Thinking of applying for our BA/MArt in The Art of Computer Animation? One of the most common questions we get asked by prospective students is: What should go into my portfolio? The short answer is - a bit of everything: drawings, painting, life drawing, sketches, scribbles, 3D digital artwork - whatever you have to hand - ideally uploaded to your own website or blog.
 |
| Tom Box from Blue Zoo at Annecy film festival 2019 |
We are looking for candidates with art skills, such as drawing, painting and design and, ideally, even some basic animation.
We're also after candidates with some tech skills; such as a good level of familiarity with computers and computer software. 3D Animation is today a blend of art and technology.
At last summer's Annecy film festival, Blue Zoo's Tom Box put it best of all when he explained how Blue Zoo look for artists with "a blend of techy skills and visual skills".
 |
| Blender. Free 3D software |
At Escape Studios, we teach 3D animation, so it's a good idea to try out some 3D software. We advise students download a copy of Blender and try it out to see how you get on.
There are plenty of free Blender animation tutorials at YouTube, and the open source animation software is completely free to download.
Blender Coffee Cup
 |
| Try the free Blender coffee cup tutorial |
Autodesk Maya
Students can also download a free copy of Autodesk Maya. It's the main software we use to teach animation, and it's free for students.
Maya is big and complex (and confusing at first), but it's a good idea to take a look, as you'll be spending a lot of time with Maya at Escape Studios.
Drawings & Sketches
Good drawing skills are very important for 2D animation - though they are not essential for 3D animation. 2D Animators need to draw well. But even 3D animators find it useful to create small rough drawings or "thumbnail sketches" to plan their work.
Sketchbooks
We like to see sketchbooks. Animation is about having ideas, and giving a performance. Nowadays, your portfolio will be online, so upload your sketches to your online portfolio, website or blog. We like to see your ideas and creative scribbles.
 |
| Wix: free websites |
It's never too early to have your own online showcase, and it's completely free to build a blog at Blogger (you only need a Gmail account to get started) or build a website at wix.com. You can also upload your work to Tumbler, which is very simple to use.
 |
| fast gesture drawing |
What we don't want to see are specialist program files like Maya files or 3D Studio Max files, or Flash, or AfterEffects files. Anything that takes a long time to load up is not helpful. Stick to standard file types like JPEGs, PDFs and .MP4s.
You don't need to have a perfect, polished portfolio ready in time your UCAS application. Treat your online portfolio as a work in progress. Upload your first draft, then add to it as you go along.
Stop Motion Animation
We love stop motion animation! For a great example, check out this video below by animation student Ross Green, who applied for our animation course back in 2017/18. It's cute, funny and low tech, filmed on his mobile phone and cut together with home editing software.
Guidelines, not Rules
Finally, note that the list above is just a list of suggestions. We don't suggest that you need all or even most of these things; these are just ideas to get you started.
For more information, read about the BA/Mart course here. You can also email me at alex.williams1(at)pearson.com. To find out about scholarships at Escape Studios, follow this link.
The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To apply for our BA/MArt, follow this link.
No comments:
Post a Comment