The School of Art offers a four-year, professional degree program leading to the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Visual Arts/Animation with a concentration in VFX Animation.
The concentration in VFX Animation includes training in 2D and 3D animation, dynamic effects, motion graphics, CG lighting, and audio, video, and extended reality classes offered in partnership with the Department of Media. Students use the latest industry-standard software such as Unreal Engine 5, Autodesk Maya, ZBrush, Unity, and the full Adobe suite (After Effects, Premiere, Substance Painter, and more).
Students begin in our First-Year Foundations Program which nurtures their interests and skills through classes in drawing, 2D, 3D, and 4D. In their second year, students are introduced to industry standard animation software and the principles of basic animation and design.
In their senior year, students engage in hands-on, collaborative projects with peers and faculty from both the School of Art and the Department of Media in ART 450 (Animation: Visual Effects Production). This course fosters interdisciplinary teamwork and creativity by bringing together students from diverse fields of study to create a large-scale VFX production. In addition, students in all concentrations of the BFA in Visual Arts/Animation collaborate on projects ART 490 (Senior Project) to prepare them for their professional careers.
Our VFX graduates are prepared for careers in commercial media contexts including creating visual effects for television, film, interactive platforms, and the web in roles such as simulation artist, hair groomer, water simulation, lighting artist, matchmover, compositor, matte painter, modeler, roto artist, or crowd artist.
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