How do you pick the best place to study animation?

Life at University

One of the most important decisions that any of us will ever make is what to study at University, and where. How do you choose? Even if you know you want to study animation and the digital arts (good choice!), there are at least 80 courses in the UK to select from. So how do you pick the right one? The simple answer is - pick the best. But how you tell which courses are the best? There are a number of ways of making the right decision, but we think that there are two that are by far the most important.

First, check out what other students on the course have already done. If they have done excellent work, the chances are that you will too. Why? Because few students produce great work in a vacuum. Most of us require motivation, inspiration, and the discipline of a well structured curriculum to guide us through, and help us do the best work we are capable of. Students are pushed by their tutors to succeed, and are inspired by the excellent work done by their peers to do better themselves. This is a virtuous circle in which standards get raised all the time.

We've just cut a new demo reel for the work done in recent years at Bucks. Check it out. We want all our students to be at least as good as this - and preferably do even better.


Second, take a look at the people teaching the course have done. Are they skilled in animation and digital media? Are their skills up to date? This is an industry which is in a state of constant change and upheaval as new technology drives the market. Traditional art skills matter, but so does having the right software and the ability to use it.

I've been working in the animation industry for 25 years, since 1987 when I worked as an assistant animator on Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. Later I got to work on Lion King at Disney, and The Iron Giant at Warner Bros, among many other hand-drawn films. In the early 2000s I switched from 2D to 3D animation, working on Robots, Open Season and then Monster House. Below is my 3D animation reel.


In the mid-2000's I started working in visual effects, on Racing Stripes, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, the last three Harry Potter films, and Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The video below shows a selection of visual effects work.




All our tutors at Bucks know their stuff. We're proud of what we do, and we are proud of teaching practical, industry-level skills that will help our students find jobs in an every-changing and highly competitive market.

-----Alex

(Editor's Note: To see the excellent work done by Bucks tutor Rob Kelly, check out this post. To see more examples of our students' work, check out the first exercise done by our new students here. Also, take a look at the animation of Jack Strood, as well as our latest commercial project for Rocketseed, our short film done for a global aid agency, and take a look at the excellent work of some of our recent graduates, such as designer Monika Dzikowicz, architectural visualisation specialist Krsytof Michalski, Alex Whitfield and the 3D artwork of Mike Swan. )