Viewing course details for 2025-26 year of entry
- Code
- W616
- Attendance
- Full-time, Part-time
- Start
- September 2025
- Fees
- £9,535* (UK) | £16,600 (INT)
- Duration
- 3 years full-time, 5 years part-time (average)
- Course Leader
- John Cox
- Study mode
- On campus
- Location
- Hendon campus
- Entry Requirements
- 112 UCAS points
- School / Department
- School of Film
Why study 3D Animation for Games and Film at Middlesex?
The explosion in real-time 3D technology is transforming the games and film industries, and there are now over 2000 games and film studios in the UK! This brand new course is designed to teach you the most innovative 3D skills in this rapidly growing field. With some of the best facilities in the country and exceptional ratings by students, this is an excellent time to start your successful career as a 3D artist with Middlesex.
- Creative and technical skills: During this course you'll learn the fundamentals of 3D asset creation, hand-keyed animation, motion capture, and visual effects using industry-standard software and the latest technologies. You'll be able to create compelling visuals for interactive games, reality experiences, live events, and virtual production of TV shows and Films.
- Specialised industry skills: Designed to meet the skill shortage in the booming 3D industry, our dynamic curriculum is informed by the latest industry trends. You'll gain expertise in 3D animation, game design, virtual production, and VFX workflows, preparing you for careers in animation studios, game companies, VFX houses, and more.
- State-of-the-art facilities: Access some of the best creative facilities in the country, including top-tier 3D studios and equipment, industry standard software, a motion capture studio and green screen, and much more. Bring your ideas to life!
- Cross-disciplinary collaboration: Work with students from film, games design, and performing arts, allowing you to explore different creative disciplines and collaborate on diverse projects. Explore diverse ideas, practices and voices in creative production
- Industry-ready showreel: Develop a professional portfolio that showcases your skills and creativity, setting you apart in the competitive job market.
- Career-focused approach: The course is designed to prepare you for employment in the digital creative industries. Our graduates work for leading VFX studios, AAA game developers, and other top digital creative companies. They work in positions such as Environment, Character and Concept Artists, as Previs and 3D Animators – as well as Virtual Production specialists for Film and TV studios.
With a focus on real-world production processes, creative problem-solving, and career development, this course equips you with everything you need to pursue your passion and build a successful career in 3D animation for games and film.
Exceptional student ratings
Our 3D Animation for Games and Film course has received outstanding feedback from students, showcasing the high quality of our program. Here are the National Student Survey ratings for 23/24:
- 100% were positive about the support provided by teaching staff
- 100% were positive about the course organisation and communication
- 94% were positive about the learning resources and facilities provided
- 97% were positive about student feedback being heard and acted on
These ratings reflect the high standards of education, support, and career preparation you can expect when studying with us at Middlesex.
3 great reasons to pick this course
About your course
Learn more about what you will study each year and the modules you will study during your course.
Learn the fundamentals of 3D Animation and CG pipelines for Games and Film. Find your passion and develop your skills through a series of personal and group projects.
In this module you will use your understanding of visual communication and the fundamental creative skills of the discipline to produce a short animation.
You will consider both the principles of movement in animation and broader aesthetic properties to create an animation which conveys character and meaning.
Throughout the module, you will gain knowledge and understanding of issues of representation in animation. At the end of the module, you will be able to apply the critical toolkit necessary to understand and articulate how your animated creations can function as representations of a diverse range of human characters, and the social responsibility that this entails.
This module develops your creative capabilities and instincts. You will be introduced to the foundational principles of visual communication, storytelling and image making; as well as the historical and theoretical context of animation and 3D graphics. You will also be taught the core tenets of cinematic language, and taught how to use them to convey emotion, tone and narrative. The overall goal is to hone your communication and critical thinking skills in ways which build towards the development of a completed artistic project.
This module supports your creative development by introducing you to the principles and processes involved in your artistic discipline. You will learn practical information about the production cycle, as well as industry-standard techniques and software which form the basis of your creative practice. Along with this technical focus, you will be asked to consider the unique aesthetic properties of each technique by responding to creative briefs. You will also begin to develop your drawing skills, learning the basics of anatomy, perspective and gesture which will go on to inform your productions.
Building on Techniques and Practices 1, this module continues to develop your skills with a wider array of tools involved in the composition and production of creative images. We will enhance your visual vocabulary and encourage experimentation in ways which can inform your practice. There is a focus on generating, compositing, and manipulating images, and you will continue to develop your observational skills and use of real-world reference through ongoing life drawing workshops.
Level up your concept creation skills to develop compelling worlds and characters. Tell engaging stories through advanced techniques including Motion Capture, 3D Animation and Virtual Production.
Asset Creation provides you with the skills for originating and processing high-quality CG assets suitable for game or film production. You will engage with the technical and conceptual requirements that distinguish assets made for personal projects from those suitable for professional productions. You will be taught to apply production skills to your own work within the context of a wider team of practitioners, interacting and exchanging artefacts.
Learn the whole 3D character creation workflow from conception to rendered animation.
This module equips you with the theoretical and practical skills to create a character and analyse, qualify and generate movement of organic animate assets in a CG context. Motion may be created through various techniques such as manual (traditional keyframe animation), blended (motion editing), synthetic (AI and ML) and procedural (technical animation and simulation). Throughout this process you will develop an understanding of natural motion through observation and reference as well as study the mechanics of recreating motion using digital tools.
Learn Motion Capture, Virtual Film Production and real-time Lighting and Rendering for games and Film. You will explore the crossover between CG media and traditional Lens-based media. It will help you understand the technologies for capturing images and movement from real world and virtual environments. It will also explore conceptually and practically the techniques for combining CG and Lens based images in a real-time context. Practice will be grounded in traditional cinematography and film language. You will be encouraged to engage with the challenges of virtual production through problem solving and troubleshooting exercises. You will be taught to apply production skills to your own work as well as within a wider team of practitioners, collaborating, interacting, and exchanging artefacts. Issues around copyright, representation, ownership, licensing, and intellectual property will be discussed and you will need to be explicit about the licensing of your own work as well as properly crediting the work of other practitioners.
You will develop your creative ideation skills through research in visual references and principles, as well as through artistic and technical skills, while responding to a conceptual brief. Worldbuilding is approached in the storytelling sense of developing a coherent, plausible visual and narrative context to underpin a game, film, animation or VR experience. Cultural aspects of storytelling will be considered to promote awareness of the wide variety of storytelling traditions and to encourage you to build story worlds which can accommodate a diversity of stories and characters. You will be introduced to world building in the practical sense too by planning, prototyping, blocking and iterating on the design and production of a complex environment.
Develop and produce an ambitious major project, focusing on your specialist interests as part of a production team. Develop your personal, industry-ready portfolio with feedback and advice from industry mentors.
You will be learning a wide range of subjects all chosen to make you a better practitioner. These range from applied creativity to knowledge of cutting-edge technology. Some of the subjects include:
- Concept creation and development
- 3D animation fundamentals
- Creating 3D assets
- Environments and characters for games
- Virtual sets for film
- In-depth study of motion capture and virtual production
- Studio practices and Industry workflows.
Implement the animation, story, game level or 3D experience developed in Pre-production
You will undertake and complete an ambitious and expansive personal or group project. With a focus on autonomy and self-organisation, you will take charge of managing and coordinating your projects, while receiving invaluable guidance and support from tutors and technicians. Emulating real-world industry scenarios, you will be encouraged to adopt the role of a member of a small, boutique studio or a freelance professional, with teaching staff assuming the dual role of client and supervisor. By the conclusion of the module, you will have honed your skills to deliver work to a high standard, suited to feature prominently in a personal showreel aimed at seeking and securing employment.
On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:
- Identify and address key challenges of production
- Create work of a professional standard and evaluate and rigorously assess your own output against established industry standards, fostering reflection, refinement, and improvement
- Apply editorial, review, test-screenings, play testing and other iterative methods in the development of professional outcomes
- Project manage an extended and ambitious project, including managing, logging, and documenting individual contributions within the framework of the project schedule
- Undertake a specialist role within a wider, collaborative endeavour.
You will undertake and complete an ambitious and expansive personal or group project. With a focus on autonomy and self-organisation, you will take charge of managing and coordinating your projects, while receiving invaluable guidance and support from tutors and technicians. Emulating real-world industry scenarios, you will be encouraged to adopt the role of a member of a small, boutique studio or a freelance professional, with teaching staff assuming the dual role of client and supervisor. By the conclusion of the module, you will have honed your skills to deliver work to a high standard, suited to feature prominently in a personal showreel aimed at seeking and securing employment.
On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:
- Identify and address key challenges of production
- Create work of a professional standard and evaluate and rigorously assess your own output against established industry standards, fostering reflection, refinement, and improvement
- Apply editorial, review, test-screenings, play testing and other iterative methods in the development of professional outcomes
- Project manage an extended and ambitious project, including managing, logging, and documenting individual contributions within the framework of the project schedule
- Undertake a specialist role within a wider, collaborative endeavour.
Create an eye-catching showreel of your personal work for competitions and job applications
This employability module is designed to prepare you with the necessary skills and knowledge to thrive in the professional world. You will gain insights into effectively presenting their work, understand the significance of networking, and learn how to curate and publish their portfolios online. Tailored to their specific areas of specialisation such as Character Artist, Environment Artist, Modeller, 3D Animator, Motion Editor, or Motion Capture Technician, you will choose the focus of your portfolio. Through interactive sessions and tutorials, the module creates an iterative approach to creative practice. You will have ample opportunities to refine your work to meet industry standards, whether it's enhancing the aesthetic appeal or elevating the technical sophistication of your artefacts. Furthermore, you will learn the value of peer and expert feedback by actively sharing your work and seeking guidance from industry professionals. By the end of the module, you will have developed an industry-facing portfolio that showcases your skills and capabilities. This portfolio, accompanied by the necessary documentation, will prepare you to confidently apply and enter the creative industries.
On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:
- Analyse and discern appropriate sources of feedback and professional critique to enhance your own work.
- Evaluate and implement techniques for presenting yourself and your work with a high degree of professionalism
- Utilise feedback from peers and professionals to enhance professional practice
- Construct a compelling showreel showcasing your work, tailored for prospective employment opportunities
- Create, develop and maintain an online presence to cultivate a professional identity and network.
Study your 3D specialism in depth with small practical technical projects.
This module will help you to discover and critically assess valuable sources of information. You will cultivate a robust research methodology and enhance your skills for ongoing self-improvement and learning within your field of interest or specialisation (e.g. Character Artist, Environment Artist Modeller, 3D Animator, Motion Editor, Motion capture technician). Emphasis will be placed on applying research to tangible outcomes such as tests, experiments, and prototypes directly relevant to your projects. Additionally, you will actively engage in industry research including keeping abreast of industry developments in your specialist areas.
On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:
- Gather, assess, and organise a body of research material relevant to specialist practice
- Research with professional practices, methods, and industry trends relevant specialist field
- Undertake a systematic series of tests to evaluate unfamiliar methods and workflows in a specialist field
- Present a coherent and structured body of research and practice related to your chosen specialism.
To find out more about this course, please download the 3D Animation for Games and Film BA course specification (PDF).
Innovative teaching and learning
Our innovative teaching methods combine theory, hands-on workshops, and real-world projects. Guided by expert academics, and industry professionals, you’ll develop practical skills through interactive sessions and collaborative projects. We'll help you gain essential knowledge, explore new ideas, and develop your creative identity.
You will learn your subject by attending lectures, seminars and practical workshops.
All modules are taught in a hands-on “studio” style with training and instruction in the morning and workshop activities in the afternoon to apply what you’ve been taught immediately to your coursework. At the end of each studio day, a daily review of what you’ve achieved gives immediate feedback from your supervising tutors – just like the daily reviews used in the industry.
Lectures allow you to gain and develop knowledge in specific subjects. You can discuss and develop your understanding of topics covered in lectures and practicals in smaller seminar groups.
Seminars and workshops are a great opportunity to discuss what you have learnt with your peers and tutors. Most seminar groups have about 25-30 students.
For one-to-one support, you will meet with either your personal tutor or module leader. We will also share our library of online resources. Your work will be divided into credits. Each credit is equal to 10 hours of study time. You will complete 120 credits per year of study, which are broken down into modules of typically 30 credits.
Outside of teaching hours, you’ll learn independently through self-study which will involve reading articles and books, working on projects, undertaking research, and preparing for assessments including coursework and presentations.
Your independent learning is supported by the library and study hub, open access computer labs, and with online materials in MyUniHub. You will also receive hands on support from technicians, tutors, graduate academic assistants and student learning assistants.
Here is an indication of how you will split your time.
Year 1
Percentage | Hours | Typical activity |
---|---|---|
25% | Teaching, learning and assessment | |
75% | Independent learning |
Year 2
Percentage | Hours | Typical activity |
---|---|---|
25% | Teaching, learning and assessment | |
75% | Independent learning |
Year 3
Percentage | Hours | Typical activity |
---|---|---|
25% | Teaching, learning and assessment | |
25% | Independent learning | |
50% | Practice-based learning |
Whether you are studying full or part-time – your course timetable will balance your study commitments on campus with time for work, life commitments and independent study.
We aim to make timetables available to students at least 2 weeks before the start of term. Some weeks are different due to how we schedule classes and arrange on-campus sessions.
During your first year, your weekly timetable will typically consist of:
- 4 hours of lectures
- 10 hours of workshops.
Our excellent teaching and support teams will help you develop the skills relevant to your degree from research and practical skills to critical thinking. Our Sheppard Library is open from 7am to 11pm Monday to Sunday during term time. And we offer free 24-hour laptop loans with full desktop software, free printing and Wi-Fi to use on or off campus, even over the weekend.
Your knowledge and understanding will be assessed by project based coursework including artistic outcomes, production materials and supporting documentation together with regular presentations of work-in-progress at daily review sessions. Your skills will be assessed by monitoring and recording small observable behaviours in workshops and group learning, together with testing practical skills in workshops through small, focussed problem solving tasks.
There will be feedback from industry mentors where suitable, peer evaluation through the exchange of practical work and
individual and group critiques of work in progress.
3D Animation for Games and Film facilities
Our facilities are second to none and include:
- Industry-standard software including Maya, Blender, Cinema 4D, Arnold, Zbrush, Mudbox, Substance Painter, 3D Coat, Topogun, Unreal Engine, Unity and the Adobe Creative Suite
- Dedicated suite of 25 high-spec workstation specialists computers, as well as an 80+ workstation, open access, ‘Digital Media Workshop’ all with Wacom drawing tablets or Cintiq screens
- Remote access to workstations from home
- Over 20 VR Devices, including Oculus Rift Consumer Version with Oculus Touch, HTC Vive, Gear VR and PS VR
- A £100k Motion Capture studio and Green Screen room set up for Virtual Production
- An art and design library with over 75,000 books
- A state-of-the-art 3D printing studio
- Traditional darkrooms
- Professional Sound / Music Recording Studio and Mixing Desk
- Digital Media Labs
- 3D Workshops
You can also hire specialised equipment for your assignments and there is a wealth of specialist technical help in our workshops from professionals who are dedicated to helping you achieve excellence.
Entry requirements
We accept students with a wide range of qualifications, including combinations of qualifications. Our most common entry qualifications can be found below:
Qualifications
- UCAS points
- 112 UCAS points
- A Levels
- BBC
- BTEC
- DMM
- Access requirements
- Overall pass: must include 45 credits at level 3, of which all 45 must be at Merit or higher
- Combinations
- A combination of A-Level, BTEC and other accepted qualifications that total 112 UCAS Tariff points
Our entry requirements page outlines how we make offers.
If you have a qualification such as a foundation degree or HND or have gained credit at another university, you may be able to join us in year two or three. Find out how you can transfer courses.
If you have relevant qualifications or work experience, we may be able to count this towards your entry requirements.
Portfolio
Entry onto this course requires a portfolio review, please see more information in the Portfolio tab.
Mature students (over 21)
We welcome applications from mature candidates, including those without formal qualifications if you can demonstrate relevant experience and ability.
We welcome students from the UK and all over the world. Join students from over 122 countries and discover why so many international students call our campus home:
Quality teaching with top facilities plus flexible online learning
Welcoming north London campus that's only 30 minutes from central London
Work placements and networking with top London employers
Award-winning career support to get you where you want to go after university.
Qualifications
We accept a wide range of international qualifications. Find out more about the accepted qualifications on your country's support page. If you are unsure of the suitability of your qualifications or would like help with your application, please contact your nearest international office.
Interview
You will not be required to interview for this course.
Portfolio
Entry onto this course requires a portfolio review, please see more information in the Portfolio tab.
English language
You will need to meet our English language requirements. And, don’t worry If you don't meet our minimum English language requirements, as we offer a Pre-sessional English course.
Visas
To study with us in the UK, you might need a Student visa. Please check to see if this applies to you.
After you have applied, we will send you a link for you to submit your portfolio online via the applicant portal.
Please apply via UCAS using this UCAS code W616.
Interviews
You won’t be required to attend an interview for this course.
Need help with your application? Check out our undergraduate application page.
Careers
How can the 3D Animation for Games and Film BA support your career?
This course will give you a solid foundation in 3D fundamentals and will challenge you to explore a wide range of creative specialisms such as virtual production, concept art, compositing, environment art, 3D animation, motion capture and character art.
You will be prepared for a range of industries which depend on 3D graphics. The focus on real-time graphics opens up opportunities to become game artists, specialising in characters or environments, as well as enter the TV or film industry as a virtual production practitioner. Graduates have gone to work in industry leading companies such as Disguise, Target 3D, The Foundry, DNeg, ILM Rockstar Games, BlueZoo and Proof Inc.
Students also have the chance to visit Industry networking Events such as EGX Rezzed and Vertex Conference.
We have strong industry links, with a regular programme of industry guests. Past visiting lecturers have included:
- Paul Chung, 3D Animation Director at Dreamworks and Warner Bros
- Kitty Taylor, BAFTA winning animation director of Charlie and Lola
- Merlin Crossingham, animation director of Wallace and Gromit at Aardman Animation
- David Surman, Pachinko Pictures
- Alex Robinson and Danny Boyle, founders of Treat Studios
- Vincent Aupetit, previously of previz studio, The Third Floor
- Talent scouts and recruiters of major game and film studios.
Student support and inclusion
Fees and funding
The fees below are for the 2025/26 academic year:
UK students1
Full-time: £9,535*
Part-time: £79 per taught credit
*Subject to the government’s proposed increase in the tuition fee cap receiving Parliamentary approval3
As a part of our commitment to an excellent student offer at Middlesex University, we pledge to invest the additional money from tuition fee increases into the student experience, and we are consulting at present on what these improvements will be and will follow up with further details.
International students2
Full-time students: £16,600
Part-time students: £138 per taught credit
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