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“At the University of Bolton, we take great pride in providing a quality, supportive learning environment for our students.” Professor George E Holmes DL | President & Vice Chancellor
“...tutors are very supportive and you’re not just a student ID number, at this university you are an individual with a name.” Ellisse Vernon | BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing
The possibilities of pixels are endless with our BSc (Hons) Visual Effects and Animation degree. Focusing on the specialist skills needed to create computer generated and post-production visual effects, we offer industry-experienced staff and fantastic facilities, along with a proven track record of graduate success with award-winning employers.
Key information
Award:
BSc (Hons)
Mode of Study:
Full-time
Duration:
3 years
Location:
University of Bolton
UCAS code:
W621
Start date:
To be confirmed
Course Details
Visual effects (VFX) and animation is at the heart of creating spectacular imagery for the film, TV, commercial and music video industries. VFX is an integral part of nearly every global blockbuster film in the modern era. Whether it’s the creation of hideous monsters, futuristic vehicles, or epic alien landscapes, VFX is the driving force behind the magic that you see on screen.
Our BSc (Hons) Visual Effects and Animation course is ideal if you wish to combine design creativity with cutting-edge 2D and 3D computer generated imagery and animation to create visual effects. We offer hands-on experience covering the whole workflow of a digital VFX pipeline – from concept design, pre-production and visualisation, to the production of photorealistic 3D models/environments, and computer generated and composited images.
Our dedicated and experienced team will lead you in an exploration of 3D computer modelling, texturing, lighting, rendering, rigging and animation, as well as the established areas of compositing, matte paintings and environments.
VFX artists need transferable skills too, including communication, project and time management, team-working and entrepreneurship. We aim to support you to develop these attributes, alongside the imagination, flair and curiosity that will enable you to design and deliver inventive VFX and animation solutions for film, TV and advertising.
Highlights
Each year our final year students are set industry briefs by Oscar-winning VFX studios such as DNEG. Getting involved with these industry projects can help you form great links with top VFX studios, as well as give you direct feedback on your work from leading industry artists and professionals.
You’ll have access to our fantastic range of VFX facilities, including our dedicated effects studio with infinity curve green screen, our site-wide renderfarm that uses distributed computing to render high quality, complex photo realistic scenes and environments, and our boutique film studio that includes broadcast standard cameras and lighting equipment.
You’ll also use industry-standard software, such as Autodesk Maya for 3D work, The Foundry’s Nuke and Mari for compositing and digital painting, Houdini for technical effects and dynamics, and ZBrush for digital sculpting.
We’re committed to helping develop your employability and career network. You’ll be encouraged to attend guest lectures that enhance your learning and help you make contacts in the industry. For instance, Malcolm Watts, a Lead Modeller at Oscar Award-winning visual effects studio DNEG (and University of Bolton VFX graduate) has recently shared his expertise with students on our film FX courses.
Alongside your visual effects skills and knowledge, we’ll support you to develop a broader understanding of production design, including concepting, cinematography and composition. This will help you appreciate the roles, skills and expectations of other professionals working in the industry.
Key Features
The course is designed and regularly reviewed in collaboration with professional visual effects artists and studio directors. This ensures that the content is industry-relevant and includes the latest techniques and innovations.
We’ll help and support you to develop a portfolio of work/show reel that demonstrates your skills in readiness to impress potential employers.
Course assignments and projects mimic industry pipelines and standards so your experience is a realistic preparation for a career in visual effects and animation.
Our dedicated staff team have a wide range of professional experience, industry knowledge, technical expertise and academic credentials, offering you a variety of perspectives and broadening your horizons.
We prefer to keep student numbers relatively small in lecture and practical classes, so that you have plenty of opportunities to ask us questions and get individual help, as well as benefit from the ideas and support offered by your classmates.
We’ll encourage you to research, analyse, design and develop visual effects techniques so that you can take an idea from a brief or script scene and find the most time-efficient, cost-effective and visually impressive way to turn that vision into reality.
By choosing to study with us, you'll have the chance to enjoy Bolton's many shops, bars, restaurants and leisure facilities. Manchester, one of the UK's most multicultural and lively cities, is less than 20 minutes away by train. Not forgetting, the North West of England is renowned for its beautiful countryside, coastline and heritage. This makes Bolton an ideal base from which to explore some of the best cultural and outdoor activities the UK offers.
Professional recognition
The University of Bolton’s BSc (Hons) Visual Effects and Animation degree holds Tick accreditation from Screen Skills, the industry-led skills body for the UK's screen-based creative industries, including animation, film, games, television including children's TV and high-end drama, VFX and immersive technology. Working with industry experts, ScreenSkills awards the quality mark of the Tick to practice-based degree courses that most effectively provide students with the skills and knowledge required by employers in the screen industries. ScreenSkills provides the highest level of industry-led accreditation for VFX focused degrees, meaning our degree is globally recognised for its outstanding levels of teaching, employability and links into the VFX industry.
Any subjects are acceptable at Level 3. Subjects that support you to showcase either creative OR technical skills relevant to the study of visual effects and animation are preferred. Creative subjects such as art and design, fine art, film, photography or media are welcomed. Alternatively, technical subjects such as computing, engineering, physics and mathematics can be a great starting point for this degree. For instance, an applicant studying A-levels in Art & Design, English Literature and Psychology would be invited to a portfolio interview, as would an applicant taking A-levels in Mathematics, Geography and History. We accept qualifications from across the UCAS Tariff, so if you’re unsure if the subjects you’re studying are suitable, or want help choosing suitable subjects at Level 3, please get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to advise you.
You should also have five GCSEs at grade C or above or grade 4 to 9 (or equivalent), including English and Mathematics.
You'll be required to attend an interview and provide a portfolio of appropriate work. Typically, portfolios are centred on one of the following areas: art, life drawing, painting, design, games, media, sculpture, photography, video editing, film, web design, computing based or technical projects. We’ll also take any previous work or experience into account when making a decision on your application.
The quality of a portfolio will be judged alongside traditional UCAS point-bearing qualifications to determine the success of an application; we, therefore, give special consideration to applicants without the above qualifications who have a strong portfolio.
If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 6.0 with no less than 5.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.
Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.
As a BSc (Hons) Visual Effects and Animation graduate you’ll be able to demonstrate and combine creative skills with high levels of technical ability. You’ll possess a strong understanding of the technical aspects of 3D computer modelling, texturing, lighting, rendering, rigging and animation as well as the areas of compositing, matte painting and environments. You’ll also be able to demonstrate a wide range of transferable skills, including team work, planning and organisation, working to briefs and deadlines, communication both oral and written, presenting work and changes, critical analysis and logical thinking.
An interest in the moving image, creating short films or animation sequences, a basic grasp of scripting and automation, illustration and life drawing will all put you in good stead for a career in visual effects.
What can I do with this qualification?
As a graduate of this course, you’ll be well equipped for a career in areas such as film, commercials, television, visual effects production and business management. Some of the key job roles exist within modelling, 3D imagery, animation, matte painting, motion graphics, production, lighting, concept and match move artistry. New job roles continue to emerge as the film FX business evolves; for instance, recent additions include the groom technical directors who work with animated hair, and stereographers who work with 3D imagery for cinema and virtual reality.
This course targets the top level film and TV industries and University of Bolton graduates have consistently gained employment at Oscar-winning VFX studios. Our graduates have worked on films such as Avengers: Endgame, Blade Runner 2049, Wonder Woman 1984, Fantastic Beasts, The Jungle Book, Interstellar, and Star Wars, as well as TV shows such as Doctor Who and HBO’s Chernobyl. The skills developed in VFX have also seen our graduates forge successful careers in adjacent areas, such as the AAA games industry, game cinematics, high-end advertising and architectural visualisation.
Alternative career options
Graduates can use this qualification as a stepping-stone into a range of other careers. For some of these roles, relevant experience and/or postgraduate study may be required. Such roles include:
Advertising and marketing communications
Production
Games
Photo imaging
Publishing
Teaching
Arts management
Research and development
Fashion and textiles
Course fees
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2022-2023 academic year:
EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status.
If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement.
Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.
The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the
normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in
March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.
For 2022-2023 entry, the maximum government approved undergraduate tuition fee for UK students is £9,250 per year.
The University is able to charge this fee subject to an approved Access and Participation Plan for 2022-2023 and its current rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework.
For details of how to apply for this course, please choose your status from the options below:
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methods to help you achieve your potential, and you can expect our blended style to include lectures, seminars, tutorials and critiques, self-directed learning, e-learning and laboratory/workshop sessions, as well as online learning. You’ll be given access to over 400 tutorial videos recorded by our lecturing team as soon as you join the course in first year.
Lectures are used to introduce the core course content, while seminars allow you to explore subjects in greater detail. Practical skills and techniques are gained through technical introduction and support, workshop sessions, demonstrations and activity-based assignments. Tutorials allow you to ask any questions you have, ensuring you understand the topics covered in lectures and workshop sessions.
Guest lectures and visits give you opportunities to engage with and learn from respected professionals working in the visual effects arena. Our highly practical and project-based approach promotes active learning, and our specialist facilities create realistic industry-like learning environments. Our project modules encourage you to interact and collaborate with students specialising in both your own and other areas of film FX, helping to give you a taste of working on group and multidisciplinary projects.
Personal and independent study is essential and you should expect to devote a significant amount of time to activities such as project work, background reading, preparation for seminars and tutorials, research, design and creative thought.
You’re not expected to sit ‘traditional’ written examinations as part of this course. In terms of assessment, you can expect assignments, projects, case studies, quizzes, interviews, and presentations, as well as practical exams that usually take the form of short animation video files that demonstrate the work you’ve done over several weeks or months and chart your progress. As far as possible, we set project-based work that simulates professional situations. These pieces contribute to your final marks and allow you to demonstrate that you’ve met the learning outcomes.
We also use other forms of assessment to help you learn, provide you with feedback and inform your development, though these don’t count towards your final marks. For instance, you might be asked to complete quizzes or take part in group critique sessions that aim to strengthen your critical evaluation skills. You’ll also receive feedback on assessment drafts. This will help to identify any areas that would benefit from extra attention on your part, or where you need extra support from your tutor.
Modules
The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.
3D Assets and Environments for VFX
Creature Concept and Digital Sculpting
Cinematic Shot Compositing
VFX Studio Project 1
VFX Integrated Shot Production
Technical FX and Dynamics
Build and Look Development
VFX Studio Project 2
Advanced VFX for Film and TV
Industry Project
VFX Major Project
Assessment methods
Level
Assesment method
Level one
Coursework 15%, Practical exams 85%
Level two
Coursework 40%, Practical exams 60%
Level three
Coursework 58%, Practical exams 42%
Learning activities
Level
Learning activity
Level one
Guided independent study 65%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 35%
Level two
Guided independent study 65%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 35%
Level three
Guided independent study 65%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 35%
Disclaimer
The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.
