MA (Animation)

Master the art of Animation – specialising in 2d, 3d or stop motion – developing your professional and creative skills while combining theoretical knowledge with industry-standard workflows. 

Course summary

• Create original and engaging animation, specialising in your preferred discipline. 
• Explore advanced animation and production inspired by research and practice. 
• Showcase your skills to employers with a portfolio of personal and client work. 
• Gain valuable knowledge and insights from industry speakers and guest lectures. 
• Work in a professional studio environment with the latest software and hardware. 

You’ll explore a wide variety of animation techniques, along with essential pre-production and post-production skills. Everything that we teach is underpinned and inspired by emerging new research and current industry practice. Apply this knowledge to develop your own unique and innovative portfolio, preparing you for exciting and diverse animation roles such as character animator, storyboard artist, environment artist, technical director, set designer or concept artist. 

How you learn

• At Sheffield Hallam, all our courses are designed to engage you with the world and challenge you to think in new ways. You’ll get to collaborate with others, and you’ll be taught in a supportive environment where you can thrive. 
• On the MA Animation course you’ll be based in our bespoke studios, workshops and digital spaces, joining a dynamic and collaborative learning community. With their support you’ll undertake creative adventures, explore possibilities and challenge conventions. Our course team promotes a learning environment that’s supportive, inclusive and actively embraces diversity.
• The course’s content and approach are geared towards producing employable animation professionals. You’ll improve your knowledge and understanding of animation while developing skills and attributes that enhance your academic achievement and improve your success in the real world.   
• We’re a dedicated, qualified and highly experienced team of teaching staff – with world-leading research and professional creative reputations. We take the time to get to know you while encouraging a range of approaches to learning, alongside the academic support to help you develop and demonstrate your skills, qualities and subject expertise. 

You learn through: 

• Workshops 
• Technical demonstrations 
• One-to-one supervision with animation specialists  
• Guest lectures 
• Commercial opportunities with real-world clients 
• External visits and field trips

Key themes

• Core modules cover animation techniques and associated skills in your chosen discipline. These modules introduce you to key skills such as storyboarding, 3D character design, puppet building, drawing for animation, lighting and post-production – all providing you with a solid foundation to fulfil your potential. 
• Continuing Professional Development is encouraged both through assessment – e.g. asking you to reflect on and evaluate your progress – and via an academic advising system that supports you in your ongoing development.  

Applied learning

We’ve designed the course to embrace real-world challenges and provide you with the practical skills and knowledge to be successful. You’ll develop your expertise in collaboration with various industry, commercial and creative practitioners, clients and organisations. 

• Work experience- Through a series of diverse work experience opportunities, you’ll gain the knowledge, skills and professional behaviours to help you reflect on your goals and future career path. You’ll become more confident, resilient and practised in professional interactions – preparing you to succeed when you graduate.  
• Live Projects- You’ll be able to work with external partners and clients on real-world projects. Previous students have worked closely with the City of Sanctuary UK on large animated projects.
• Field Trips- You can attend regional and national animation festivals. Previous students have regularly attended the Manchester Animation Festival (MAF) – a great chance to network, gain valuable insights from industry speakers and watch the latest award-winning animated shorts.
• Networking opportunities- Through industry events such as Pathways and the Festival of Creativity – both held annually at Sheffield Hallam – you’ll have opportunities to network with employers and showcase your work. You’ll also have access to exhibition nights, careers advisers and employability-enhancing workshops.
• Animation-specific industry days and events are held on campus, where you can attend talks and workshops while networking with animation professionals. They’re a great window into the world of work and your future opportunities.

Previous speakers have included Jellyfish Pictures animation director Kevin Spruce, Finger Industries managing director Marcus Kenyan, interactive projects producer Chloe Barraclough, and stop motion director Mikey Please.

Future careers
This course prepares you for a career in

• 2D, 3D, and stop-motion animation studios 
• Film and visual effects (VFX) 
• Television 
• Advertising 
• Game development 
• Motion graphics 
• Online content creation 
• Design and visualisation 
• Independent animation production

Previous students have gone on to work for

• Blue Zoo
• Finger Industries
• Travellers Tales
• Frontier Developments
• The Table Creative

Where will I study?

• You study at City Campus through a structured mix of lectures, seminars and practical sessions as well as access to digital and online resources to support your learning.

Equipment and facilities
On the MA Animation course, you’ll have access to a wide variety of facilities across our campuses – including a 24-hour learning centre, Students’ Union, cafes and eateries, lecture theatres, exhibition spaces and more. 

You'll work in a professional studio-based environment with access to the latest industry standard software and hardware, including: 

• Dedicated 2D, 3D and stop-motion industry-standard studios 
• Life drawing studios 
• Motion capture and green screen studios 
• 3D scanning equipment 
• Wacom Cintiq labs 
• Bespoke industry-standard stop-motion armatures 
• Professional-grade image capture solutions 
• Rapid prototyping 3D printers (full colour filament and resin) 
• 4K 360 cameras with physical HDRI calibration tools 
• VR workspaces with inside-out tracking 
• The Autodesk Media and Entertainment Collection
• The Adobe Creative Cloud Suite (including the Substance 3D collection) 
• Unreal Engine 
• Zbrush 
• Toon Boom Harmony Advanced 
• DragonFrame

Why choose us?

• Teaching- We are Gold rated in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) for the outstanding quality of our teaching and student outcomes
• Accommodation- We guarantee to find you an affordable place to live that’s close to campus and comes with all bills included
• Employment- 95% of our UK graduates are in work or further study 15 months after graduating (2021/22 Graduate Outcomes Survey)