Bucks Animation Students Invited To Free Harry Potter Studio Tour on May 13th

Harry Potter Leavesden Entrance. Photo by Karen Roe

We're excited to announce that Bucks animation & VFX students will be taking the Harry Potter Studio Tour at Leavesden on May 13th! Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden is a 80-hectare studio complex in Hertfordshire and a major film and media complex, used for filming the Harry Potter series of films. Obviously, this trip is purely about helping our students to learn about animation and visual effects, and has nothing to do with wanting to have fun at a movie theme park. We'll be working really hard, I promise.

Film & TV at Bucks Receives Formal Accreditation from Creative Skillset

The Film & TV course at Bucks has just finally received full accreditation from Creative Skillset - the UK Government body which oversees university courses in the creative industries. So, what does this mean for Bucks, and why is Creative Skillset Accreditation important?

What Our Students Have to Say

I am the social rep for the animation and VFX course here at bucks and recently; got the chance to collaborate with the other social media reps to record some interviews with existing students on the 3 media courses, Animation & VFX, Film & Television Production and Audio and Music Production. The purpose of the videos is to help prospective students to get an insight into what it’s like to study her at Bucks. 

Bucks Animation Student Kalim Momen is Rusty - For a Day

As everyone at Bucks knows, Rusty is our official university mascot, the big furry character with antlers who welcomes you to our University Open Days and to Freshers’ Week. This week we did some filming for a short video about life at the university, and we needed someone to play Rusty. Fortunately, Kalim Momen, one of our 2nd year animation students, was game to try out the Rusty suit, and see what life is like as a loveable cartoon deer.

What's inside our new course at Bucks?

Our new Animation and VFX course that was launched in September 2013 wasn't just a re-branding of the Animation Games and Interactive Media course at Bucks.  It is a whole new course, aimed at training animators and VFX artists to work in Soho, in games, in advertising - in any media that involves creating and animating characters and creatures. Our course has been validated by Framestore, one of London's leading VFX houses, and we have gone to great lengths to try to make sure that we are teaching the very latest animation skills and software.

Meet our tutors - Alex Williams

Alex Williams

Alex Williams has been teaching at Bucks since September 2012 when he first joined the animation team. Alex has spent 25 years working in the animation industry, and his arrival at Bucks has led to an increased emphasis on the art and craft of animation at Bucks - hence the change of title of the course from "Animation, Games and Interactive Media" to "Animation and Visual Effects". We asked Alex to talk about the changes going on at Bucks, and what students can look forward to.

Open Day at Bucks - Wednesday 12th June

Our next Open Day at Bucks is Wednesday 12th June. Open Days are a great way to meet the tutors (for Animation & VFX - that's me and Dave Creighton) here at Bucks, find out about our courses, and also explore our campus. We guarantee you'll be impressed by the state-of-the-art technical equipment we have in the brand new Gateway Building; the result of a £40m investment program completed just a couple of years ago.

The Twelve Principles of Animation - start learning today!

What is Animation all about? For a general introduction to the medium, and a beginners guide to the language and basic principles of animation, watch this video above.

Animation Magazine features our new course at Bucks

Animation Magazine, one of the longest-established publications on the animation business, has written about our new course at Bucks New University. The article by Mercedes Milligan explains what we're up to at Bucks, and how we are going about trying to create one of the best and most accomplished animation and vfx courses in the country.

FAQ's - what students are asking about our course

Industry standard software

We're getting a lot of questions about our new Animation and VFX course here at Bucks, so I thought I would compile a list of Frequently Asked Questions to make life easier for everyone. Here is a (not especially complete) list:

What's inside our new Animation Course at Bucks?

Bucks Animation Logo by Monika Dzikowicz

Our new Animation and VFX course starting in September isn't just a re-branding of our existing animation course, it's a whole new course, aimed at training animators and VFX artists to work in Soho, in games, in advertising - in any media that involves creating and animating characters and creatures.