Twelve Top Tips for Animating in Maya

Part of the secret of having a successful career as an animator is learning how to be good and fast at the same time.

Directors want quality, Producers want speed. To survive in the industry for long, you must please both.  Animation producers like animators who do the job well, finish on time, and are nice to work with. If you have all three of these qualities then you will have a long and successful career in the industry.

Below are our Twelve Top Tips for animating in Maya, to help you be both good, fast and reliable. Most of the principles below are things that I learned from the lead animators on "Robots"; the film where I first learned 3D animation in Maya.

BAFTA Scholarships Now Open

Want to take our online MA in 3D animation - but short on cash? If you're a British national, you can apply for a a BAFTA scholarship which will more than cover the fees.

BAFTA has opened applications for its scholarship programmes, worth up to £12,000. Since our MA costs just over £7,000, the scholarship will more than cover the cost of study.

Architectural Visualisation Event on Monday

Escape Studios in London is hosting an "Evening With..." event on Monday 11th March, at their Central London campus at 190 High Holborn, WC1.

3D artists Olga Banaszyk and Daniel Cherry will talk about their work at Hayes Davidson - a studio that specialises in architectural visualisation.

Blue Zoo Recruitment Stand Tips

Blue Zoo's Bader Badruddin at an industry event

Blue Zoo, one of London's animation powerhouses, has offered their Top Ten "Recruitment Stand Tips" for students hoping to impress at a recruitment stand.

Some of the tips are pretty obvious (number 1 is "turn up"), but overall this is a useful and informative read on how to approach potential recruiters at an industry event. 

Knowing how to approach recruiters matters, especially for landing that all-important first job in the industry.

Foxy Tail Rig - Great for Learning Animation

"Ultimate" Tail

Here at Bucks we're recommending this free "Ultimate Tail" Rig for all our students, available for download from CGMeetUp.

The "Ultimate" series are all well-tested rigs, which are specifically designed for learning animation.

We especially like the foxy "ultimate tail" rig, great for learning overlapping action. The rig has relatively few controls, and it's an excellent platform on which to learn the basics of animation locomotion.

DreamWorks' Simon Otto Interviewed

We're enjoying this excellent video interview with DreamWorks Head of Animation Simon Otto on animating dragons - and on animation in general. It's pretty long; runs about an hour, but if you've got some time, get yourself a cup of tea and some decent headphones and settle in for an hour of animation instruction from one of the masters.  If you want to be a great animator, following in Simon Otto's footsteps is a great place to start.

Apply Now for our Online MA in 3D Animation

The world's first online MA in animation

There is still time to apply for our online MA in animation, currently enrolling for September 2019.

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

You will not only learn how to animate (using Autodesk Maya, the industry-standard software), but you will engage at Masters' level with the underpinning theory and structure behind the art form.

Mark Your Calendars - The Rookies are Back

Here at Bucks we encourage all of our students to enter The Rookies Awards, the international competition for young creatives, which opens on 7th March, and closes on 31st May.

The Rookies was founded in 2009 to "showcase the most talented student designers, illustrators, film makers, animators, developers, digital artists, and launch them into the career of their dreams." This year the deadline is May 31st 2019, so there is plenty of time to start crafting a great project.

BYOA (Bring Your Own Animation) on 18th Feb

BYOA in action

BYOA (Bring Your Own Animation) is back - taking place in London on Monday 18th February.

BYOA is an animation event that takes place every month at a pub in central London, generally on a Monday night.

This month BYOA is taking place the Smugglers Tavern in Fitzrovia.

Bucks New Uni Animation Presents: Turing

Turing

Congratulations to our undergraduate students at Bucks New University who did so well in last year's "Rookies" competition with their stunning VFX project "Turing".

Turing was created by Alexandra Young, Jamie Carroll, Michal Niewiadomski, Lewis Clark, Darnell Hector-George, and Matt Romano, and was their
final year Live Action Integration VFX short.

The story was inspired by the Turing test created by legendary mathematician, scientist and computer pioneer Alan Turing.

The story is about the interrogation of a robot by a scientist.

To see the complete film, follow this link to "The Rookies".

Lyuboslav Angelov Assistant TD at DNEG

Lyuboslav Angelov

Many congratulations to Bucks New Uni animation graduate Lyuboslav Angelov for starting a new position as Assistant Technical Director at DNEG.

Technical Directors occupy one of the key roles in the 3D pipeline, bridging the gap between the keyframe animators and the final render; it is a role sometimes called Technical Animator.

TDs tackle technical animation, and is currently a major skills shortage in the animation pipeline. 

Come and Mend the Gap on Monday

Next week on Monday 4th February Film London is hosting an event in the capital titled: Mend the Gap - a debate on animation training and employment.

There are over 100 university courses in the UK teaching animation, but few of them prepare students with the practical skills they will need to find work in industry.  Instead, many courses tend to focus on academic content, writing essays on animation rather than actually doing it.  As a result, many animation studios recruit entry-level talent from European animation schools, not from the UK. So what can be done to fix the problem?

VFX Festival Lineup 2019

The Escape Studios' 2019 VFX Festival kicks off shortly at London's South Bank Centre, on February 6th, with many industry speakers coming to talk about the latest developments in Animation, Games and VFX.

This year participants include Framestore, MPC Film, Jellyfish Pictures, Blue Zoo, AXIS animation The Third Floor and Creative Assembly, all coming to talk about their latest work.

Meet Your Tutor - Nicola Brown

Nicola Brown: 3D modeling at Bucks

Nicola Brown is one of our newest tutors at Bucks. Nicky teaches 3D modeling (and much else besides) to our undergraduate students on the Animation & Visual Effects course at Bucks.

Nicky has over eight years of experience working as a freelance artist in the industry, including many years working as a layout artist and animator.  She also has a BA (Hons) in Animation, and extensive experience teaching animation.

We asked Nicky a few questions about her work, and also about how students and graduates can break into the competitive world of animation and visual effects.

BYOA in Fitzrovia on Monday 18th February

BYOA (Bring Your Own Animation) is back - taking place on Monday 18th February. As ever, we recommend that our students and recent graduates attend events like this one whenever possible.

BYOA is an animation event that takes place every month at a pub in London, generally on a Monday night. Next month the event is taking place at the Smugglers Tavern in London's Fitzrovia.

VFX Festival is Back February 6-7

Escape Studio's 2019 VFX Festival is just around the corner.  Taking place at London's South Bank Centre from 6-7 February, the VFX Festival is a great place to find out about the latest developments in Animation, Games and VFX.

This year the VFX Festival kicks off with the "Emerging Talent" event, aimed at students and recent graduates, which runs for two days, from February 6th to 7th.

Introducing Film Freeway

Film Freeway is an excellent way for students to enter short films into international competitions.

There are now so many film festivals that entering your film individually can be a huge task. Instead, indie film-makers (and animators) can create one upload to a single portal, and then apply through Film Freeway for as many competitions as you choose to enter.

Meet Your Tutor - Nicola Brodie

Nicola Brodie

Niki Brodie is our newest animation tutor at Bucks, and is currently teaching animation to our undergraduate students on the Animation and Visual Effects Course.

Niki graduated from Bournemouth University with a First Class degree in Computer Animation and Visualisation, and she also has a diploma in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins in London.

After graduation, Niki spent some 20 years in the animation and visual effects industry, working as a 3D character animator at Mill Film and later DNeg on films such as Gladiator, Harry Potter, Batman The Dark Knight and Thor The Dark World.

Mend the Gap with Film London on 4th Feb

On February 4th 2019 Film London is hosting an event in London titled: Mend the Gap: a debate on animation training and employment.

Here in the UK we have something of a disconnect between what industry needs, and what a lot of animation degree courses actually teach.  As a result, many animation studios often recruit young talent primarily from European animation schools, not from the UK. So what is the cause of this problem, and what can be done to fix it?

Meet Your Tutor - Dr Fil Ieropolous

Fil Ieropoulos: exploring the relationship between poetry and film

Dr Fil Ieropoulos is responsible for the delivery and grading of the  academic content of our Online MA in Animation at Bucks.

As part of our series of posts introducing our students to their tutors, we asked Fil to talk about his academic work in film and poetry, and how he combines the theory behind his creative work, and its practice.

Six New Year's Resolutions for Animators

Happy 2019

What should an animator's new year's resolutions be for 2019?

The animation industry is big business these days, and growing all the time. The small cottage industry I entered back in 1987 when I worked on my first film - "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" - has been transformed completely by technology and the huge expansion of the medium.

But the world of animation and visual effects is a competitive one, and animators need to be well-trained - and smart - to stay on top of their game.  So, what are some simple ways to maintain your edge in 2019?