Animator's Survival Kit "Minis" Launch August 5

Animator's Survival Kit "Minis"

Here at Bucks New University we recommend one key textbook for learning animation - The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams.

It is a big book, heavy to carry around, and has now been published as a series of "mini" editions, breaking the book up into four sections, and available from August 5th. 

The ASK was first published in 2002 as a book, and a few years later was released as a DVD set, and later as an iPad app.

Apply Now for our Online MA 3D Animation

Transformer animation by BNU Masters' student Amedeo Beretta

We are now taking applications for our online MA in animation, recruiting for September 2021.

Our online MA in animation is a unique degree which can be undertaken by students anywhere in the world, leading to a formal qualification in the field.

Students learn how to animate to a professional industry standard using Autodesk Maya, the industry-standard software, and also learn to engage with the underpinning theory and structure behind the art form.

Paul Amiras Lead Layout Artist at Brown Bag

Paul Amiras

Many congratulations to Bucks animation graduate Paul Amiras on his new position as a lead layout artist at Brown Bag Animation.  Brown Bag is one of the UK's leading animation studios, responsible for numerous well-loved TV series projects. 

Prior to working at Brown Bag, Paul worked as a Layout Artist TD at Double Negative, one of the Soho's leading animation and visual effects companies, and now a global brand, with offices in Vancouver, Mumbai, Los Angeles, Chennai, Montréal, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, and Goa.

3D Layout is one of the first interesting and challenging parts of the production process, working closely with the director to establish the cinematic look and feel of the project.

Anchor Transform Tool Stops Feet Sliding

Anchor Transform by Robert Joosten stops feet sliding

As we move all our animation teaching online, including at undergraduate level, it's important to remember how many tools can be accessed online by our students working from home. 

Sliding feet can be a problem when animating a character walk or a walk cycle. Fortunately for Maya animators, Robert Joosten’s Anchor Transform Maya plugin offers animators a simple solution.

Rather than manually tweaking your animation to stop the feet sliding, rigger Robert Joosten has develped a free script that lets you anchor a transform for any given time range in your animation.

Blue GFX Expo in London on 12th November

Blue GFX Expo 2019 taked place this year in London on Tuesday 12th November.

As ever, we strongly recommend that our students attend, so that they can catch up with latest in animation, VFX & Games.  The all-day event takes place near Waterloo on London's South Bank, and you can buy student tickets for just £15 here.

Free Animation Summer School 8-10 August

Getting experience in learning 3D animation for younger students can be tricky.

Fortunately, London VFX training facility Escape Studios is running a free 3 day Animation Summer School from 8-10 August to help get youngsters hands-on experience of 3D animation.

Animation Masterclass in Turin on 24th October

This year I'm returning to the VIEW conference in Italy to run an animation masterclass.

VIEW is the 20th International VFX & Computer Graphics Conference that takes place every year in the beautiful Italian town of Torino (Turin).

Jack Hubbard 3D Artist at Mandala FX

Many congratulations to Jack Hubbard,  one of our recent graduates from the Animation and VFX course at Bucks, who has landed a job as a 3D Artist at Mandala FX in High Wycombe.

Mandala FX describe themselves as a "full service, end to end creative studio...specialising in high end 3D renders and motion graphics". We congratulate Jack on a great start to his digital career. To see more of Jack's work, check out his graduation demo reel at our YouTube channel.

Lyuboslav Angelov 3D Artist at Mandala FX

Many congratulations to Lyuboslav Angelov,  one of our recent graduates from the Animation and VFX course at Bucks, who has landed a job as a 3D Artist at Mandala FX in High Wycombe.

Mandala FX describe themselves as a "full service, end to end creative studio...specialising in high end 3D renders and motion graphics". We congratulate Lyuboslav on a great start to his digital career. To see more of Lyuboslav's work, check out his graduation demo reel at our YouTube channel.

50 Ways to Sit by Kevin Parry

50 Ways to Sit by Kevin Parry follows on from 100 Ways to Walk, an inventive and clever imagining on the many different ways in which people move, and what this tells us about their character and personality. 50 Ways to Sit takes the same idea, and shows how much variation there in the way that different people might carry out a normal, simple action, like sitting down. It also shows how important it is for animators to get used to acting out their shots, filming themselves, and then using the footage as reference for their work. It's one of the most important, and least well understood, parts of the animation process.

Archie Dennis at Double Negative

Many congratulations to Bucks alumnus Archie Dennis, who recently graduated from Bucks with a First Class Degree in Animation & Visual Effects.

After polishing his demo reel and applying for various jobs, Archie secured a position as a runner at London based VFX giant Double Negative. DNeg are the largest vendors of visual effects in Europe and their London studio can house over 1000 artists. We asked Archie to talk a little about his new job and how it came about.

Animation Taster Day Sept 13 and 27

Learn to animate a bird in flight

Want to try computer animation, but not sure if it's right for you? Come along to an Animation Taster Day in London on Wednesday 13th September and Wednesday 27 September.

Animation Taster Days are a chance to learn about character and creature animation, and find out what an animator's job is all about.

The classes take place at Escape Studios in Shepherd's Bush, West London. You will work with Autodesk Maya and the Adobe Creative Suite, and you’ll get a hands-on introduction to 3D Animation techniques, all for just £25.  By the end of the day you'll have your own piece of animation uploaded to your YouTube channel.  So, how do you sign up?

About Animation at Bucks

Curious to know more about studying animation and VFX at Buckinghamshire New University? The video above gives a general introduction to the undergraduate course in animation and VFX at Bucks, including interviews with our tutors. To find out more about the experience of studying with us, search through the blog to see what we're all about. We highly recommend that prospective students come and visit us at one of our Open Days. If you can't make it in for a visit, don't forget to take a virtual tour of one of our animation studios, and you can also check out what our students think of our course, and see why we're ranked in the top 12 creative universities in the UK.

Animation Taster Day Monday 24th July.

Learn to animate a bird in flight

Want to try computer animation, but not sure if it's right for you? Come along to an Animation Taster Day in London on Monday 24th July.

Animation Taster Days are a chance to learn about character and creature animation, and find out what an animator's job is all about.

The classes take place at Escape Studios in Shepherd's Bush, West London. You will work with Autodesk Maya and the Adobe Creative Suite, and you’ll get a hands-on introduction to 3D Animation techniques, all for just £25!  By the end of the day you'll have your own piece of animation uploaded to your YouTube channel.  So, how do you sign up?

Animal Logic - What's in a Demo Reel?

The folks who brought you Lego Movie

At a recent talk in London Patricia Kung, head of Recruitment at Animal Logic, explained what Animal Logic look for in an animation demo reel. 

Animal Logic is one of Australia's leading animation and VFX companies, responsible for global box office hits like the Oscar-nominated The Lego Movie. Other movie credits include Babe, Mouse Hunt, Face Off, The Matrix, Moulin Rouge, House of Flying Daggers, 300, The Great Gatsby, Happy Feet, Legend of the Guardians, and Walking with Dinosaurs 3D.

So, what is life like down under for animation and VFX graduates, and (most importantly) how can our animation graduates start their careers at Animal Logic?

Great Free Animation Rigs at Mothman TD

Here at Bucks we're pleased to recommend the superb Mothman TD website, packed with excellent free rigs for use by Maya animators.

Probably the single most useful rig for our students at Animation Apprentice is the horse, excellent for studying quadruped locomotion, but there are many other free rigs which are very useful for learning different aspects of character and creature animation.

Bucks Animation: YouTube and a New Website

Where can you find examples of our students' work? At our YouTube channel, of course! 

At YouTube you'll find plenty of student work, including work done by undergraduates, studying animation and visual effects at our High Wycombe campus, and our MA students, who are learning the craft of animation entirely online, working from remote locations all over the world.

Michael Morgan on Making it as an Animator

Our students at Bucks are fortunate in being so close to the thriving animation and VFX industry in London.  Last week animator Michael Morgan spoke at an event at Escape Studios in Shepherd's Bush, West London, where he talked about how animators can break into the industry.

Michael is an animator with an extensive list of credits in video games, TV Commercials and Feature films.  At the talk, Michael shared his experience of working on projects such as Star Wars - The Clone Wars, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2, Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast and Planet of the Apes. 

In particular, he talked about how to get "From the Classroom to the Studio".

Specifically, how do graduates break into the animation industry? What are the secrets of success?

How Do You Stop The Feet Sliding When You Animate a Walk Cycle?

How do you stop the feet sliding when you animate a walk cycle? It's a question often asked by animation students and, since the answer is a little technical, here is a free video which explains how to tackle the problem. It runs about 10 minutes, and should help explain how to get it right first time, and stop those feet from slipping around.

Anna Zielinska Animator at Touch Surgery

Bucks animation student Anna Laura Zielinska recently got a job as an animator at Touch Surgery, a London (and New York City) based company that specialises in medical animation - bringing surgical procedures to life, helping to teach the next generation of surgeons their life-saving skills.

Anna started our online Masters degree in September of last year, using the tutorial videos and bespoke feedback at Animation Apprentice to hone her skills. We congratulate Anna on the new job.