Learn how to create animated characters and immersive environments to give players exciting gaming experiences.
Our BSc (Hons) Computer Games Design with Animation degree combines technical and artistic skills, making you highly sought after within the industry. We’ll cover the three main types of games animation – motion capture, hand-keyed animation and technical animation – and will give you the chance to specialise.
You’ll devise 3D character models, get them to move around using body mechanics, and equip them with props, vehicles and weapons. Whether creating a desert, street, castle or spaceship as a backdrop, you’ll also master game environments.
And to ensure your real-time animation models actually work in a games engine, you will study games design and aspects of programming too.
As the largest games department in the UK, we have lots of industry contacts, including Flix Interactive, Sumo Digital, Cloud Imperium Games and animation experts Carse and Waterman. It means you’ll graduate work-ready, with connections and an impressive portfolio.
You’ll be following in the footsteps of our award-winning games students, including those who’ve landed jobs with top studios.
The course has been developed to meet the needs of the booming games industry. But the animation skills you learn will also be relevant to other fields, such as film and virtual production.
In your first year, you will cover game asset creation, design, game engine scripting and animation. Options in your second year range from cinematics for games designers through to prototyping 3D assets and the art of lighting. You’ll create handcrafted bespoke characters and gameplay experiences.
There is also a collaborative games module, which brings students together from across the department to make a game. And in your third year, you will develop your own project so you can put the skills you’ve learnt into action. You can then showcase this work to a panel of industry judges at our final-year show GradEX.
Our staff bring a wealth of expertise as games professionals and academics. It means you’ll receive practical advice and guidance that’s both relevant and up-to-date.
You’ll have access to industry-standard facilities as well. These include our high-tech Vicon motion capture studio and a specialist games centre featuring the Unreal games engine. We also have a VR and mixed reality lab, with green screens and wall projections.
Other facilities include hundreds of PCs and games development possibilities with Sony, Vive, Oculus and more.
On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: BSc (Hons) Computer Games Design with Animation
