Why study BA (Hons) CGI and Visual Effects transcript

00:00

Upbeat music plays over the top of clips of CGI work produced by Solent University students including, a spaceship flying across the screen, a man on a motorbike, lots of colourful shapes that join up to make a person and a walking bear

0:14:14

CGI and digital arts are really exciting careers and it's a really good time to be looking at moving into these at the moment. We're seeing a kind of combination, of both a market need for these skills, which we don't currently have in the Uk. We also are seeing exciting new technologies which are completely changing the way that people are working with these tools and what we really need is artists and if anybody's got that skill set it's a really good time to be invested and actually start to explore those skills and see how you can use them in exciting areas like CGI and digital arts. One of the reasons that CGI and visual effects and digital arts is really exciting at Solent, is primarily down to the way that we approach the subjects. Not only do we have a really exciting and invigorating curriculum that covers a lot of the core skills right down from drawing, through to more technical areas like coding and scripting and of course everything in between you'll be doing 3D modelling you'll be looking at visual effects. But also alongside this, we have some core subjects that span across all the different year groups. For example we have rushes and forums on mondays, which are a great chance for students to get feedback for both lecturing staff and also from maybe other students that are also studying different levels of the course. Alongside this, our industry forums are a great chance to have speakers come in and we normally find that across each week the students are in on site, we will have different industry speakers come in and talk to them about different skills, different ways that they might be employable, or different ways that they can be used in the creative industries to kind of help address that jobs shortage area that we're currently seeing.

Lecturer of CGI/VFX, Alex Scott is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera. Throughout are cutaways to clips of CGI work produced by Solent University students including, a Honda S2000 sports car, a women with alien eyes, a building built on the screen and interiors of a kitchen design, a space craft in space, a train leaving the station and changing colour from green to yellow,

1:50:10

The most important thing to help me prepare for my future career is probably the rushes sessions because, it kind of simulates a working environment because you obviously always get feedback from your employer when you work on certain things, because obviously they want it to look the best it can be. Obviously it's very beneficial to learn how to apply feedback and not to kind of get offended by it.

Student Alina Lowe is sat in a computer room talking to camera. Throughout are cutaways to a cgi rendition of a living room and cartoon characters,

2:24:02

The most important thing I've learned is time management. We're always getting set coursework that are due in four to six weeks and we always have to make sure we're producing high quality work in that small amount of time but it's great because that's what the industry is like - you're always set deadlines so you always have to make sure you can work to that.

Student Ciaran Locke is sat in a computer room talking to camera.

2:45:04

So when you're at Solent one of the things that we're really excited about is the range of facilities and resources that you have access to. All of the standard machines that we use in our main computing rooms have access to graphics tablets, they have access to dual screens, so the kind of conventional workflows that you might expect.

Lecturer of CGI/VFX, Alex Scott is talking over video of a cgi rendition of a boat, a cartoon character's room, hot air balloons, an interior design of a living room,

3:01:11

But we also have the media hatch which is where our students can go in, they can check online, they can access a range of resources from Canon cameras through to chrome balls and grey spheres. Things that they might use if they wanted to approach a conventional set capture process. And this is also a module where you'd learn a little bit more about these tools later on.

Lecturer of CGI/VFX, Alex Scott is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

3:19:21

The best thing about my lecturers is that they are very approachable and just easy to talk to and the whole atmosphere is basically very chill. And they give very good advice as well and they reassure you and they want you to feel good about your work and not being afraid to put it out.

Student Alina Lowe is sat in a computer room talking to camera. Throughout are cutaways to cgi images of a forest, a futuristic spaceship and a sports car.

3:46:16

One of the things that's really exciting, is alongside our events we also have access to Solent Creatives, a great opportunity where our employer briefs come in, you'll be paid for the work that you do and we will team straight up with an employer on a live brief. This is something that quite a few universities approach in different ways but for us, one of the things that's unique is that you'll be working with a supportive team you'll also be working direct with the employer and you're being paid. And that's something that you can do in place of, at times, with some of your assessments or alongside. So employability is a big focus at Solent, something that we're really keen to drive forwards.

Lecturer of CGI/VFX, Alex Scott is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera. Throughout are cutaways to cgi work made by solent students including an ancient Egyptian building and a clock tower.

4:20:04

I would recommend this course to anyone who's interested in films or games, as they start with the basics and over the years you get more and more advanced. And by the time you finish here, whatever you're interested in, you have those skills right there to prepare yourself.

Student Ciaran Locke is sat in a computer room talking to camera. There is one cutaway to student cgi work of a desolate landscape.

4:37:07

One of the things we're particularly proud about is that our rookies achievements - across the last couple of years - we've seen ourselves come into the rookies as a competition and we've actually pushed ourselves up and we're now considered within the top 50 schools in the world for the kind of creative sector and in particular with our course we're now up in the top five in the UK. So it's a really good time to be joining and looking at Solent CGI and visual effects and digital arts courses.

Lecturer of CGI/VFX, Alex Scott is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

5:00:00

Upbeat music plays, then fades out. Cuts to graphic that says, 'Get ready for university', www.solent.ac.uk, fades down, and fades up Solent University logo. [Video ends]