Bucks Animators Go to Blue GFX

Blue GFX

Last week Bucks New University students went to the Blue GFX Expo in London – a massive annual visual effects event sponsored by Autodesk, and a great opportunity to find out about the latest developments in our industry. There were presentations about Autodesk Maya, 3D Studio Max, a chance to try out the latest Cintique tablets, and best of all a talk by Framestore about the work they did on Gravity, a film that looks and feels like a live action movie, but is entirely animated. OK, George Clooney and Sandra Bullock were real – but the rest is CG magic.

Nomad Games

I went to a fascinating lecture by Don Whiteford of Nomad Games, who talked about how his company got started – an excellent introduction to the challenges of starting up a small games business and adapting to new technology and changing markets. They created Talisman – now a 30 year old game, and he talked about how business need “not just one product, but something that gets updated and can be rolled out over time, with expansions and extensions” to the existing game. He also explained that here in the UK, Creative Skillset will fund creative salaries at 50% for a year – hugely useful for a start-up company short on cash.

Autodesk Maya

Graham Bell of Autodesk introduced some of the latest features of Autodesk Maya, including how to use their hair tools to create realistic fur and grooming for CG animals and creatures.

Overall, the event was a huge success, and a great way for students and lecturers alike to catch up on new developments in our business.

Blue Zoo

To see more about Blue GFX 2013, see this post about the use of Maya's latest hair and fur tools, read about how Blue Zoo revealed the secrets of making a new animated TV series, find out about how Frame Store did the title sequence for Skyfall, and learn about how graduates can get a job with Blue Zoo, the UK's largest indie TV animation company.

---Alex

For more on the experience of studying at Bucks New University, come and visit us at one of our Open Days,  take a virtual tour of one of our animation studios, check out what our students think of our course, and see why we're ranked in the top 12 creative universities in the UK. Find out why we're giving free laptops to all our students, and why we give all our students free access to videos at Lynda.com. Also, see what financial assistance might be available to you. Learn which is better for animation, a PC or a Mac? Get hold of a copy of a map so you can find your way around campus, and learn about motion capture at Bucks.  

What is The Future of Media? Find Out at Bucks on Monday November 17th

Industry Panel at Bucks

Every November we stop lectures for a week and run a series of activities and industry-related events. This year the Department of Media Production is joining up with the business school and computing and technology courses to run ‘The Future of Media’ Day on Monday November 17th. Part of this will be a speakers’ panel Run like The BBC Question Time programme.

Previous speakers at other events have come from companies such as Mediacom, Burson Marsteller, Millward Brown, Dare, Rapp, BBH, Dun Humby, ITV, Shell and Ford.  The audience will be students, alumni and clients. The panel session would be in the afternoon, runs for about an hour, from 14.00 until 15.00.

Gateway Building - Our modern media hub

In addition there will be two breaks out rooms where visitors will be able to see some of the excellent work done by students here at Bucks.

This will be particularly relevant for our second-year students who will be working on live client projects this year. The panel will offer valuable insights for anyone with an interest in how media production is financed and managed.

See you on Monday November 17th!

For more on the experience of studying at Bucks New University, come and visit us at one of our Open Days,  take a virtual tour of one of our animation studios, check out what our students think of our course, and see why we're ranked in the top 12 creative universities in the UK. Find out why we're giving free laptops to all our students, and why we give all our students free access to videos at Lynda.com. Also, see what financial assistance might be available to you. Learn which is better for animation, a PC or a Mac? Get hold of a copy of a map so you can find your way around campus, and learn about motion capture at Bucks.

Free lecture on independent Japanese animation on Wednesday 26 March at 6.30pm

Wednesday 26th March

The Japan Foundation in London has invited Nobuaki Doi, animation critic and founder of CALF, the independent Japanese DVD label to give an overview of Japanese independent animation.

Independent Japanese animators are producing innovative works which is often very different from the commercial animation or ‘anime’ style which Japan is so famous for. Showcasing the work of Japanese creators such as Koji Yamamura and Atsushi Wada, Nobuaki Doi will discuss Japanese independent animation as a source of global inspiration as well as exploring what makes Japanese animation among the best in the world.


Following his presentation, Doi will be joined in conversation with Jayne Pilling, founder of the British Animation Awards, and Mirai Mizue, an award-winning abstract animation director, for a discussion panel on the challenges facing contemporary animators in the UK and Japan.

Full event details can be found above. This event is free to attend but booking is essential. To reserve a place, please send your name and the title of the event to event@jpf.org.uk.


---Alex