MA Visual Effects Production (3D)

• In the studio you’ll work on industry designed briefs that replicate the real workplace. We give you experience of real life scenarios, such as dealing with briefs with varying requirements, deadlines and resources.

• This course is hands-on. You’ll be in the studio, working on high-spec hardware to master 3D skills. We have no more than 13 students in a class so you’ll get plenty of 1-2-1 time with your tutor.

• Experienced tutors. You can’t teach what you don’t know, so that’s why we employ the best. All of our tutors have worked in the industry and you’ll have industry feedback sessions during the course.
• AfterCare to help you get hired. Our alumni AfterCare package will help you polish your showreel and find the right job - with access to showreel clinics, studio access for 12 months and use of tons of resources on our VLE.
  

• You'll study in an environment that mirrors industry standards from day one, to give you a true taste of life in the workplace.

• You'll graduate with a globally recognised MA qualification from the University of Kent. Known as the UK’s European University, the University of Kent is ranked 23rd in The Guardian University Guide 2017

We pride ourselves on our industry powered training, that's why we partner with some of the world's leading studios on all our Escape Studios Postgraduate degrees. Previous partners for our 3D VFX courses have included Framestore, DNEG and BlueBolt to name a few. 

This is a great opportunity for you to receive industry standard critique from an expert in their field; personalised feedback will allow you to improve your work to guarantee it's studio ready.

Module 1 - 3D Foundation 

Week 1: Introduction to Maya

• The user interface
• Introduction to modelling
• Introduction to textures
• Introduction to lighting, shading and rendering

Week 2: Modelling

• NURBS curves and surfaces
• NURBS surfaces to polygons
• Polygonal modelling
• Topological rules

Week 3: Modelling continued

• Polygonal modelling continued
• Organic modelling
• Non-linear modelling
• UV mapping techniques (organic and hard surface)

Week 4: Colour and lighting

• Lighting - traditional cinematographic and photographic techniques
• Colour theory, three point lighting
• Natural lighting
• Indirect lighting techniques
• Image based lighting
• Matching lighting
• Advanced lighting

Week 5: Basic texturing 

• Hypershade
• Texturing masterclass
• Image manipulation with Photoshop
• Texture distressing with Photoshop
• Non-destructive texturing workflows
• Camera projection mapping

Week 6: Shading and rendering 

• Displacement mapping
• Maya nodes
• Raytracing (reflections, refractions and shadows)
• Shaders
• Material properties and case studies (MIA shaders)

Module 2 - Visual Effects 

Week 7: Tracking and integration

• Introduction to cameras
• Camera tracking with 3D equalizer
• Manual tracking techniques
• Advanced matchmoving techniques
• Lens distortion
• Camera lineup

Week 8: Digital sculpting and 3D painting 

• Texturing
• Sculpting/detailing
• Import/export workflow

Week 9: Advanced shading and lighting

• Mia material
• Advanced MentalRay nodes
• Advanced lighting theory
• Lighting effects

Week 10: Render layers and compositing

• Render layers and passes
• Introduction to Linux
• Introduction to compositing
• Compositing with Nuke (CG layers)
• Rotoscoping and keying with Nuke

Week 11: Animation and rigging

• Keyframe animation
• Path animation
• Constraints and rigging

Week 12: Project week

• Presentation

Module 3 - Advanced 3D for Visual Effects 

Week 13: Particles and expressions 

• Maya rigid bodies
• Constraints
• Introduction to particles
• Rendering particles
• Emitters
• Emission properties
• Fields
• Bullet dynamics
• Expressions and particle expressions
• Basic MEL scripting

Week 14: Houdini fundamentals

• Introduction
• Procedural modelling
• Digital assets
• Mantra
• Dynamics
• Shading

Week 15: Fur and hair 

• Fur basics, grooming, lighting and rendering
• Hair basics, simulation and styling
• Different uses of hair
• Dynamic fur

Week 16: Fluids

• 2D/3D containers
• Fluid contents and simulations
• Texturing and rendering fluids
• Fluid caches
• Bifröst
  

Week 17: Cloth

• Overview of Nucleus
• Introduction to NCloth
• NCloth solving and collisions
• NParticle overview
• Constraints
• Caching Nucleus solvers

Week 18: Project week

• Presentation

Module 4 - Visual Effects Collaborative Project

For this module you will be required to produce a project as a group in order to demonstrate your ability to choose correct techniques and approaches and to apply these to meet a specified professional brief.

Module 5 - Visual Effects Production Project

This is the major project where you will specify, refine and produce a substantial visual effects project. It will showcase your in-depth critical awareness of the area and the highly developed practical skills to deliver a complex project on time.

How will your work be assessed?

Formative assessment

Majority of modules contain at least one piece of practice or ‘formative’ assessment for which you receive feedback. Formative assessments are developmental and any feedback you receive for them do not count towards your overall module mark

Summative assessment breakdown

For your pathway modules (3D Foundation, Visual Effects, and advanced 3D for Visual Effects) you will be assessed as follows:

• 60% - Practical project
• 40% - Production logbook
• 10% - Individual presentation

For the Visual Effects module, you will be assessed as follows:

• 80% - Group project
• 20% - Retrospective group presentation

For the Production Project, you will be marked as follows:

• 60% - Production Project
• 40% - Written retrospective
  

• Maya

• Photoshop

• Mudbox

• 3D Equalizer

• Nuke

• Houdini

• Arnold
  

An undergraduate honours degree in Art and Design, Architecture, Computing or Engineering-related subjects.

We're also happy to consider applicants without a degree if you have significant industry experience in VFX or related fields. We'll ask suitable applicants to submit a creative portfolio and attend an interview.

Download and complete application form

On completion of the course you will graduate with a postgraduate qualification validated by the University of Kent and the technical skills required by the Industry, helping you break into the VFX world and make an impact.

3D artists often start out in junior roles, but can rise to become mid-level and senior role such as 3D generalists and Technical directors. From here the path is open to becoming a VFX supervisor.

Escapees from our 3D VFX courses have gone on to work at companies including: Framestore, DNEG, MPC, Milk VFX, Electric Theatre Collective, Jellyfish Pictures and many more.

Are you an EU student, looking to study in the UK? Take a look at our information for EU students.

Fees

£17,995

Includes:

• Free online primer course before you start studying - so your foundation skills are up to speed.
• Access to Escape's VLE system where you will be able to access additional resources to supplement your training throughout the duration of the course and 12 months of free access after completing the course.
• Escapee AfterCare and career support
• Help and advice on your CV, showreel and job applicationsFree Autodesk Software upon registration to the Autodesk Education Community - full details included with course welcome information.
• 18 weeks of classroom study followed by 12 weeks of remotely directed learning and a 15 week remotely directed final project. Our postgraduate fees are payable at the beginning of each academic year, or at each stage of your programme. Please note, we review our fees every year.

Our postgraduate fees are payable at the beginning of each academic year, or at each stage of your programme.Please note, we review our fees every year.

Funding for UK students

For the latest information and advice on student funding please contact our Admissions Team on admissions@escapestudios.com or call +44 (0) 207 348 1920.

For postgraduate entry in 2019; for students to be eligible for SLC funding, they must be studying a designated course. Courses at alternative providers, including Pearson College London (Escape Studios), are designated each year by the Department for Education.

We have designation for our validated postgraduate courses for the 2018-19 academic year and have applied for designation for the 2019-20 academic year, from the Department for Education and are waiting for a decision. Until the decision is received we are unable to confirm the availability of student support.

For students to be eligible for funding from Student Finance England, they must be studying on an eligible course at a provider registered with the Office for Students (OfS).The OfS is the new independent regulator for higher education in England and all higher education providers need to register with the OfS for their students to be eligible for student support in the 2019-20 academic year. We have made an application to register and expect a decision by the end of October 2018. No provider will be able to confirm whether student support is available until it has a decision from the OfS. Visit www.officeforstudents.org.uk for more information.

Scholarships

At Escape Studios we want to make sure that talented students with creative potential can succeed on our degrees, that's why we offer a range of scholarships. We are offering an £8,000 scholarship to one applicant for each of the 2019 cohorts of our MA Visual Effects Production (3D) postgraduate course, which will significantly reduce your tuition fee. Find more information about the scholarship and how to apply here.

Our MA Visual Effects Production (3D) course is now also eligible for a BAFTA UK Scholarship Programme. Find out more. 

Payment Plans

We also offer simple, affordable payment plans to help you spread the cost of your tuition fees. To find out more please get in touch with our Admissions Team.

Get in Touch

We can help with any problems or questions you have with course fees and funding. Speak to one of our Applicant Advisors via phone or email today! Call us on +44 (0) 207 348 1920 or email admissions@escapestudios.com.