Jobs and Careers Playlist at YouTube

For all our graduates currently looking for work, check out the Animation Apprentice jobs and careers playlist at YouTube. There are plenty of opportunities to find work in the expanding animation industry, but it is important to have a solid demo reel and a well-curated LinkedIn profile - recruiters live at LinkedIn.  The jobs and careers playlist at YouTube offers advice and support on how to land that crucial first job in industry.

Toonboom Harmony Free Demo 30 Sept at 5pm

Toonboom Harmony with Andy Wyatt and Harry R

Tomorrow Thursday 30 September at 5pm Escape Studios in London is hosting a free Toonboom Harmony Event with Harmony experts Andy Wyatt and Harry Ravelomananstsoa. 

Andy Wyatt is Director of Animation Associates & Toon Boom UK; he will discuss what skills the 2D animation industry is looking for, offer portfolio advice and insights into the Harmony pipeline. 

To sign up, follow this link.

Cartoon Movie March 2022 Open For Pitches

Cartoon Movie, the pitch-fest for animated films, is now taking applications.  The Deadline to submit a feature film project to Cartoon Movie is 17 November 2021. 

Cartoon Movie takes place in Bordeaux from 8-10 March 2022, and is now open for applications.

Optimise Truong Maya Rigs for Unreal Engine

Truong CG, who creates many of the best free (and nearly free) rigs for student use, has released the video above to optimise his rigs for Unreal Engine.  All of Truong's latest rigs are fully compatible with Unreal Engine since they are all joints-based for both body and face. However, for Truong's older rigs, this video will help optimise the rigs for use in Unreal Engine, giving all the advantages of real-time rendering. 

Screen Skills: "Animation Trainee Finder"

Animation Trainee Finder Programme at ScreenSkills

ScreenSkills has launched the Animation Trainee Finder, a paid placement programme for animation graduates.

Animation Trainee Finder is being launched by the ScreenSkills Animation Skills Council with the support of UK animationStudios.  The deadline to apply is 27 September 2021.  

MA Animation Joining Instructions Sept 2021

Joining Instructions 2021

It will soon be time for our new students at Bucks to get started on their animation journey.  

Below are some Joining Instructions for our students starting with us on the Online MA in 3D Animation.

How to Achieve Snappy Animation Timing

One of the most common mistakes made by junior animators is to have even timing and spacing on their character performances.

Even timing and spacing produces soft, floaty animation, lacks definition and feels mushy.  This is particularly the case when the animation is based on live action reference. Reference, if followed too closely, can end up feeling floaty and weightless.

The solution to this problem is to tighten up your key poses, and spend more time in the key poses, rather than transitioning slowly from one pose to another. Animators call this approach "snappy timing", or "tightening up the poses". Your goal is to make the motion feel dynamic and crisp.

BBC Children's Animation Seeks Pitches

BBC Ignite wants your pitches

BBC Children’s Animation are seeking submissions for fresh, bold and innovative animation ideas. The scheme is called "Ignite" and the deadline is Midnight on 1st September 2021. 

For all our students who have been working on short films for the past couple of years - this is a perfect opportunity to pitch your materials to the UK's biggest broadcaster.

Successful pitches will be given a "fully funded development opportunity" to bring their project to the small screen.

You don't need to have created any finished animation for your project; more important is an idea of the stories you want to tell and who the main characters are.  To see more, follow this link.

New Aardman Animation Armature Available

For all our students who would like to try their hands at stop-motion animation: armature specialist Animation Toolkit has partnered with Aardman Animation to design and create a bespoke armature kit to help stop motion animators with the puppet making process.

Animators can now easily and affordably create their own animation puppets.

Free Animation Careers Event 5 August

We're recommending that all our animation students and recent graduates sign up for this Animation and Careers Event on 5th August at 4.30pm.

Hosted by Escape Studios, this free online Animation Careers Evening includes animation industry leaders Blue Zoo and Jellyfish Pictures.   To sign up for this free event, follow this link.

What Kind of Laptop Should Our Students Buy?

What kind of laptop?

"What kind of laptop should I buy?" is a question that we are often asked at Bucks New University. 

Computer specifications change regularly and much depends on exactly what you want to use your laptop for.  But let's say you want to buy a laptop capable of running Autodesk Maya, for computer animation and to render out your shots.

What sort of laptop should you buy, and how much do you need to spend? BNU Animation Master's Student Amedeo Beretta offers some advice to our students.

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.

Academic Deadlines MA Animation 2021-23

2021-2023 deadlines

Below is a list of deadlines for the online MA in 3D animation. This is for our new cohort of student animators, those who are joining us in September 2021, and will graduate "Master of Arts" in the summer of 2023.

Note that this list of deadlines is a draft list only, and is subject to change. Students should always check the appropriate Module Guide and Assignment Brief to be certain of the correct submission date. And, of course, check with your tutor.

This list gives our MA students a broad idea of what to expect over the coming 18 months.  But always double-check these dates - if in doubt, email your tutor.

DA701 Locomotion & Mechanics Starts 27 Sept

Zombie walk by Michael Davies

DA701 Animation Mechanics is the first module that our new MA animation students (those starting with us in September) will encounter at Bucks.

DA701 starts on 27 September 2021, and is taught primarily in Autodesk Maya. The module deals with animation basics, such as locomotion and mechanics.

It starts with simple actions such as a bouncing ball, and builds up to more complex physical actions, such as jumps and throws. There are two assignments due: DA701 PR1, and DA701 CW1. DA701 PR1 is due on Friday 10th December at 2pm.

Getting Ready for September 2021

What kind of preparation should animation students do before starting with us at Bucks in September 2021?

It's always good to do a little preparation and get a bit of a head start.

Below is a brief list of stuff to get you under way. You don't have to do all of it, but tick off a few of the things on this list and you will be a making a great start on your animation career.

Below is a short reading list to get you started. We've narrowed it down to just one key books that we recommend for all our students.

We also recommend a number of free online resources to begin your journey into digital animation.

James Baxter Animation Webinar 30 June at 6pm

James Baxter

On 30 June at 6pm Escape Studios is hosting a live animation webinar with legendary Disney and DreamWorks animator James Baxter.  

The event is free, and we are recommending that all our students register and sign up. 

James began his animation career on Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and has since worked on dozens of animated films.  

Module DA704 Starts 13 Sept 2021

Amedeo Beretta - CG Animation Reel - VFX, Cine, TV from Amedeo Beretta on Vimeo.

Our Master's Degree animation students will soon start their final animation module: DA704. Their final animation assignment, DA704 PR1, is titled "Demo Reel and Final Project" and students are expected to do a piece of character or creature animation, showing the skills they have learned over the last year, and also cut a demo reel that will help them to find work in the animation industry.  The demo reel above is by Bucks New Uni MA animation student Amedeo Beretta.

Dinosaur Animation Tutorial

We've completed a new series of videos on dinosaur locomotion for our animation students at BNU, who are currently working on Module DA703, Animals and Creatures.  The tutorial uses the free Dino rig by Harry Geoghegan, available for free download at Creative Crash.  The goal of the tutorial is to create a believable dinosaur walk cycle and performance.  To get a flavour of the exercise, watch the free theory video above.

Dragon in Flight Animation Tutorial

Dragon in Flight Tutorial 

Our MA animation students are currently tackling Module DA703 - Animals and Creatures, the third module on our Online MA in Animation.

We've been adding new animal and creature tutorials to our animation library, to offer as wide as possible a selection of teaching materials for animal and creature animation. 

This latest tutorial shows how to animate a dragon in flight. The tutorial uses the free Jaemin Dragon rig by Truong, which can be downloaded here.  The dragon flight tutorial can be found here (it is password-protected), and is free for all our currently enrolled students. 

How to Animate Quadruped Transitions

Free tiger rig from Truong

How do you animate quadruped transitions? That is to say, how do you animate the change from a walk to a trot to a run, and then back again?

Quadruped transitions are a tricky thing to get right, which is why all our MA students have access to video tutorials at Animation Apprentice showing step by step how to do it. 

Our MA animation students are currently tackling their third module, DA703 Animals and Creatures, mastering the art of quadruped locomotion and performance.

Online MA in 3D Animation - Still Time to Apply

Transformer animation by Amedeo Beretta

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

Our online MA in animation was launched in 2015 and was the very first of its kind - the first online MA in animation which could be undertaken by students anywhere in the world.

Since 2015, our students have been learning how to animate to a professional industry standard using Autodesk Maya, the industry-standard software, and also engaging with the underpinning theory and structure behind the art form.