Bucks New Uni Students Study at Pinewood

Pinewood Studios

Bucks New Uni undergraduate film & TV (including animation) students are benefiting from a new partnership with Creative Media Skills (CMS) at Pinewood Studios.

We're delighted to be able to offer a meaningful industry partnership that allows our students to get access to one of the world's leading film studios during their studies at Bucks. 

Will Studying Animation at Bucks Get You a Job?

Will studying 3D animation at Bucks New University get you a job? This is a question we get asked a lot - understandably - and it is always a tough question to answer.

Our goal is to make every student job-ready by the end of the course, prepared to tackle a role as junior animator at a studio, ready to do excellent work on client-facing projects.

That said, Bucks cannot actually guarantee jobs for students, but we can do our very best to provide all our students - including animation students - with practical skills that prepare them for the workplace and help them to get hired.

Bucks New Uni and The Hornets Show - by Rob Kelly

Hornets Show - by Bucks students

What is the Hornets Show?  The Hornets Show is a monthly football magazine show revolving around the fortunes of Watford Football Club, who are partners with Bucks, and who have recently been promoted to the Premier League.  Bucks students shoot The Hornets Show against green screen backgrounds and then composite the shots onto CGI backgrounds to make it look like it’s been shot in a shiny high tech studio. It’s a complicated and ambitious project that our university has been running for 3 years. So, how does it all work? Animation & VFX lecturer Rob Kelly explains.

DreamWorks Came to Bucks! Now Watch The Video....

On Monday March 9th we hosted an animation industry panel here at Bucks to launch our new online MA in animation.  We welcomed some leading figures in the animation and visual effects industry including Shelley page of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Bob Thompson of Film London, and Adam Lucas of Cinesite.  Our panelists talked about current trends in the animation industry and - most crucially for our students - where the graduate jobs are, and what skills you need to get them.  Anyone who missed the panel discussion can now watch the video above, and find out about the latest in feature animation in the UK and overseas.

Summer Internships at FrameStore!

FrameStore are offering summer internships

Framestore, one of London (and the world's) leading visual effects houses, have announced that they are taking applications for their Summer Internship program, newly branded as "Launchpad". So what are you waiting for? Time to start applying!

DreamWorks is Coming To Bucks On March 9th! Time To Polish Your CV....

DreamWorks Comes to Bucks on 9th March

On Monday March 9th at 11am we're hosting a two-hour industry panel here at Bucks to launch our new online MA in animation.  We're welcoming some leading figures in the animation and visual effects industry including Shelley page of DreamWorks Animation SKG. Shelley will be talking about current trends in the industry and - most crucially for our students - where the graduate jobs are, and what skills you need to get them.  So come along and Tuesday and find out how you can secure your niche in this fast-growing but highly competitive sector.

Animation Industry Panel at Bucks on Monday March 9th 2015

Industry panel at Bucks

On Monday March 9th at 11am we're hosting a two-hour industry panel here at Bucks to launch our new online MA in animation.  We're welcoming some leading figures in the animation and visual effects industry who will talk about current trends in the business and - most crucially for our students - where the graduate jobs are, and what skills you need to get them.  So come along and Tuesday and see where the industry is headed, and find out how you can secure your niche in this fast-growing but highly competitive sector.

Multi-Million Pound Vizrt System To Be Installed at Bucks

Vizrt - bringing virtual studios to Bucks

Our dynamic Head of Department, Stephen Partridge, has secured a deal with Vizrt, creators of virtual sets, giving animation students access to a multi - million pound virtual studio system.  We believe our animation students are the first in the UK to gain access to this system as part of their studies!  Vizrt allows us to build virtual 3D sets, key out 'talent' from a green screen background whilst simultaneously tracking a camera, all in real-time!  This allows live broadcasts in a virtual environment and the only limitation is the imagination of the set designers!

Industry Panel at Bucks on Wednesday December 3rd To Launch New BBC Partnership

BBC comes to Bucks

The BBC is coming to Bucks, introducing an industry panel on Wednesday December 3rd from 12.30pm in Gateway Lecture Theatre, and launching a new partnership between Bucks and BBC Introducing, the part of the BBC that encourages new musical talent.

Bucks students have been filming live music performances for some years now and have gained a bit of a reputation for doing this to a high level of professional skill.  Hence the new partnership, supporting the BBC's remit from government to promote new music and find new, yet undiscovered bands.

Bucks Animators Design Virtual Set for Watford Hornets

Hornets Show - Watford's online magazine

Bucks Animation and VFX students are in the process of designing a new virtual set for the Watford Hornets. Watford FC's involvement at Bucks New University includes working on the Club's online magazine programme, The HornetShow, with students studying BA (Hons) Film & Television Production; Audio & Music Production; and Animation & Visual Effects. 

Dave Berry talks internships, advertising and jobs

Dave Berry, one of our talented students here at Bucks, recently completed an internship for the advertising company VCCP which, among other projects, did the animated meerkats for "Compare the Market.com". During Dave's time at VCCP he worked on and helped to complete the advertisement for O2 shown above. Here at Bucks we take internships very seriously - placing students in an industry environment is a vital part of learning to become a professional digital artist. We asked Dave to tell us a little about his experience.

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.

Disney kills 2D Animation - Official

The Princess and the Frog - Disney's last 2D feature

According to an article in yesterday's Guardian, 2D animation is officially dead at Disney, the studio which took the medium to its greatest-ever heights. At the annual shareholder meeting in Phoenix Arizona, CEO Bob Iger said:

Partnering with the animation industry

Here at Bucks we're proud of our contacts with industry, forging links with companies so that students get real-world experience of the job market and, hopefully, internships and actual jobs. For example, we're building a partnership with Centroid, the Motion Capture company at Pinewood studios which helped some of our students gather MoCap data for their film projects last year.