BA (Hons) Visual Effects & Animation
London, United Kingdom
BA
DURATION
3 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Jan 2026
TUITION FEES
EUR 16,500 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* non-EU/EEA/swiss students 2-year accelarated programme
Learn the visual fundamentals that can bring your creative ideas to life with a BA (Hons) VFX & Animation degree.
What you can expect from your degree
Make your mark on the world of visual effects and animation with SAE’s innovative degree in animation. Immerse yourself in our unique blend of vocational and academic education as you learn motion design, 2D and 3D animation and advanced compositing. Master shot development, rendering pipelines and sophisticated simulation workflows, blending theoretical knowledge and real-world application from day one.
Immerse yourself in our unique blend of vocational and academic education as you learn motion design, 2D and 3D animation and advanced compositing. Master shot development, rendering pipelines and sophisticated simulation workflows, blending theoretical knowledge and real-world application from day one.
Have your fingers firmly on the pulse of industry trends while studying this forward-thinking motion graphics degree and bring your creative visions to life. You’ll develop advanced skills using a diverse toolkit of industry-standard software packages like Autodesk Maya, Substance Painter, Unreal Engine , SideFX Houdini, Foundry NukeX, Pixologic ZBrush, DaVinci Resolve, RayFire and Adobe Creative Cloud.
Available in an accelerated 2-year format across all our campuses, so you can embark on your exciting new career sooner, or as a more traditional 3-year programme, you can choose the course schedule that suits you best.
VFX like a pro
The interdisciplinary nature of our animation and visual effects course encourages collaboration across film, gaming and audio projects, offering a rich and multidimensional learning experience. SAE’s signature collaborative approach is designed to enrich your understanding of the industry and help you cultivate the skills needed to work across different creative mediums.
As you work towards your streamlined degree in animation and visual effects, you’ll gain skills and experience relevant to a range of career opportunities. Whether you’re looking to become a character animator, concept artist, illustrator, motion designer or anything in between, your career will have the best start at SAE.
As an SAE student you’ll have access to our team of Experts who will offer support during your animation degree and guide you towards a fulfilling career in the industry. Our practical approach to learning will see you graduate with a brilliant portfolio, highly relevant work experience and an invaluable network of fellow creatives.
1st Trimester
To begin your degree, you’ll develop essential technical skills across visual effects and animation, plus the knowledge required to collaborate with other creative media students and professionals.
- VFX (T1) - VFX Fundamentals
- VFX (T1) - 3D Fundamentals (VFX)
2nd Trimester
This trimester, you’ll work on complex multidisciplinary projects using industry-standard practices.
- VFX (T2) - 3D Rendering and Compositing
- VFX (T2) - Animation
3rd Trimester
In Trimester 3, you’ll be introduced to the professional working environment through a series of real-world project briefs. Our practical Creative Studio approach allows you to engage in authentic assessment activities that reflect current industry practices.
- VFX (T3) Creative Studio 1: Overview
4th Trimester
Your focus this trimester will be on developing an understanding of professional workflows for environment creation and real-time animation.
- VFX (T4) Creative Studio 2: Overview
5th Trimester
As you approach the end of your visual effects and animation degree, you’ll start to specialise within your preferred area of the motion design industry, advancing your skills by selecting from one of 3 optional modules.
- VFX (T5) Creative Studio 3: Overview
- VFX (T5) Advanced Specialised Production
- VFX (T5) Research and Professional Development in Creative Media
6th Trimester
The final module of this animation degree lets you demonstrate the practical and academic skills you’ve developed across your 2 years at SAE via a large-scale advanced-level project.
- VFX (T6) – BA/BSc Visual Effects and Animation Major Project
What you'll learn
At the end of your VFX & Animation degree, you will:
- Explore theoretical and practical concepts relevant to the VFX industry.
- Develop technical skills across 2D and 3D animation and visual effects, then conceptualise your own projects and bring them to life.
- Gain advanced skills in industry-standard software such as Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max, Substance Painter, Unreal Engine 4, Unity, SideFX Houdini, Foundry NukeX, Pixologic ZBrush, DaVinci Resolve, RayFire and Adobe Creative Cloud.
- Understand and navigate professional workflows for environment creation and real-time animation.
- Collaborate on projects with fellow SAE students from other disciplines, such as film, gaming and audio.
- Improve your problem-solving and teamwork skills.
- Develop a significant portfolio of work to present to the industry.
- Establish a network of peer and professional connections across a range of creative industries.
- Graduate career-ready with a visual effects and animation degree from a recognised creative institute.
- Animation and visual effects courses begin in January and September.
What jobs will this course lead to?
- Character Artist
- Environment Artist
- Technical Artist
- Production Coordinator
- Quality Assurance
- Motion Designer
- Lighting Artist
- Lighting Technical Director
- Animator
- Character Animator
- Illustrator
- Layout Artist
- 3D Generalist
- Concept Artist
- Graphic Designer
- 2D Artist
- Rigging Technical Director
- Compositor
- Freelance Artist
- FX Artist
- Roto Artist
- Previs Artist
- Matchmove Artist
- Texture Artist
- Look Development Artist
- Pipeline Technical Director
- 3D Modeller
- Visualisation Artist
- Matte Painter
- VFX Supervisor
- Art Director
The BA/BSc (Hons) Visual Effects and Animation degree is a fast-tracked 2-year course taught across 6 trimesters, or a more conventional 3-year degree which you complete over 6 semesters. It follows 3 distinct stages – each designed to help you acquire specific skills. Separating it this way sees you graduate as a well-versed VFX and animation professional with a thorough understanding of the production process from start to finish.
- Stage 1 (T1/S1 and T2/S2) provides a foundation of core technical knowledge.
- Stage 2 (T3/S3 and T4/S4) broadens your skills, exploring new areas of video effects and animation.
- Stage 3 (T5/S5 and T6/S6) is all-encompassing, covering every aspect of VFX and animation from conception to completion, including managerial aspects like project management, finance and promotion.