits, apart from the 18 month long dissertation module which is worth 60 credits.

Second Marking with Niki Brodie

Nicola Brodie

Last week we did some second marking of the MA work done by our Master's Degree students at Bucks. Second marking at Bucks is part of the process by which we ensure that our academic standards are being rigorously applied. Was the marking fair? Is it reasonable? Were the correct criterial applied?

Looking at your students' work through the eyes of another is a valuable exercise; it is a reminder of how personal marking can be, and how important it is to apply rigidly objective criteria. We don't always get it right, which is why second marking - also known as marking moderation - is so important.

How to Use The Morpheus Rig

This month our MA students are working on a piece of 11 second character animation, suitable for entering in the monthly 11 Second Club.

The 11 Second Club has a useful Resources page, directing students to a variety of character rigs which are reliable and well-supported.

One of these is the Morpheus rig, created by Josh Burton.  Some of our animators are using Morpheus for this month's competition, so we've created a useful guide to some of the main problems with the Morpheus rig, and how to fix them.

Keith Lango Animation Tutorials Are Now Free

Keith Lango YouTube Channel

Good news for animation students; veteran animator and animation teacher Keith Lango has now made his animation tutorials free for everyone to learn online.

Keith's animation tutorials include animating a James Brown dance, rigging and skinning animation, and how to approach the business of animating a scene.

It's a great resource, and a very useful supplement to the growing body of online resources available for learning animation.

Who's Who on our Online MA in Animation?

Bucks New University by Jeton Lakna

Who's Who on our Online Master of Arts in Animation? There are a lot of people involved in delivering our MA - the first (and still the only) online MA in animation in the world.

Below is a brief guide to help our students figure who's who, who does what, and how to get in touch with the key people who's job it is to help our students get excellent results.

Meet Ron Penhaligon, Animation Course Leader

Rob Penhaligon

Meet Ron Penhaligon, Course Leader for our BA in Animation and VFX at Bucks and also our MA in 3D animation. Rob is an experienced 3D artist who headed up the animation department at Amersham & Wycombe College before coming to Bucks.

Rob teaches animation in both Houdini and Maya, and also carries out research into procedural modelling techniques, making him well qualified to head up both courses.

Why Animators Need Rhinoceros Hide

Animators need rhino hide

Why should animators be like a rhinoceros? Because rhinos have thick hides, and animators need thick hides too.

Applying for work in the animation industry requires persistence and the ability to shrug off the inevitable early failures that newly graduating animators will most likely experience.

Meet Mike Smith, MA External Examiner

Mike Smith

Meet Mike Smith, our External Examiner for our MA in 3D animation.  Mike is course leader of the BA (Hons) in Animation at Leeds Arts University, making him well qualified to keep an eye on our animation work here at Bucks New Uni.

External examiners ensure that standards are consistent across the animation sector. They check our grades, making sure we're awarding marks appropriately, and that our standards are consistent with other universities and colleges in the UK.

Of course, we also second mark all the grades at MA level at Bucks, but the role of the external examiner is to add a third layer of quality control to make sure everything is done right.

How to Plan a Dialogue Shot

This month our MA students are animating a dialogue shot, preparing to enter the monthly 11 Second Club competition.

But how do you get started with dialogue animation? One of the most common problems encountered by student animators is how to block out a shot from scratch, starting with nothing but a blank screen and a line of dialogue. How do you begin?

After all, in animation you get nothing for free. You start off with a digital puppet, usually in a stiff "T-pose", and have to figure out the rest yourself.

April Eleven Second Club is Now Live

This month, our masters' degree student animators are working on DA702, their character animation Module, with a view to entering The 11 Second Club, a monthly character animation competition in which aspiring animators practice their skills.

Animators from all over the world participate, animating a character speaking a line of dialogue, which is provided every month by the 11 Second Club. Our MA students are encouraged (but not obliged) to enter the monthly competition as part of their formal submission.

Houdini Animation Talk in London Tomorrow

For all our students and recent graduates - why not go to Escape Studios tomorrow night for one of their "Evening with..." events in London.

Tomorrow Escape Studios welcomes Tim Stam, Houdini Expert at Goodbye Kansas productions in London.

Animation with Houdini is a growing part of the business, and we strongly recommend that all of our students either studying animation or interested in animation should come along.