Diploma of 3D Animation Production

What You Will Learn

The Diploma of 3D Animation has been created in a way that gives you plenty of face-to-face time with a network of expert creative practitioners and an opportunity to apply theory and best practices using the latest tools and software.

• Take a practical first look at illustration, modelling, lighting, shading, animation, and rendering to gain a holistic, foundational understanding of the 3D production process.
• You will engage in collaborative learning to produce a short animation in response to a client brief. You will also be guided through the production methods needed to pitch effective creative concepts to potential producers.
• To complement your technical skills, you will graduate with employability skills, introductory project management skills, and scholarly techniques for higher education.
• Upon completion, you will be eligible for up to 80 credit points toward the Bachelor of Animation.

The Diploma of Animation is stage 1 of the 3 stages of a Bachelor.

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.