BA (Hons) Computer Animation

Ba (hons) computer animation is an internationally recognised, award-winning course where you can develop your creative talents, and gain the practical and technical skills for an exciting career in tv, film, visual effects or games. 

This course is recognised by industry professionals as one of the top UK educational providers for 3D CG Animation and 3D CG Art. It’s one of only two degree courses in the UK to hold ScreenSkills Accreditations in both the animation and games categories.

Course Highlights

• Certified Course- In 2020, the computer animation degree was ranked amongst the Top 20 3D Animation Courses in the world by the International CG organisation "The Rookies" (formerly The CG Student Awards), who have also officially accredited the University of South Wales as a Certified School for Digital Entertainment Media.
• Outstanding Facilities- Our high spec computers are fully loaded with industry-standard CG production software, compositing packages, and game engines.
• Meet With Big Industry Names- Each year we organise studio visits to Painting Practice/Bad Wolf Studios (Film/VFX), Wales Interactive (Games) and Cloth Cat Animation (3D CG Kids TV), for final year students. We also organise a two-day trip to London. So, you’ll visit some of the top VFX and animation studios in the world.

Year 1

• You’ll gain a broad knowledge of skills and have the opportunity to discover what it is you enjoy most. So, you’ll excel within 3D CG Art and Animation, while steering towards an industry-facing specialism, to become a “CG Student Expert”.
• Introduction to Animation and 3D CG Art Techniques- Introduction to the fundamentals of 3D CG Animation, Modelling, Texturing and Lighting
• Body mechanics and The Human Form (3D CG)- Animating the human figure plus modelling, rigging, skinning, and animating a human hand
• Creature Creation and Animation (3D CG)- Intro to the complete CG creature pipeline, from prep work to modelling, texturing, rigging and animation.
• Characters and Scenes (3D CG)- Character-focused Acting and Animation, or Character and Environment modelling, texturing and lighting (depending on chosen specialism)
• Visual Studies: Animation- Underpinning drawing skills and visual communication, human and creature drawing study.
• Contextual Studies: Animation
• ‘What is animation?’ We’ll look at story, character, genre and cinematography as they relate to animation, games and VFX.

Year 2
Preparation and Previsualisation

Developing design and preparatory techniques for 3D CG Art or Animation, depending on chosen specialism

• Character Creation, Animation and Implementation for Games
• Creating 3D CG Art or Animation assets for Games, integration with Games Engines and pipelines
• Creature Creation, Animation and Implementation for Film/TV/VFX
• Creating 3D CG Art or Animation assets for VFX, integration with post-production techniques and pipelines

Personal Project (3D CG)

• Freedom to design and create your own ideas for 3D CG Art or Animation, depending on chosen specialism

Year 3
Minor Project (3D CG) 

• A chance to further develop your specialist skills by getting involved in a Live Client project that includes mentoring from some of the UK's leading CG Animation, Games and VFX Studios.

Final Major Project Pre-Production (3D CG) 

• Developing design and preparatory work for your Final Major Project, depending on  chosen specialism 

Final Major Project Production (3D CG)

• Freedom to develop your CG skills in relation to a final show reel, film, games or VFX-orientated project 

Industry and Employability 

• Developing your professional profile, building a personal brand, CV development, social media strategy, understanding industry opportunities and career planning 

Critical Research: Computer Animation (optional) 

• If you want to explore fantasy games through developing your own concept art work, or mythic storytelling in your favourite animation director’s work, use this module to research and write about a topic of your choice 

Scriptwriting: Computer Animation (optional) 

• Get to know your story, character, world and theme, and how to develop script ideas in industry, though animation and games writing 

Work Experience/Placement (optional) 

• Working in the industry, gaining experience to define your place in the animation, games or VFX industries, building networks in preparation for graduation