BA (Hons) Animation and Visual Effects
Institution code: N39Course 3 Year UCAS code: W618Course 4 Year UCAS code: W617Course length: 3 or 4 year optionsWork-based learning opportunities: Creative Professional Development Year (Level 5 diploma) available between years 2 & 3
Our Animation and Visual Effects degree reflects NUA’s success in both disciplines. Our approach to teaching visual effects evolved from advice from professional bodies like ScreenSkills and UK Screen Alliance and the majority of the UK’s VFX industry, including:
We are part of Access:VFX – the industry’s initiative to create the widest possible pool of future talent and host a number of workshops and events with invited industry guests.
Preparing for Animation and Visual Effects careers
On this future-looking course, you will develop skills that prepare you for the increasing demand for animation and visual effects expertise: from film and TV to architecture and urban design; scientific visualisation to creative design and virtual reality.
Working side-by-side with BA (Hons) Animation students in your first year, you will acquire skills across the range of animation and visual effects expertise.
In recent years we have hosted a masterclass led by the VFX Supervisor of Avengers: Infinity War. We have heard from guest speakers from the studios behind:
- Solo: A Star Wars Story
- Ready Player One
- The Jungle Book
- The Lion King
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
- Blade Runner 2049.
Underlining the strength of our industry connections, double Oscar-winner Paul Franklin (Interstellar, Inception) became an Honorary Fellow at NUA in 2018.
Major studio software
You’ll also have access to a subsidised commercial version of Nuke, the industry standard software used in major studios, with a licence that even extends for one year after graduation.
Believable worlds
As you become an expert ‘world builder’, you’ll use visual effects to create character designs, enhance stories, work with directors or film your own shots, helping to develop a portfolio that could fast-track you into the animation or visual effects industries.
Typical career paths include
- Animator
- Roto Artist
- Texture Artist
- 3D Generalist
- 3D Environment Artist
- Match Move Artist
- Character Designer
- Producer
- Lighting Supervisor
- Colour co-ordinator
- Compositor
- Art Director
- Matte Painter/Artist
- Modeller
- Architectural Visualiser
- Experiential Designer
You’ll also get specialist creative careers advice from our team in the Ideas FactoryNUA to help support you as you plan your career.
Visiting industry lecturers
Visiting lecturers have included Josh Parks, a Compostitor at MPC, Jonathan Jones, Ember Films, Visual effects and games creative Hugo Guerra and DNEG’s 3D trainer Jahirul Amin.
All courses run as a blend of on-campus and digital teaching and learning, and follow current UK government safety advice. Applicants and students will be notified directly if any changes need to be made.
- Course specifications
Three year degree
Four year degree - Course costs
Ask a Student
Course content
- Year 1
- Learn to see: study visual effects fundamentals about lenses, pixels and light to see differently
- Explore the major animation techniques including digital 2D and 3D
- Gain understanding of the principles of animation and visual effects: dynamics; character design; storyboarding; production; skills of observation; editing; green screen/compositing; photorealism, perspective; theatrical stagecraft; show reel design
- Progress from making two-dimensional flat imagery towards testing 3D designs
- Have the opportunity to attend industry talks, presentations and discussions with key animation and visual effects companies and professionals
- Develop an understanding of media roles and practices.
- Year 2
- Build on fundamental visual effects skills and practice animation principles with enhanced progression from 2D to 3D
- Focus on production areas of your choosing and continue to explore your chosen areas of specialisation and develop your skills, with the potential to combine techniques
- Learn about Look Development, lighting, texturing, rendering and all you'll need to build your environments
- Develop an understanding of audience, context, film language, and the elements of compelling storytelling
- Opportunities to engage with industry professionals through live briefs and conferences
- Collaborate in flexible, open-ended and innovative ways to build amazing showreels
- Attend industry talks, presentations and discussions with key animation and visual effects companies and professionals.
- Year 3
- Develop a professional portfolio of work
- Gain powerful project management techniques to ensure you can lead animation and visual effects teams and increase job prospects
- Research, prepare and complete a final major production, and produce a Research Report in a field related to your final production
- Develop a plan to market and promote yourself, and show your 'creative edge' to sell yourself to employers
- Take part in industry talks, presentations and discussions with key animation and visual effects companies and professionals.
Entry requirements
Portfolio guidance
Fees & funding
Work-based Learning Opportunities
Four year degree
Typical UK offers
A / AS Levels – GCE
GCE A/AS Levels 3 A-level qualifications at grades BBB. Where candidates are not taking 3 A-levels, NUA will consider combinations of A-level/AS-level and other Level 3 qualifications.
BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction, Merit, Merit in an art, design or media related subject
BTEC Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction*, Distinction* in an art, design or media related subject
UAL Extended Diploma
Merit
UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Merit
UAL Level 4 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Merit
Access to Higher Education Diploma (Art and Design)
Pass
International Baccalaureate Diploma
A minimum of 27 points
NUA welcomes applicants of all ages from all backgrounds. Your application will be primarily assessed through your portfolio, responses to questions asked and personal statement, so even if you have no formal qualifications or do not meet our typical offers it can still be worth applying.
If you are studying at the time of your application and your application is successful it is likely that you will receive a conditional offer.
If the qualification that you are studying is not shown, do not worry as we are able to accept other pre-entry qualifications as well as combinations of different qualifications. Please do contact our Student Recruitment Team if you have any queries.
International applications
We accept qualifications from all over the world. To find our entry requirements from a specific country, please check our dedicated international pages.
Most international students are required to hold an English language qualification. Applicants are required to have a minimum UKVI approved IELTS exam score of 6.0 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in each section. Equivalent English language qualifications are acceptable such as, IB English language syllabus A or B/English Literature (Grade 4).
We also accept some alternative English qualifications. Learn more about our English entry requirements.
You can email us on international@nua.ac.uk if you’d like to discuss your application individually.
BA (Hons) Animation and Visual Effects portfolio degree guidance
Your portfolio should show us you are passionate about animation and visual effects and that you want to learn to make seemingly realistic images that support amazing stories.
We need to see you are motivated.
Our course is guided by some of the leading animation and visual effects companies in the UK and they want people who are willing to experiment and dedicate themselves to full-time study with us.
We want to see examples of your imagination, in whatever medium and see how you manipulate images to make believable pictures.
We don’t expect you to have software expertise, or for you to have done animation or visual effects before. Our job is to take creative people and give them software expertise and practical experience. If you can show you are good at creating interesting visuals that communicate a story we want to see you!
You may wish to include some of the following:
- Drawings or collages that exhibit a playful imagination and eye for composition
- Use of Photoshop or other related image making/editing tools
- Digital animation or motion graphics
- Films you have made, edited or remixed
- Film reviews documenting the use of Visual Effects
- Storyboards
- Photographic work – telling a story with a sequence of photos, or document an interesting place with a selection of images
Further portfolio advice and tips
Get more advice on presentation formats, layouts and when to submit your portfolio in the application process.
2022/23 University fees for new entrants
NUA will assess students’ tuition fee status using the guidance provided by the UK Council for International Student Affairs
Students from the UK or Ireland and EU students with ‘Settled’ or ‘Pre-Settled’ status will be charged ‘Home’ fees if they meet the relevant residency requirements. They will usually be eligible for a tuition fee loan from the UK government, meaning that they won’t have to pay NUA’s tuition fees up front.
Students who do not meet the necessary residency requirements will usually be charged ‘Overseas’ fees and will not be eligible for the UK government tuition fee loan. Since 2021/22, this includes new entrants from the EU, EEA, and Switzerland who do not have ‘Settled’ or ‘Pre-Settled’ status, because the UK has now formally left the EU.
Fee status | Course | Fee |
---|---|---|
Home | Undergraduate degree (full-time three and four year degree) | £9,250 |
Overseas | Undergraduate degree (full-time three and four year degree) | £17,500 |
In subsequent years inflation may be applied to the fees of those who started in 2022/23, at no more than the Office for Students’ recommended measure based on forecast RPI-X.
Financial support for UK students in 2022
Tuition fee loans and loans for living costs are usually available to UK and some EU students, as well as non-repayable NUA bursaries based on family income. Find out more about applying for funding.
Creative Professional Development (1 year, Level 5 Diploma)
The Diploma in Creative Professional Development has been developed to offer undergraduate students the chance to spend a year, between the second and third year of their course, exploring their employability options through a structured programme of input sessions and work-based learning.
Not just an ‘industry sandwich year’ —
The Level 5 Diploma in Creative Professional Development is:
- Designed around your needs as a creative student, particularly if your personal network does not currently reach creative industry.
- Based on our award-winning Profile skills framework.
- Co-delivered with industry partners who share our approach.
- Supporting you with carefully planned interventions and activities before and after their placements, so that you are ready to undertake placement learning and then equipped to derive the maximum insight from the experience afterwards.
- Opening a wide range of creative roles that you may not imagine you would be able to apply for after your study at NUA.
It has been designed for:
- Students who want to work in creative industry but have not yet decided the sort of role they would like.
- Students who do have a clear sense of career direction but need to develop a structured plan to achieve it.
- Students who do not have relevant work experience, and want to graduate with a fuller CV.
- Students who think that business start-up or freelancing may be their preferred option and want to explore it further.
Find out more about the Level 5 Diploma in Creative Professional Development
Four year degree – BA (Hons) Animation and Visual Effects
Four year degrees offer students a chance to build on their experience within their undergraduate course of choice.
Year 0 will help to build confidence and develop subject specific practical, creative and conceptual skills – making full use of University studios and workshops.
Typical UK offers and entry requirements for Year 0 entry
GCE A/AS Levels
2 A-level qualifications at grades CC or higher.
BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Merit, Merit, Pass in an art, design or media related subject
BTEC Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction, Merit in an art, design or media related subject
UAL Extended Diploma
An overall Pass
UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
An overall Pass
Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
Access to Higher Education Diploma (Art and Design)
Pass
International Baccalaureate Diploma
A minimum of 24 points
NUA welcomes applicants of all ages from all backgrounds. Your application will be primarily assessed through your portfolio, responses to questions asked and personal statement, so even if you have no formal qualifications or do not meet our typical offers it can still be worth applying.
If you are studying at the time of your application and your application is successful it is likely that you will receive a conditional offer.
Lecturers
-
Dan Kelby
-
Jennifer Oey
Need help? Chat to our friendly recruitment team
Call: +44 (0) 1603 610561
Email: studentrecruitment@nua.ac.uk
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