Technical Art for Games & VFX (Integrated Masters)

If you love games, films and animation, have a passion for problem solving, finding creative solutions and being part of a team, then Technical Art for Games and VFX is for you.

Technical Artists are the bridge between code and art, they are the people who innovate solutions, write scripts, use code and maths in software packages and game engines that enable artists to make great graphics or ensure that FX simulations not only look amazing but are efficient. Technical Artists are highly sought after in industry with great employment opportunities across games, animation and VFX.

Taught by industry professionals, you will learn to create tools, scripts and FX simulations, developing graphics and solving problems for teams in the games, visual effects and animation sectors. You will have the transferable skills to work and support teams in both technical and artistic capacities across different real-time and graphics production environments, such as virtual reality and virtual production.

Why choose this course

• Ranked 1st in the world for Production Excellence in Immersive Media and 3rd in the UK (10th in the world) for Production Excellence Visual Effects by The Rookies

• Based in London - home to some of the best video games and VFX studios in the world

• Partnership with Epic Games - the first Unreal Engine Authorized Training Center in the UK and an Unreal Engine Academic Partner. Our certified tutors also run short courses for studios who want their staff to be trained in Unreal Engine

• We’re a Houdini certified school

• Work on industry-standard briefs, experience real-life scenarios and receive feedback on your work from external developers to learn about current development practice

• Successful alumni - you’ll join our community of thousands of Escapees, many of whom have gone on to work at some of the world’s top studios including Rare, Rockstar, Ubisoft, DNEG and Framestore. 47 Escapees worked on Avengers: Endgame, 26 on The Mandalorian, 23 on Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 and 16 on Stranger Things

• Study in a studio environment that mirrors current industry practice, using high-spec equipment and professional software such as Unreal Engine and Houdini

• Professional input - industry partners have helped design this degree to make sure it is relevant to employers and up to date

• All-round technical skills - learn software, skills and techniques for both games and visual effects and learn how the pipelines cross over

First year (Level 4 - 120 credits)

Students on our BSc / MSci Character Creation, Games Design and Technical Art degrees study common modules in their first year. This will give you the all-round skills needed to become a professional, and a chance to choose a different specialism if you change your mind before your second year (subject to availability).

Art direction and visual language (15 credits)
Introduction to 3D graphics (15 credits)
Introduction to technical scripting (15 credits)
Worldbuilding (15 credits)
Introduction to games design (15 credits)
Character control (15 credits)
Real-time FX (15 credits)
Interactive - jam group project (15 credits)

Second year (Level - 120 credits)

Programming for games & VFX production (30 credits)
Proceduralism in 2D and 3D (30 credits)
Specialism (15 credits)
Industry studio project (45 credits)

Third year (Level 6 - 120 credits)

Advanced specialism (30 credits)
Professional practice (30 credits)
Professional studio project (60 credits)

Fourth year - Integrated Masters students only (Level 7 - 120 Credits)

You’ll develop entrepreneurship skills needed to manage your own studio as a real business. You will be asked to organise yourself to work as a digital studio, working on projects that are viable and to a commercial standard. The modules of this final year will cover the crucial aspects that will define your studio's success.

Creative technology research and development (30 credits)
Commercial studio project (60 credits)
Business of innovation (30 credits)

Your work is assessed through practical assignments and retrospectives by a mix of tutor, peer, self-review and industry. In fact, industry professionals often review your project modules and share their personalised feedback with you.

To work as a teacher at a state school in England or Wales, you will need to achieve qualified teacher status (QTS). This is offered on this course for the following level:

• Course does not award QTS