Get Ready for Our Online MA in 3D Animation - Now Recruiting for April 2017

Our new online MA in 3D Animation, delivered in partnership with Animation Apprentice, is proving so popular that we've decided to open an April enrollment - giving our students much more flexibility.

The official webpage is still showing a September enrollment date, but this will be changed soon to reflect the new April intake.  After all, as an online degree, there isn't any reason why he have to be bound by the traditional September enrollment of the academic calendar.

So what kind of preparation should students do before starting with us on our online MA in 3D Animation in April?  It's always good to do a little preparation and get a bit of a head start.

Great Free Maya Tutorials by Mike Hermes

Here at Bucks we have a strong focus on the art of character and creature animation. Our course has a big VFX element - to prepare our students for the world of visual effects animation.

The London animation scene has a large emphasis on this kind of work, with studios like Frame Store and MPC being global leaders in super-realistic photo-real animal and creature work.

For students looking to apply to study with us, it's a great idea to get a taste of what 3D animation is like before you sign up for a full 3 year BA in Animation and VFX. For beginners, we're recommending Mike Hermes' videos at YouTube, which offer excellent short tutorials on pretty much every aspect of the Maya pipeline. They are short, easy to follow, and refreshingly free of unnecessary information.  The playlists are well organised and, best of all, it's all completely free.

London Mime Festival 9 Jan - 4 Feb 2017

The London Mime Festival is about to launch its 40th anniversary season in London.  Artists include acrobat-genius Mathurin Bolze (Cie MPTA), Charleroi Danses’ Kiss & Cry and Mossoux Bonté, German Mask-theatre experts Familie Flöz, and Gandini Juggling with a hugely expanded version of its glorious Pina Bausch tribute, Smashed.

But why should Bucks animators watch mime? Because mime is the basis of great animation. If you can tell a story without words or dialogue, then you have the makings of a great piece of animation. Our animators at Bucks have to master the art of body language and facial expressions long before they learn the dark arts of lipsync and dialogue.

Meet Norman! A Versatile and Free Animation Rig

There are many free rigs available to Maya animators hoping to practice and learn their craft. Norman, Max, Morpheus - these are all excellent rigs, easy to download, all free for non-commercial use.

But beware - all rigs are different and each one has its own quirks. All take time to get used to, and each one has its frustrations.  Norman was one of the first character rigs made available for student use, free on a non-commercial license. Norman is reliable, relatively simple to use, and highly customisable.

New Year's Resolutions For Animators

Happy New Year!

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

The animation industry is a huge and growing business, much bigger than it was just a few years years ago.

But the world of animation and visual effects is a competitive one, and good animators need to be smart to stay on top of their game.  So, what are some simple ways to maintain your edge in 2017?

3D Animation Taster Days on January 13 and 25

Learn to animate a bird in flight

Fancy trying out 3D animation for a day? I'm running two Animation Taster Days at Escape Studios in Shepherd's Bush, London on January 13 and 25.  Taster Days are a great chance to come and learn about character and creature animation.

The purpose of an animation taster day to give future animators an idea of what it's like to work in the  industry, and find out if this is a career that's right for them.

You will work with Autodesk Maya and the Adobe Creative Suite, and you’ll get a hands-on introduction to 3D Animation techniques, all for just £25. By the end of the day you'll have your own piece of animation uploaded to your YouTube channel.  So, how do you sign up?

What is Redshift? - by Lyuboslav Angelov

Go to any animation or vfx festival and you will hear hair-raising tales of super-long render times, of waiting for days on end for a single frame or batch of frames to render.

In reality, CG artists need our renders to be as quick and efficient as possible.  Long render times increase our costs and take too much time to get things done.

Recently, Bucks animation undergraduate Lyuboslav Angelov has been getting great results from Redshift, a new rendering tool - which has also been adopted by leading London studios such as Blue Zoo. We asked Lyuboslav to explain how Redshift works and how students can benefit from its speed and simplicity.

Bucks Animation Compilation Reel 2016

 
Above is the latest Bucks Animation Compilation Reel - 2016. Here we have featured a selection of the best work done by our students at Bucks over the past year. We're proud of the work our students are doing, raising the bar each year and trying to out-do the work done by past years' students. Congratulations to everyone whose work made it into this latest compilation of the finest animation and VFX work done at Bucks.

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.

Animation Taster Day at Escape Studios on Wednesday 14 December

Learn to animate a bird in flight

Interested in trying out 3D animation? I'll be hosting an Animation Taster Day at Escape Studios in London on Wednesday 14 December - so come and find out all about character and creature animation.

I'm running this animation taster day to give future animators an idea of what it's like to work in the  industry, and find out if this is a career that's right for them.

You will work with Autodesk Maya and the Adobe Creative Suite, and you’ll get a hands-on introduction to 3D Animation techniques, all for just £25!  By the end of the day you'll have your own piece of animation uploaded to your YouTube channel.  So, how do you sign up?

Animated Women UK launch "The Achieve Programme"

Last week, Animated Women UK launch "The Achieve Programme" - their first ever programme focused on helping women in animation and VFX to achieve their full potential.

Official sponsors of the programme include Creative Skillset, Disney, Turner, Escape Studios and The Mill. For any of our students in the London area, this could be a great opportunity to break into the industry, and make connections with leading companies.

Student Loans for Master's Degrees Now Live

Government help is available

The new student loan system for postgraduate master's degrees has now been launched. Low interest loans will now provide students in the UK with access to postgraduate university courses.

This is very good news indeed for any of our students who would like to go on to do our ground-breaking online MA in 3D animation.

Bucks Success Story - Anton Alfy

Anton Alfimenko is a recent Bucks graduate who has now landed a full time job with the Bleacher report, the US Sports News company.

We asked him to talk a little about his new job, and what it takes to break into the industry.

Online MA Student Jeton Lakna Reinvents the Bucks New Uni Logo

We're enjoying this new take on the Bucks New Uni Logo by Online MA student Jeton Lakna. The exercise is in set building, texturing, lighting and rendering - the idea being to get all our online students up to speed with the basic building blocks of the 3d pipeline. Jeton's work is a fun new take on Bucks branding - and also shows off some great CG skills.

Blue GFX Expo in London on 17th November 2016

Blue GFX Expo is taking place in London on 17th November 2016.

Last year speakers included Tom Box from Blue Zoo, one of the UK's biggest TV animation company, Stuart Penn from Framestore, and the folks from Autodesk showing the latest tools.

Bring Your Own Animation! on Monday 21st November

The Lukin - BYOA!

"Bring Your Own Animation" (BYOA) is an animation event that takes place every month in London.

This month it is being held on Monday 21st November at 6.30pm at the Lukin pub, 4 Conway Street in central London W1T 6BB.

Anyone can bring their animation or just come along for drinks.  If you are a student, or a professional who's working on a shot or a reel, bring your work and get feedback from Professional Animators.

Dishonored 2 at BAFTA on Saturday!

BAFTA is a great resource for any of our students with easy access to central London - which is basically all of our undergraduates. The BAFTA clubhouse is at 195 Piccadilly - a short walk from Piccadilly and Green park Tube stations.

On Saturday 22 October at 5.30pm BAFTA is hosting the creative team behind the game Dishonored 2 - an amazing chance for our animation and games students to meet the creative team behind this blockbuster game, and get to know the talent that put it together. Tickets aren't free, but at £7.50 it's cheaper than a movie.

Blue GFX Expo is Back! 17th November 2016

Blue GFX Expo is taking place in London on 17th November 2016.

Last year speakers included Tom Box from Blue Zoo, one of the UK's biggest TV animation company, Stuart Penn from Framestore, and the folks from Autodesk showing the latest tools.

Welcome To The Bucks New Uni Online MA in Animation

The world's first online MA in animation

We're excited to welcome all our new students who will soon be starting the journey with us on our online MA in animation, launched one year ago at Bucks in partnership with Animation Apprentice.

This is a unique degree - the first of its kind - 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, but you will engage at Masters' level with the underpinning theory and structure behind the art form. So, what is this degree all about, and what can our new students expect?

Bucks Animation BA Has Moved to a Shiny New Site at bucksanimation.com

We have a new website! https://bucksanimation.com/ . The BA (Hons) Course now has a new site where you can see recent student work and get more information about the course. We have been putting in a lot of work behind the scenes to make sure that 2016-2017 is the best year yet! If you wish to apply then hurry, there are still a few places available in clearing.

If you are looking to study at our online MA in 3D Animation please continue to check this site: http://animationapprentice.blogspot.co.uk/

Autodesk Releases Maya 2017: Mental Ray Is Out, Arnold Is In

Autodesk has just released a new version of Maya, titled Maya 2017 (I know, we're only half way through 2016) - which now features an entirely new system for rendering your images. 

The old ray trace renderer, Mental Ray, has been dropped, and Autodesk have chosen Arnold instead. For those of you have have never used Arnold before, and might have some catching up to do, Animation Apprentice student Lee Caller has helpfully put together a YouTube playlist of videos that will walk you through the basics of the Arnold renderer. 

Arnold is a great renderer, and no doubt a significant improvement on Mental Ray. However, there is a catch, and it's a pretty big one.