Undergraduate Portfolio Advice

If you're applying for our BA/MArt in The Art of 3D Computer Animation, or The Art of 2D Computer Animation, you might be wondering what should go in your 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.  In particular, it helps if you have tried some animation: 2D, 3D or Stop Motion.  

Tom Box from Blue Zoo - Animation = Tech + Art

Art Skills...
We are looking for candidates with art skills, such as drawing, painting and design and, ideally, some basic animation.

...and Computer Skills
We're also after candidates with tech skills; including some level of familiarity with computers and computer software.  3D Animation is today a blend of art and technology, so it helps to know your way around a keyboard.

Tips from Blue Zoo
At the Annecy film festival Blue Zoo founder Tom Box explained how Blue Zoo look for artists with "a blend of techy skills and visual skills".

Blender. Free 3D software

Blender - free 3D software
At Escape Studios, we teach both 2D and 3D animation on computers, so it's a good idea to try out some software.  There are many free software packages for animation; you might download a free copy of Blender and try it out.

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

If you'd like to do a free Blender test, follow this link to the Blender coffee cup tutorials at YouTube, and see how you like it. If you enjoy doing it, a career in the digital arts might be for you.

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 less important 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.

Online portfolio

Wix: free websites

The best kind of portfolio is a website or blog showcasing your work.  Check out our post here on how to create a free blog and/or website, and start uploading your work today.

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. 

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.

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.