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Animation & Games at Arts University Plymouth - UCAS

There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

Course summary

Our BA (Hons) Animation & Games degree equips you for the competitive animation and gaming market and rapidly expanding environment in the entertainment industry, projected to reach a global worth of £200 billion by 2025. Whether your interest is in film, television, video games, online content, VFX, motion graphics or VR, we’ll help you enter the market with the knowledge and skills necessary for a leading role in the industry. In our state-of-the-art multimedia studio environment, you can explore the full range of the drawing, modelling, editing, rendering, and scripting techniques, giving you an unrivalled opportunity to take a multi-faceted view of the animation and games world. Why Choose This Course? Through storytelling, prototyping, and problem-solving, you'll develop projects and lead interdisciplinary contexts, gaining valuable knowledge applicable to multinational organisations or small studios. With modules in both animation and games, along with content linked to entertainment designs, integrated studies, and humanities and arts, you'll cultivate a comprehensive approach to creating dynamic animations and engaging games. Working within the creative incubator of our arts university, you’ll not only gain knowledge of the latest software used in the creative industry and develop collaborative skills across disciplines, but you’ll also be encouraged to develop as an emerging artist-designer with your own unique creative voice. You’ll have the opportunity to work alongside students from our award-winning Film & Screen Arts course and Film Studies, as well as collaborating with Animation and Games peers in interdisciplinary projects. You will focus on concept art and visual development towards outputs such as: characters, world-building, and asset creation. During your second year, you will be able to select either an animation or games career development specialism. The animation path develops students in the disciplines of character animation, storyboarding, modelling, art direction, and the principles of 2D and 3D lighting. While the game arts path prepares students to create and communicate visual concepts through 3D and 2D prototyping, iteration, and production. Access Cutting-Edge Facilities and Industry Partnerships Our animation and games studio facilities are fully equipped with industry-standard hardware and software such as Unreal Engine, Substance Painter, Toon Boom, 3D Studio Max, Maya, Marmoset Toolbag, Z-Brush, and Adobe Master Suite. You’ll have access to your own high-spec workstation with drawing monitors, as well as access to VR devices, cintiqs, a stop-motion studio, green screen studio, and a state-of-the-art 3D printing and scanning studio. Some of the core specialisms you’ll study include pre-production concept art for the entertainment industry, 2D and 3D world-building, drawing, environment art, environmental and particle textures, gameplay, level design, 2D and 3D character design, stop-motion animation, 2D and 3D animation, and special effects. You will benefit from our new industry partnership with Real Ideas, gaining access to Europe’s first-of-its-kind immersive dome; this state of the art facility is compatible with virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality, animation, games software, spatial audio, 360 recorded and live-action content. Our course team consists of professional animators, filmmakers, and researchers who will assist you in building your own professional network. We have excellent industry links in the UK and internationally, developed through annual visits to both the FMX and International Trick film festivals in Stuttgart, Germany. In recent years, our students have had work screened at Encounters (the UK’s leading short film and animation festival), visited Aardman Animation studios in Bristol, and contributed to high-profile European-funded animation initiatives, such as the Euranim video mapping project with workshops in Belgium.

Modules

In your first year, you’ll explore all aspects of animation through a range of short projects, covering key production skills such as narrative development, storyboarding and character performance. You will learn technical production skills in 2D, CGI and stop-motion methods of practice, giving you an opportunity to see which way you would like your own work to develop. Your second year is more focused, with an emphasis on production team working, as you share skills with others while you develop your own specialism. You will be supported in progressing your animation career path through professional development modules. In your final year, you’ll put your own stamp on a dynamic and professional showreel, which will demonstrate your production skills to the industry and associated sectors that use animation as a creative medium. You will have focused lectures on marketing and distributing your work either to the independent film sector or to the commercial end of the animation and games industries.


How to apply

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1

International applicants

Plymouth is the largest city in the county of Devon, and the safest big city in south-west England, listed in the top ten safest cities in the UK. The city has excellent travel links via car, train and ferry, with direct train services to London Paddington and the rest of the country and easy access to three nearby airports (Bristol, Newquay and Exeter). Plymouth is the gateway to the South West of England and is approximately 3 hours from London by train. The best airport to fly into is London Heathrow, which has a direct rail line to Paddington station. Our dedicated international team will be able to support you throughout your application and enrolment with us, giving you expert advice and guidance on everything you need, from accommodation to what to do once you arrive in the UK.

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

Your application will tell us about your qualifications and previous experience, but studying the arts is about more than can be captured on forms. We need to find out about your creative potential, your abilities and idiosyncrasies, so we will invite you to talk about your work with a member of our HE academic team. You can tell us about your aspirations, and why you want to study at the university. It is also a good moment to find out what we can offer you. We encourage you to visit the university, so that you can see our facilities, meet our teaching and technical staff, and discuss any other queries you may have; however we appreciate this may not be possible, and are happy to talk to you via an online platform (such as Google Meet or similar). We accept a range of international qualifications and will look at each application individually.

Please click the following link to find out more about qualification requirements for this course

https://www.aup.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/how-to-apply

Additional entry requirements

Portfolio

If your application meets our entry requirements, we’ll invite you to submit your portfolio, so that we can review your work and find out more about your creative potential. You will have the opportunity to submit your portfolio digitally, or in person at one of our Applicant Experience Days. At an Applicant Experience Day, you'll also get the chance to discuss your portfolio with a member of our academic team.


English language requirements

TestGradeAdditional details
IELTS (Academic)6IELTS (Level B2):overall score of 6.0 with minimum scores Listening: 5.5, Speaking: 5.5, Reading: 5.5, Writing: 5.5
Trinity ISEPassIntegrated Skills in English II (Level B2), minimum grades required: Reading: Pass Listening: Pass
PTE Academic50PTE Academic (Level B2), minimum grade required: Listening: 50, Reading: 50, Writing: 50, Speaking: 50

Click here to find out the most up-to-date information on our English Language requirements

https://www.aup.ac.uk/international/language-requirements


Student Outcomes

Operated by the Office for Students

There is no data available for this course. For further information visit the Discover Uni website.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

Channel Islands £4625 Year 1
Republic of Ireland £4625 Year 1
England £4625 Year 1
Northern Ireland £4625 Year 1
Scotland £4625 Year 1
Wales £4625 Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.
Animation & Games at Arts University Plymouth - UCAS