Animation and Computer Games

General Information

Animation: An Overview
Animation: The Skills Needed
Animation: The Production Process
Jobs in 3D Computer Animation
What’s it Like to be an Animation Producer?
Computer Games: An Overview
Computer Games: The Production Process
Moving into Games
Games in the UK
Job Roles in Computer Games

Job descriptions and activities

Animator
Artist
Audio engineer
Games designer
Graphic designer
Illustrator
Lead artist a.k.a. Art director
Lead programmer
Level editor
Technical artist
Tester

Training

Bournemouth Arts Institute
Norwich School of Art and Design
University College Falmouth
University of Teeside
University of the West of Scotland
Glamorgan Centre for Art and Design Technology

Organisations and regulations

OFCOM
International Game Developers Association
International Animated Film Association

Directories and trade press

Broadcast
Screen International
Televisual
Animation World Network
3D World Mag
Imagine Animation
The Animation Industry Database

Video

Meet the Expert: Kuju Entertainment Lead Designer Harry Ravenswood
Being a Game Designer
Life as a Game Designer
Games in General
Getting a Job as a Game Designer
Making Games
Violent Games

4Talent Resources

Animation

“Have You Seen The Best?”: Ella Davies puts on her shades to investigate Aardman Animation’s first online offering.

Labours of Love: Thirteen years in the making, Christiane Cegavske’s dark stop-motion feature Blood Tea and Red String could just as easily have been titled Blood, Sweat and Tears.

Addictive Personality: Mixing live action and animation “like a messed up Disney” , director Steven Spencer is creating his own very distinctive world view.

Flipping Off: Flip 2007 showed the Midlands animation going from strength to strength with Corpse Bride puppets, stop-motion and … a paper aeroplane launcher?

Flip Festival 2006: Audio: Highlights from Wolverhampton’s third annual animation festival.

More from Flip 2006

Inspirations: Animation: Audio: Our podcast puts you in a room with Suzie Templeton, William Bartlett and Darren Walsh.

Animal Book: Edinburgh gears up to take a peek at West Midlands’ production outfit Second Home’s incredible animated short, The Animal Book.

Run Wrake: Video: Morphing from Howie B promos to Rabbit, an animation inspired by 1950s educational stickers, Run Wrake talks about his distinctive style.

Radar Alert: Will and Ken Simpson know how to navigate NI’s new media landscape.

The Mind’s Eye: From furniture to fantasy with 3D animator Henry Broadhurst.

Farm Boys: Sowing the seeds for success in animation.

Get Animat3D: 3D for 3G – why award-winning animator Chris Ellingford is staying mobile.

Move It: Move It is a 4Talent e-Learning module designed to provide industry insights and practical tips on animation.

Animation in the UK: Is animation the new punk? Possibly, says Will Hogan, but do keep your voice down.

The Unlimited Dream Company: Audio: It’s a jungle out there as Madagascar writer Mark Burton discovers when he heads to Hollywood.

A Bright Gem: Gemma Amos is using collage, photographs and mixed media to create a very British style of animation.

Motion Capture

Heavenly Motion: Lydia Baksh on donning the motion capture suit alongside Lord of the Rings’ Andy Serkis in Playstation 3’s Heavenly Sword.

Gaming

Sugar Rush: “Part story, part game, part puzzle”. Alternate reality games are on the rise.

Down to a Teeside: Why these gaming grads staying put in Middlesborough?

Serious Gaming: Video: blood, guts and quick thinking – not the latest edition of GTA, but the new gaming technologies saving lives.

GameCity Festival 2006: Audio: Highlights from the inaugural GameCity Interactive Entertainment Festival 2006.

Taking the Racing Line: As SEGA’s Racing Studio prepares to release its first title, we ask if next-gen consoles are a big player’s game.

Gaming Ground: We’ve grown up with games. From your old Atari to the latest handhelds, no longer confined to a chunky box, games are mobile, in school, a learning tool. They’ve even got games for your granny to stop her going simple.

Yoostar: With so many popular titles devoted to football, fast cars and fighting, it’s unsurprising that women video gamers remain in the minority.

The Edutainers: Taking the playground to the classroom with game-based learning.

Remote Control: Long hours slaving over a hot video games console tend to slash rather than stiffen job prospects, but Fraser Macinnes turned high scores into hard cash by putting his skill with a joypad (and a keyboard) into freelance internet video games journalism.

Games Development

TITS or GTFO: In the online multiplayer gaming industry repelling talented women with sexual bullying?

Dare to be Digital: Video: The summer break… these students from London and South East universities can forget about a leisurely vacation as they’ve got to knock up a fully functioning video game prototype for Dare to be Digital.

Dare to be Digital Continued

Duck and Dive: The frontier days of console gaming may belong in the mists of time… but in the online gaming world, pioneers like Robotduck are marking their territory in cyberspace.

Rules of Play: Gamers – could you be the next king of the mods?

Games Production: Video: Know your Wii from your PS3? Whether you’re a 3D artist, musician or programmer, games developers need you. Meet some of the industry’s leading practitioners at our Belfast Masterclass in games production and be inspired to pursue your own path in the field.

Games Production: The Panel

Dare Diary: Video: Dozens of students plunge into a 10-week whirlwind of intense activity designing and building a fully functioning prototype video game.

Dare to be Digital Competition: Video: Open to extremely talented students at Universities and Colleges of Art.

Peace Games: Video: After graduating from North West Institute’s interactive computer Entertainment course, four games enthusiasts from Derry set up Phooka Entertainment.

Building Blocks: We catch up with Germ winner Ben Cusack to talk about video games, the inspiration for KooZac and how Germ has affected his life.

Don’t Have to be a Geek: The games industry’s full of boob-worshipping, car-racing, metal-listening nerds right? Ella Davies speaks to four women working to break down the barriers…

Main image by Goodrob13. Some rights reserved.