Animation: Bachelor of Animation

What You Will Learn

Animation is pure imagination. Few industries allow you to mix art and technology to create what has never been seen before. Animation is also a profession where technical expertise and application are as important as raw talent, and this is where SAE comes in.

Our Bachelor's degree is all about building your character and credentials by giving you hands-on experience in a broad range of topics related to the Animation and Computer Graphics industries, such as:

• Character Animation (2D/3D)
• Visual Storytelling
• 3D Modelling & Computer Graphics
• Visual Effects & Motion Graphics
• Applying Focus To An Industry Specialisation Role (e.g. Animator, Illustrator, 3D Artist, VFX Artist, Rigger, 3D Character Artist)
• Producing A Polished Major Project Utilising Your Specialist Role Skills

As a student of Animation at SAE, we offer small focused classes and mentoring opportunities you may not find in a larger university. Develop and apply advanced techniques and strategies to use industry software like Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max, ToonBoom Harmony, Substance Painter, Unreal Engine 5, SideFX Houdini, Foundry Suite, Pixologic ZBrush and Adobe Creative Suite - to help bring your ideas to life.

Your growth and development as a creative practitioner will be assessed through the completion of industry-based projects. This will help you build a body of work and a portfolio to share with potential employers or first clients.

In preparation for an industry that commands agility and adaptability, you'll cut your creative teeth on projects in partnership with your course peers. As your skills develop and you work on more dynamic projects, you'll apply your capabilities to cross-discipline projects. By the end of your course, you could be collaborating with fellow students across all SAE disciplines.

With a Bachelor of Animation, you'll be ready for cutting-edge industry roles using modern creative business concepts and strategies. Career options include 3D or 2D Animator, Motion Graphics Designer, Junior Rigging TD, Surfacing Artist, or Junior Lighting TD.

Ultimately, this is all about a qualification that will expand your career. There is work placement as part of your course, to provide practical experience and help build your network. We'll also equip you with employability skills, giving you professional strategies in communication and self-promotion.

Activate your dream career in Animation and make it a reality with SAE.

The Bachelor of Animation is broken up into three distinct stages, each designed to develop different skills.

• Develop the essential technical animation skills and the knowledge required to collaborate with other creative media students and professionals.
• Credit points: 10 Develop your reflective, critical and analytical skills and abilities through an enhanced awareness and understanding of the purpose of tertiary education from a personal, societal and professional perspective. In class activities are used to prepare you with the skills and confidence to engage with a range of scholarly frameworks that you will encounter throughout your studies. You will explore the animation discipline through a team presentation, where you will develop group working, thinking and learning skills.
• Credit points: 10 As a practice, drawing provides a core skill set for the expression of both concept and form. This unit introduces you to the concepts and methodologies of drawing using a variety of media with an emphasis on drawing from life, including anatomical studies and perspective techniques for environment and character construction. The unit is an introduction to the general practice of drawing and rendering and specifically helps to scaffold further learning through support for developing sketch-based visual production skills & knowledge.
• Credit points: 10 Take a practical first look at modeling, lighting, shading, animation, and rendering to gain a holistic, foundational understanding of computer graphics. This unit will involve using industry-standard software such as Autodesk 3Ds Max, Maya, and Blender. The practical and theoretical knowledge of 3D production pipelines acquired in this unit will act as a foundation for successive animation units.
• Credit points: 10 As the name suggests this unit provides you with an introduction to animation. You will apply the theoretical underpinnings of animation processes via a range of practical explorations and critical analyses. This will provide you with a solid understanding of animation principles and methods that will form the foundation of successive animation units.
• Credit points: 10 This unit explores the concepts of entrepreneurship, innovation and project design. You will develop approaches to identify promising opportunities and actionable strategies to transform them into tangible successes. Through exposure to developing new ideas, processes and ways of working - both individually and in entrepreneurial teams - you will hone skills to put creative ideas into practice and achieve real-world impact. As Alan Kay explained, "The best way to predict the future is to create it", so let's get at it!
• Credit points: 10 In this unit, you will apply and build upon the foundational animation and computer graphics skills and knowledge that you have learned, to advance your skills via some in-depth, practical activities of 2D/3D character modeling and applied animation techniques. By undertaking a series of iterative tasks, your static models will become talking moving characters and you will develop the skills and knowledge required to showcase them effectively.
• Credit points: 10 This unit is designed to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of visual storytelling and composition principles and the practical skills to communicate intended narratives effectively through pre-production materials. You will learn to utilise industry-standard pre-production software tools to create previsualization sequences, enabling you to simulate camera movements, pacing, and shot composition. Through hands-on exercises and project work, you will develop the necessary expertise to produce high-quality previs and animatics, essential elements in modern filmmaking and animation pipelines.
• Credit points: 10 You will be introduced to the theory and principles of storytelling across a range of contemporary creative media contexts, which will then be applied to the creation of storytelling documents appropriate to your discipline. Theoretical approaches to plot, structure, character, story world, theme and genre will be explored and applied to a range of story development tools to engage your audience. Feedback processes and reflection are essential in the development of engaging stories, and you are expected to document your process and feedback from your facilitator and peers.

Broaden your scope to work on complex multidisciplinary projects in accordance with industry standard practices.

• Credits points: 10 In this unit, you will collaborate on interdisciplinary projects that blend creativity and technology across fields such as film, audio, music, gaming, design, and computer science. Through project-based learning, you'll explore how different disciplines contribute to innovative outcomes-like immersive installations or interactive experiences. The unit focuses on strengthening communication, problem-solving, and teamwork across creative and technical areas. You'll be challenged to apply your existing skills while embracing new perspectives and ways of working, developing a holistic understanding of contemporary media production and preparing you to deliver complex, boundary-pushing creative solutions.
• Credit points: 20 In this studio unit, your facilitator will lead you through a series of project briefs. You will work in collaboration with your peers to develop several project milestones within a simulated studio environment. Your Facilitator will act as your project manager, executive producer, mentor and colleague. The emphasis in this module is on the further development of your fundamental animation production skills including conceptualising, planning and executing rapid animation productions and short films. Working to a clear timeline, you will explore a range of skills and workflows in collaborative, cross-discipline and individual work practices. This includes a focus on the creative, technical and project management aspects required to complete animation productions. Teamwork, collaborative skills and engagement with specific feedback processes are emphasised in this module, as you further refine and reflect on the related Transferable Skills for this module.
• Credit Points: 10
• Credit points: 10 Creatives have always contributed to real-world problem solving, whether through innovative inventions, creative calls for action, public awareness building, or art and science collaborations. In this unit you will use your interdisciplinary collaboration skills to address a real-world problem. Using different theoretical frameworks within a 'hackathon' style studio environment you will produce a prototype that can be presented within SAE, as well as to external stakeholders.
• Credit Points: 10 ANI217 Cinematic Animation explores advanced character animation techniques for linear narratives. The focus is on bringing characters to life and clearly communicating a story through body language, dialogue animation, facial expression and shot composition. By combining acting theory with animation principles, students develop the skills necessary to create compelling and expressive character performances, enhancing their ability to breathe life into animated narratives with authenticity and depth. Students will apply their previously acquired knowledge alongside newly acquired skills to create a completed cinematic animation production, solidifying their proficiency in the art of cinematic storytelling through animation.
• Credit Points: 10 ANI218 Game Animation focuses on the creation and integration of both 2D and 3D animation for games and other interactive applications. Covering topics such as player locomotion, responsive gameplay animation, animation cycles and technical animation, students gain practical skills essential for crafting immersive gaming experiences. Through hands-on projects and theoretical exploration, students develop proficiency in animating characters to enhance player engagement and gameplay dynamics, preparing them for success in the field of game animation.
• Credit Points: 10

Execute a project of your own design which is of a high quality and externally published, with the knowledge to commercialise if you choose. You'll also apply your skills through industry work placement.

• Credit points: 10 In this unit, you will develop a concept into a significant and impactful project that showcases your skills and knowledge in your chosen field. This unit emphasises the importance of developing projects with real-world significance, aiming to cultivate skills in critical thinking, creativity, and effective communication. By the end of this unit, you will have a well-defined project concept, a viable prototype, and a solid project plan, all setting a strong foundation for your Capstone Project.
• Credit points: 20 This unit aims to bridge the gap between academic learning and industry practice, ensuring that students are well-prepared for their Major Project (CIM316 & CIM330) and Work Integrated Learning (CIM310) in Trimester 5 and 6 and their future careers in the animation industry. ANI315 is designed to place students in a practical, real-world animation project, emphasising collaboration, client engagement, and preparation for their CIM316 Major Project Development and CIM330 Major Project Production. The Collaborative Production Output from the ANI315 Project 2 could be a component of the CIM316 project idea or an original and unrelated proposal. In addition, if a student is enrolled in ANI305 Specialisation Mentorship, there is the option to align that unit's Polished Specialisation Output with the group project Collaborative Production Output in this unit, with the facilitator and UC approval. Students will work in multidisciplinary teams to create a highly-polished animation, computer graphics or VFX project for a real or simulated client, ensuring that they apply and expand their specialised skills while learning the intricacies of client communication, project management, and team dynamics.
• Credit Points: 10
• Credit points: 20 CIM330 Major Project Production, along with CIM310 Work-Integrated Learning and CIM312 Major Project Development, form the final capstone experience of your undergraduate studies. In CIM330, you will build on the project plan and pre-production work that you have completed in CIM312. You will now complete the production and delivery of your final creative work. This will include the execution of the marketing and distribution plan developed in CIM312. Broadly speaking, this unit is about production and exhibition. You will apply all of the production processes and procedures you have learned over the course of your degree and record these in your Documented Professional Practice as a means of demonstrating your progress and contribution within your team. In this unit, your final project will now move into its production phase. Over the coming weeks, you will work collaboratively to deliver your creative work. You will apply the processes and standards you have learned throughout your learning at SAE. You will keep a record of this production process via Documented Professional Practice and deliver the production documentation appropriate to your project. Your CIM330 project supervisor will be a reference point for this documentation process. Your project supervisor will meet frequently with you and your team during the trimester and will work with you to control and guide the scope of your project. This process ensures that by the end of CIM330 Major Project Production you will have a portfolio piece that represents the sum total of your skills and experience, delivered on time and to specification.
• Credit points: 10 The transition from study to work is an important step for you as an emerging professional in the creative industries. Work Integrated Learning provides you with a professional experience opportunity that both complements and deepens the skills and knowledge you have gained from study. Placement requires a minimum of 80 hours at one or more host organisations.
• Credit points: 10 The aim of this unit is to introduce you to the core business structures, management frameworks and marketing strategies used by contemporary creative professionals. You will discover the key behaviours and practices of successful creative business people and the business principles they implement - strategies you can use in your own professional practice. This knowledge will assist you in effectively exploring your creative business niche, encouraging you to develop and operate as a sustainable professional within your chosen media field. Through an examination of marketing strategies and processes, you will be able to identify and target specific consumers and markets. You will then research and develop a product- or service-based business that meets the demand within these target markets. You will also develop fundamental marketing, promotional, communication, and financial skills essential to running a creative media business as well as exploring start-up methodologies and structures within the creative industries.