BNU Grad Craimer Jones CG Artist at Hogarth

Craimer Jones

Many congratulations to Bucks Animation & VFX graduate Craimer Jones who has recently been hired as a CG Artist at Hogarth Worldwide.

Hogarth describes itself as "the largest creative content production specialist in the world"; their work crosses "all media and industry sectors" and "partners with the world’s top brands to deliver complex solutions to today’s content challenge".

Craimer joins Hogarth as a digital artist specialising in 3D Automotive work. 

Animation Industry Booms Under Lockdown

"Trolls on Tour" earned $100m on streaming devices

According to a recent piece in The Guardian, the animation industry is thriving despite the Corona Lockdown.

Unlike live action shoots, which have been shut down due to Covid-19, the animation industry is expanding, as programmers scramble to replace live-action content with animation.

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. 

Save the Date: BlueGFX Expo 21 November

Registration will open soon for the Blue GFX Expo, taking place in London on Thursday 21st November 2018.

We'll be encouraging all our students at Bucks to travel to London on the day, to attend this excellent (and completely free) event.

Govt Releases Industrial Strategy Focusing on Creative Industries

Support for "Creative Industries"

Theresa May's Government recently released an Industrial Strategy that highlights a number of sectors that they believe will lead to new jobs and growth in the future.

Among these are listed the creative industries, suggesting that our Government will continue to offer support to the business of - among other things - animation and visual effects.

Time to Register for BVExpo! 28 Feb 2017

Time to Register for BVExpo! BVExpo is an annual event that describes itself as "the UK's leading entertainment and media tech event".

The Expo takes place from 28 February until 2nd March at the ExCeL London and - best of all - it's completely free. As ever, we recommend that our students attend events like this - it's a great way to keep up with the latest trends in our industry and find out where future opportunities lie.  It's especially interesting for animators interested in broadcast graphics.

An Awesome Reel from Studio AKA

STUDIO AKA Montage Reel 2015 from STUDIO AKA on Vimeo.

Check out the latest work by STUDIO AKA, a multi-BAFTA winning & Oscar-nominated independent animation studio & production company based in London. This is just the sort of small studio we love to see, boutique houses doing creative and interesting work in animation. Most interestingly, Studio AKA do a mixture of 2D and 3D work, showing that the medium isn't really what matters - it's what you do with it that counts. Animation is all about creating an entertaining and believable performance. We train our students to master these skills so that they can use any software to create great animation.

Why Animators Should Go To Siggraph in August

Siggraph 2015

This year Siggraph is taking place in the Los Angeles Convention Center, from 9-13 August. Siggraph is the world's biggest conference on computer graphics. Like FMX in Stuttgart, or the Annecy animation festival, it is the perfect place to find out about the latest technologies, meet other animators, find the big recruiters, and figure out where the industry is heading. It is, in short, a window into the digital future. Obviously, not many of our students will find themselves in LA this summer, but for those luckily few that are, we highly recommend attending Siggraph - and events like it.  There is nothing quite like it to give you a unique insight into the the new technology that is driving the development of the animation industry.

Calling All Bucks Graduates - Apply Now for the Aardman Certificate in Character Animation

Aardman's Certificate in Character Animation

Aardman and the NFTS are offering an intensive three month Certificate in Character Animation, aimed primarily at graduates and taught by industry professionals at Aardman studios in Bristol.  The course is headed up by Loyd Price, Head of Animation at Aardman, with the aim of "bridging the gap between education and industry" and "enabling students to develop the core practical skills needed for them to become competent professional animators and to create believable characters through acting and performance".

Don't Forget - FMX is Coming! May 5th to May 8th 2015

This is a reminder for all our animation and VFX students that FMX in Germany 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 May 5th to May 8th 2015. 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.

World Animation Masterclass Comes to London on 10 April

Jason Schleifer of DreamWorks

This Spring from 10-12 April London will play host to the "World Animation Masterclass", featuring distinguished animation guests including Jason Schleifer, Head of Animation at DreamWorks, Ed Hooks, author of Acting for Animators,  Eamon Butler from Cinesite, and many other animation experts.  It looks like being an excellent way to gain an insight into the modern animation industry. So what can delegates to the conference expect?

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.

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!

Why Animators Should Go To FMX in May

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 May 5th to May 8th 2015. 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.

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. 

Should Freelance Animators Set Up a Limited Company?

A freelancer at work

Part of our job at Bucks is to teach our students to be working professionals, which includes not only the ability to do excellent work at a high level of professional skill,  but also the ability to run a small business and tackle freelance work. Almost all digital artists take on freelance work of one kind or another, and we help our students out by bringing in small commercial projects at our virtual online studio at nano-films.com, giving our students paid experience on live briefs. Being a freelancer involves learning a lot of new business skills, and one of the most common questions asked by students is: "Do I Need to Set Up a Company before I become a freelancer?" The short answer is "no", but it's not quite as simple as that - it all depends on your personal circumstances.

Secrets of Great Character Design Revealed

BoxTrolls - designs by Luis Grane

How do animators break into character design? Character design is one of the most fun and the most desirable jobs on an animated film, entitling the artist to give free rein to their imagination, come up with great ideas - and even get paid to do it. We asked Luis Grane, an animator and character designer whose work can be seen on dozens of animated films including Prince of Eqypt,  Hotel Transylvania, Ratatouille, and Open Season, to talk about this work and how he broke into the industry. Most recently Luis did character design work for The Box Trolls, recently released worldwide in theatres. So what is involved in working as a character designer at a big studio - and how do you get there in the first place?

What is The Future of Media? Find Out at Bucks on Monday November 17th

Industry Panel at Bucks

Every November we stop lectures for a week and run a series of activities and industry-related events. This year the Department of Media Production is joining up with the business school and computing and technology courses to run ‘The Future of Media’ Day on Monday November 17th. Part of this will be a speakers’ panel Run like The BBC Question Time programme.

Previous speakers at other events have come from companies such as Mediacom, Burson Marsteller, Millward Brown, Dare, Rapp, BBH, Dun Humby, ITV, Shell and Ford.  The audience will be students, alumni and clients. The panel session would be in the afternoon, runs for about an hour, from 14.00 until 15.00.

Film & TV at Bucks Wins Creative Skillset Accreditation. Yay!

The Film & TV course at Bucks has just has just received conditional accreditation from Creative Skillset - the UK Government body which oversees university courses in the creative industries. More specifically, Creative Skillset have given Bucks "a conditional pass and recommendation to accredit", which means we're not quite there yet; some work still needs to be done, but now there is little other than time and diligence standing in the way of full accreditation. So, what does this mean for Bucks, and why is Creative Skillset Accreditation important?