3D Animation and Character Design ANC

Holland Code: A (Artistic)

What academic skills do I need to be successful in the program?

This list does not replace the admission requirements you must have for admission to the program. Please see the website for details.

General requirements

• This is a graduate certificate program meaning applicants need to have a Fine Arts, Media, or Design-related diploma or degree and/or work experience to enter the program.
• Applicants should have excellent drawing skills and a strong understanding of colour theory, composition, proportion, and body movement (human and animal).
• Advanced computer skills are required; especially with 3D Modeling and Animation tools. Students are required to work with a Graphics Tablet.

What personal qualities should someone interested in this career have?

• Be able to adapt their artistic style to different studios and different clients
• Imagination and artistic ability
• The ability to think logically and abstractly
• Keen attention to detail
• Take a methodical approach to tasks requiring precision (for example, preparing specifications, estimating costs)
• Ability to adapt to high-pressure working schedules and deadlines
• Ability to convey their ideas to others
• Work well with others as members of a team
• Consulting with clients
• Flexibility to move between specific roles as needed
• Patience

Useful background experience for this program would be

Previous education in the Arts, Fine Arts/Drawing and Technology, and/or development of an online portfolio.

What kind of work could I do when I graduate?

Graduates of this program may go on to become a

3D animator, character designer, environmental artist, texturer, effects artist, storyboard artist, or level designers for the film, video, animation, and game industries).

Places you may find yourself employed include

• Team-based game development studios
• Producing marketing and educational materials for the health care, sciences, or research industries
• Architecture or real estate
• Work for companies creating television commercials, industrial and commercial videos, and educational material

Typical working conditions for this kind of work:

• Sit for long periods
• May regularly get up to act out their characters in front of a mirror or in front of colleagues
• Work under the pressure of constant deadlines
• Working extended hours is not uncommon

Tasks a graduate may do in the workplace

• Develop an initial concept or story idea
• Develop character profiles and personalities based on the story
• Sketch a storyboard (visual script) for the project
• Gather reference materials for character and environment creation
• Digitally create, draw or build characters, sets, and graphics
• Rigging and texturing of character and environmental models
• Create animations using key-frames and/or motion capture data
• Import and integrate 3D assets into game engines
• Market animations by screening finished films at local film co-operatives or cinemas, broadcasting animations on the Internet, entering animations in film festivals, or showing them directly to broadcasters, film distributors, or computer game developers

Helpful links for further research into this Fanshawe College program and career opportunity

• Visual Effects Society (VES)
• Fanshawe’s library has prepared a subject guide for current students in this program. You may find the links and information provided very useful in learning more about this career.

Last Modified: January 11, 2024