Visual Effects

The Visual Effects (VFX) course equips students with the creativity and passion for the exciting world of visual effects with valuable production techniques and creative skills. Modules offered cover the entire VFX production process from conceptualisation to realisation, which ranges from storyboarding and rendering, to special effects and advanced post-production. Students are offered Applied Learning opportunities along their journey, including shooting film sets and scenes in an industry-standard green screen studio with top-notch equipment.

Character Rigging and animation

Utilising industry-leading software, students are introduced to the advanced levels of Maya in the areas of technical setup, character rigging and animation. Character rigging is the process of creating the skeleton of a 3D model which allows the model to be animated.

Students will gain a foundation in planning, executing and solving the technical areas of 3D elements that simultaneously integrates these skills with other aspects of pre-production, production and post-production. This hands-on project provides students with the skill and experience in incorporating various skills, platforms and mechanisms to achieve the desired impact in the industry.

Since we are heavily reliant on computers and software, if the system is down, it affects our rate of work and sometimes we have to put in extra hours. However, it did not stop us as we were fuelled with passion for visual effects.

EFFECTS ANIMATION

Building on the foundation of Effects Animation in year 1, this module will cover more advanced techniques using Maya, an industry standard software. Learning the art of creating explosion, fire, and water, students will explore scripting techniques to gain more control over the behaviour of how particles are simulated.

I think the most challenging thing I faced throughout my 3 years in VFX is managing time. We may not have exams but most of our assignments are
equally as stressful and time consuming.

Set Extension

Equipped with the techniques of creating matte painting and set extension, students are given the opportunity to plan, design and build visually interesting matte paintings to extend an existing environment that they have shot or built in computer-generated imagery (CGI). Through integrating two-and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) elements for realistic digital content, students will also advance their skill sets and increase the value they can offer in this niche but increasingly popular industry.

Being in a “subjective” course, in the sense that the visual works we create may appeal to us but not to our lecturers, we occasionally have to come up with completely new ideas which can be a challenge.