Computer Games Modelling and Animation

Computer games modelling and animation is a specialist discipline within the games and digital media industry, concerned with the creation of the visual worlds, characters, environments and animated sequences that make games compelling experiences. It combines artistic skill and aesthetic judgment with technical proficiency in three-dimensional modelling, rigging, skinning, texturing and animation software, and it requires an understanding of how real-time game engines render and optimise visual content under the constraints of frame rate and performance. As games have grown into the largest entertainment industry in the world, the demand for skilled artists and animators who can work at a professional standard has grown with it.

At the University of Derby, this three-year full-time degree prepares you for this fast-growing sector through a curriculum that develops both your artistic and technical capabilities. You will learn to use industry-standard modelling and animation tools, create high-quality game assets and characters, understand the technical pipelines through which your work is integrated into game engines, and develop the artistic eye and portfolio that studios look for when hiring. The programme includes a foundation year, providing a supported route into the technical and creative content, as well as a sandwich year with work placement opportunities and a year abroad.

This combination of structured preparation and professional experience gives you a strong foundation for a games industry career. Typical entry is around 136 UCAS tariff points.

Graduates move into roles as 3D modellers, character artists, environment artists, riggers, animators and technical artists in games studios, visual effects houses, virtual production companies and animation studios. The skills developed also transfer into adjacent sectors including advertising, product visualisation, architectural visualisation, film visual effects and virtual reality. Many graduates build portfolio careers combining studio work with freelance projects.

Further study in animation, visual effects, game design or related digital arts is available for those who wish to develop specialist expertise.