Universities - UK

[brwnbread]

Hey everyone..

I live in the UK, and im looking for a good university to go to and study 3D Modelling with(maybe) animation - so game design basically...

tbh, UCAS wesbite is a pile of **** and isnt very clear.

anyway, specifically, i would like to know...
-Are there any courses that DONT do much programming?
-Am i supposed to want to do programming in this course?
-Does anyone know of any good universities in the UK?
-Is the TImes University guide good for judging universities for this course
-Any more advice on the matter?

um, Im 17 and im just finishing AS level exams

thanks :)

[Kilkus]

Well theres quite a few universities in the uk which offer the type of course you wish to attend.
To name a few you have Bournmouth, Teeside, Derby and Staffordshire and many more, all of them offer a modelling/games design course. I currently attend Staffs uni and am going into my 3rd year of Games design in september theres also a few other members on here who are from Staffs uni, notably mike_k, harley and one of our lecturers is on here also tho i forget his username.
In terms of the course it gives you all the tools you need to start a career in 3d, your expected to put in alot of time yourself as there obviously no way you can be taught everything, its basically what you put in you get out at the end of the day. The module cover a wide array of subjects for example body modelling (muscles of the body, topology etc) facial modelling and animation, character animation etc etc so you get a good grounding in all areas.
We mainly use 3ds max, but some modules do envolve using maya. and we also have a few lectures involving zbrush 3. If you want to know anything about the uni just give me a shout and i'll try to help.

edit: just to answer a few of them questions, theres no programming invovled on our course, but u can take a few programming modules as options if u really wanted to :S

[brwnbread]

Thanks for the reply

That sounds like a good course... but Times University guide rate it quite low =/, i dont know why...

was this your first choice of universities? or did you aim for a better one? (coz i think u get 5 choices?)

I looked at the other unis u mentioned, and they all score pretty low on that table...

i dunno though, maybe the times university guide isnt really for these kinds of courses... or something :S

[Mike_K]

Staffordshire uni does have a pretty good course overall. The thing that I dislike about our course is that it spreads you out over different modules, and it's more than likely you won't enjoy or be good at all of them, which later on made me feel like I was wasting my time not specializing. It can however be a good thing if you are unsure about what you want to do, probably by the end of the first year you will have a good idea.

The uni will give you the foundations to build upon and learn whatever you want and whatever you need to get job in the industry. They have some great lecturers, although it is to my knowledge a lot of them don't actually have much industry experience.

Oh, and in case this helps you decide on which one to go for, Staffordshire uni is a technology uni only, so.. we are talking only about 10% or less girls here. It's pretty bad if ur a guy ^^

[Ged]

Ive been doing design for interactive media at gloucestershire university, I would not recommend it, especially if you are already certain that you want to go into game design. Interactive media courses like this one are spread out into many different modules, internet, interface design, 2D animation, 3D animation etc etc. This gives you a good idea of what each entails...but thats all, just a good idea, not really the skills to actually survive in the industry. Teaching is minimal and not always very informative, Im talking 4 hours a week and the lecturers dont know what a normal map is.

Ive only managed to land a job as a 3D designer because Ive worked my butt off studying 3D modelling in my spare time.

[Jacky-Boy]

hey Brwnbread, :D
I was in exactly the same position 2 years ago, and I ended up going with the Bournemouth Computer Visualisation and Animation course. I'm still really loving it at the moment, even if it is almost 50/50 technical and art. It's quite a highly respected course in the industry, from what I've heard, and we do get a lot of companies coming in to give talks. Also Bournemouth is just an awesome place to study

[DreameR]

i go De Montfort University in Leicester. Im a 1st year, and Last september was the first time i opened a 3D program and if u check my link, ive come a long way since. Its solely 2D and 3D art, with no coding or programming or anything. You dont need to know a single line of coding to get a job in the industry. You can be an artist. Our teachers are people who used to work in the actual industry. Our main 3D teacher worked on loads of ps2 and psp titles so we get 1st hand advice. We get regular seminars from people within the industry. Previous graduates have gone to Rockstar, Codemasters, Blitz, Eurocom, EA and a cople others.
Check it out, i recommend it: www.dmu.ac.uk

good luck with your course search.

[brwnbread]

ok, thanks for the replies =D

youve all been really helpful

so far, i think Staffordshire and De Montfort University sound really good, and is the kinda stuff i wana study. Bournemouth has a more broader course, and im considering that too...

DreameR, with De Montfort University, it doesnt say which software they use and stuff, unless i have missed something. So can u fill me in? also, it says you need a portfolio.. in the 'portfolio advice' section, did you have all of the stuff mentioned there?

[DreameR]

DreameR, with De Montfort University, it doesnt say which software they use and stuff, unless i have missed something. So can u fill me in? also, it says you need a portfolio.. in the 'portfolio advice' section, did you have all of the stuff mentioned there?

We use, 3DS max, Zbrush, and Photoshop, and Unreal Engine as part of the course. But some of us use Mudbox, Maya, and the Crisis Engine too sometimes in our own time. Add me on MSN messenger and i'll be happy to tell you more: zetsutometsu@hotmail.com

[brwnbread]

We use, 3DS max, Zbrush, and Photoshop, and Unreal Engine as part of the course. But some of us use Mudbox, Maya, and the Crisis Engine too sometimes in our own time. Add me on MSN messenger and i'll be happy to tell you more: zetsutometsu@hotmail.com

OK, cool, i added you... my email is pav.plaha@hotmail.co.uk

anyone else can add if theyve got more advice

thanks

[Alexjh]

I would second what DreameR has said about De Montfort, as I'm just finishing my second year of the same course.

The only software you end up compulsarily using is 3DS Max and Photoshop, although as we are expected to learn normal mapping etc you will at least use Crazybump or possible Mudbox/Zbrush though it's not compulsory.

We do as much 2D stuff as 3D - I'd advise trying to learn some anatomy for your portfolio - as in get a person to pose for you so you can learn it by drawing - don't just do it from photographs.

Also - as this is in Britain and the chances of you working in that style proffessionally are slender to nil - don't submit manga in your portfolio, it won't help you because as it's not your style it's not really showing your own development properly and its not showing that you are able to take in the real world. If you have stuff with a hint of it thats probably ok if its well done, but by enlarge I'd avoid it. If you don't draw manga anyway then you can just ignore this whole last paragraph.

[C Wong]

I went to Wolves. It was a bit pants. The lecturers didn't seem to know what they were doing. I have learnt a lot more from these forums, which was a shame because it would have been better to have been taught properly. My advice would be to talk to the students and see what they are doing. During your holidays, pick up some programmes and start learning stuff. Tuturials are avaible everywhere online. Try youtube too for video tuts.

[C Wong]

Oh, one very important thing, decide what you are going to do. By that, I mean, game artist, Vfx, that sort of thing. Make your choice and stay true.

[brwnbread]

yeh, ive learnt a few things... as a hobby. Ive used, 3ds max, lightwave and zbrush.

i want to work as a character artist i think... but i would like to know how to animate and rig and stuff, just because

i mean like properly, with better techniques and stuff