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3D Animation
Learn 3D Animation from Industry Pros
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Earn Your Diploma in 3D Animation
Program Highlights
College for Arts and Technology’s Diploma in 3D Animation is an in-depth, career-focused program packed with the 3D animation training needed to get you working in this expanding industry! Taught over 18 months by working animation professionals, you’ll get the industry connections and in-demand skills to jump into your career in the 3D animation industry.
This hands-on program covers the professional and technical skills you’ll need to get noticed and hired, including:
- Character animation processes and principles
- Studio workflow etiquette
- Animation speed and development drills
- Acting and Character development
- Mocap clean-up and game engine implementation
- Creature/animal animation (body mechanics and acting)
- Foundational skills in traditional drawing and animation
- History and cultural significance of the animation industry
- Life Drawing (Including human and animal mechanics)
- Storyboarding
- Demo reel creation
- Industry standard software including Autodesk Maya
Our Grads Power the Arts and Tech Economy!
CAT’s creative and technical programs are directly connected to a creative sector that makes a $6 Billion contribution to the British Columbia economy every year. Graduates from our 2D and 3D animation, filmmaking, graphic design, audio engineering and other programs are among the over 120,000 skilled arts and tech workers employed provincially in this vibrant, constantly growing ‘creative economy’. Over the years, hundreds of CAT animation graduates have made their mark on the industry, contributing their skills and creativity to numerous award-winning projects. Industry accolades include five Oscar-winning works and over 40 movies, TV shows and games that have garnered Emmys, BAFTAs, and Game Awards including Game of Thrones, Fortnite and Spider-Man: No Way Home just to name a few!
Start Your 3D Animation Career
Animate Your Future
You want the best 3D animation courses. Here’s what our program will do for you:
Industry Connections
Animation industry professionals as your Instructors and mentors.
Let’s Get You Working!
Well-rounded, focused curriculum to get you successfully working as quickly as possible.
Degree Pathway Options
Established pathways with BCIT and University of Gloucestershire to further your education after graduation.
Top Tech
Latest technology, facilities and equipment in a dedicated animation lab classroom.
Become a 3D Animator
Where Our Award-Winning Alumni are Working
When you’re backed by exceptional curriculum and an education team focused on your success and individuality, the future of employment is bright. Here are just a few studios and organizations where our award-winning animation alumni have been thriving.
Alumni Feature
Experience the CAT Difference
Why the Best Choose Us
We understand that choosing a post-secondary school is a big decision that usually involves input from some of the most important people in your life. Tuition considerations, support after graduation and key industry connections – these are all part of choosing the best animation school for you.
Here are a few reasons why you’ll be happy you chose College for Arts and Technology:
Hands-on, employment-focused education.
Employment-focused programs delivering the soft skills you need for lasting career success and hands-on experience with the latest, industry-standard technology. Your career starts here!
Personalized support from start to finish.
Financial guidance? We’ve got you covered. Career advice after graduation? We wouldn’t have it any other way. You’re more than a student number to us. We create a personalized experience that you won’t get anywhere else.
More one-on-one time with your Instructors and mentors.
Small class sizes mean you get more facetime and critical feedback from your education team, to achieve real growth and success.
Quality you can fact-check.
College for Arts and Technology holds a full designation through Education Quality Assurance and the Private Training Institutions Regulatory Unit. You’ll only get the best at College for Arts and Technology.
Department Head
Sean Ridgway
After graduating in 1992, Sean jumped right into animating and developing CD-ROM games for an independent video game company in Oakville, Ont. In 1994 the attraction of the West Coast and the burgeoning Vancouver animation industry led Sean to work at major pre-production houses in the Lower Mainland such as ‘Studio ‘B’ Productions’ and ‘Bardel Entertainment’ designing for many television shows such as “The Magic School Bus”, and “Tales from the Cryptkeeper”. In 1996 ‘Disney’ came to Vancouver and over the next 4 years Sean helped animate many feature-length projects including the award-winning “Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas”.
Always looking for a challenge and a chance to broaden his skills, Sean accepted a position as a computer graphic artist on the ‘NBA Live” team at Electronic Arts Canada in Burnaby, BC.
In 2000, Sean started his teaching career, joining the ‘College for Digital Imaging and Sound’ as an instructor while working full-time in the industry. In 2002, Sean was offered the full-time position of Animation department head at the ‘Center for Arts and Technology’ in Fredericton, New Brunswick and decided to make the journey back east with his family.
Sean returned to BC in 2007 to join the Kelowna team and has been with the College for Arts and Technology for over two decades in the role of Department Head and full-time instructor.
To learn more about working in the Animation Industry, you can listen to our PODCAST with Sean on our Soundcloud Stream.
Quarter Descriptions
Here’s How You’ll Build Your 3D Animation Skills
You will be introduced to the practical skills and knowledge that are proven fundamentals of 3D animation, therefore laying the foundation for your entire 18-month program. This will be achieved through the introduction of Autodesk Maya that will be used consistently throughout your program and aid in the creation of, what will be, a regular end of Quarter demo reel. By the end you will display introductory knowledge/skill in the 6 basics of CG; modeling, texturing, rigging, lighting and rendering; Your introduction to the principles of animation is through traditional methods. In addition, traditional drawing as it relates to drawing the human form and perspective drawing and an introduction to the history and overall industry operations and trends that aid students in their motivation and knowledge around this career choice.
You will be introduced to the CG tools and pipeline of animating in Maya. The animation principles you were introduced to and how they translate to a CG medium will be a major focus of this as well. Parallel to this you will continue doing more advanced animation through traditional methods, while also continuing to study the human form/movement through life drawing studies and developing your visual storytelling and camera/film language skills through the art form of storyboarding.
You will continue to focus on animating in Maya through a more advanced study of body mechanics and an introduction to pantomime acting. Your traditional animation training will be complemented by introducing ToonBoom Harmony as a means of creating breadth and depth in your overall employability. Studies of the animal/human form/movement will continue, and 3D Layout will allow students to translate their visual storytelling and camera/film language skills from two-dimensional drawings into a CG medium.
CG animation training continues in Maya as acting to dialogue is introduced as your main focus. Complimenting this will be studied in acting for animation through film performance and genres. To further increase breadth and depth in your employability and understanding of organic movement and mechanics, creature animation will be studied along with the continuation of human/animal analysis through life drawing methods.
This quarter you will mainly focus on creating material for your final graduation portfolio and demo reel through more advanced CG animation studies of acting to dialogue and an introduction to animation specifically for gaming. Aspects of this training are now more self-directed with instructors taking on an increased mentoring role. Professional attitudes, studio practices, production schedules and networking are emphasized to a greater degree and put under more scrutiny, in addition to getting you prepped for this type of career.
Your final quarter is all about getting it done to the highest level. This is the culmination of all your hard work. Polishing your animation, creating a professional demo reel/portfolio site, job searching, networking and meeting the graduation criteria is your focus.
Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s Get You Answers
Experience is never a bad thing and we love it when program applicants have a passion for their industry of interest, and any applied skills are great too! However, formal knowledge and experience in animation principles are not required for entrance to this program. For complete application requirements, please book an appointment with an Animation Program Advisor.
We love it when applicants want to show off their talents and we’re excited to see your work, but a formal portfolio is not required for application to our 3D Animation Program.
For further details on admission requirements, please reach out to a 3D Animation Program Advisor at 1.866.860.2787 or by filling out our contact form.
All of College for Art and Technology’s programs are backed by a designation through the Private Training Institutions Regulatory Unit and British Columbia’s Education Quality Assurance Program. For additional information on our designation, please visit our Designation page.
We’ve got you covered here! Included in your tuition for the 3D Animation program, you will have access to all the hardware and software you’ll need to shine!
3D Animation students at CAT get to enjoy two dedicated classrooms on campus. You’ll take your animation drawing classes, including life drawing, traditional animation classes, and others in our Life Drawing Classroom, outfitted with drawing light tables, easels and anything else a budding artist could want. You’ll then bring your work to life in our Digital Animation Lab Classroom. This dedicated space is set up in similar fashion to real-world animation studios, complete with digital drawing tablets so you can get familiar with working in a studio setting before you ever apply for a position!
There are a number of reasons why CAT’s 3D Animation program stands out among the competition, including small class sizes taught by working animation pros, established pathways to universities around the world, mentorship, financial advising and support, and ongoing career guidance. Also, as a small and nimble institution, we have the ability to quickly adapt, giving our students the benefit of the latest industry trends and technology!
We maintain close connections with our animation industry partners and studios. Throughout your program, you’ll have info sessions with animation industry guests and you will be exposed to many real-world projects, and become familiar with the animation production pipeline. This early familiarity means that upon graduation, you’ll be more than ready to join the team at any animation studio around the world!
After graduation, you can count on continued support from our Education and Student Services team who will share animation job opportunities with you and provide connections and resources to help you find a placement you love!
We have excellent graduation employment stats from our 3D Animation graduates, so a Degree is not necessary for employment in this industry. You can enjoy the benefits of our small class sizes, mentorship, and focused education to get you working sooner! However, if you wish to carry on your education in pursuit of a Degree, we have established pathways from our program with the University of Gloucestershire in Scotland, and BCIT!
We love this question! While there may be some benefits to being a “jack-of-all-trades” as an animator, we firmly believe that the best route to lasting career success as an animator is specialization. When you stretch yourself to learn both 2D and 3D animation simultaneously, you may find yourself in future work situations where you feel out of your depth or comfort zone. At CAT, we’ve chosen to deliver 2D and 3D animation separately. We feel the differences between 2D and 3D are too great for students to get to the level of comprehension and mastery required by animation studios in the industry, even for entry-level positions.
So yes, you will have to decide on 2D or 3D animation before applying to CAT and our Advisors can assist with this decision. And don’t worry, if you decide to start in 2D, but feel drawn to 3D during your program, you can always transition to 3D and vice versa. No matter your path, we’re here to make this work for you. Book an appointment with an Animation Program Advisor, they can answer more in-depth questions and even arrange for a campus tour!
A day in the life of a 3D Animation student at CAT is varied and as a student, you may find yourself in a few different classrooms around campus. Schedules vary from Quarter to Quarter, so this is just an example of what you could expect.
If you drive, you’ll park your car in our student-designated parking lot and make your way across the Landmark Plaza to our campus! If you’ve opted to walk, bike or take the bus, you’ll find lots of great scenery on the short walk from the bike lock-up or transit stop to campus. You have a drawing class in the drawing room for your first block, Life Drawing, so you quickly check your backpack to make sure you brought your favourite sketching pencils. You’re really looking forward to this class; your teacher mentioned you’d be having a live model in class today! Next up is a class in the animation studio room! You love this room – filled with cool art on the ceiling and drawing tablets for every student. On the way to class, you remember you need to sign out a tablet pen from the Equipment Cage. So, you quickly stop by, say hi to the Campus Service Assistance Team, grab your pen and dash off to class. This class is Digital Painting and today you’re going to be learning how to make your own custom brushes in Photoshop!
After the second class, you have a free block, so you grab a spot in the Student Lounge and work on some digital painting for an upcoming assignment. Lunchtime! You take a break and hit up one of the many great eateries in the Landmark Plaza area. Mmmmm….pizza is on the menu today.
After fuelling up, you head back to the main campus building for a Professional Development class. Today you’re going to be diving into Personality Dimensions and starting on a self-portrait assignment. You’ll also be discussing how to find the balance between being a creative individual and securing success for yourself professionally, a topic we take great pride in at CAT. #nostarvingartistshere.
Time for your last class of the day; 3D Animation, so you head to class to get yourself set up. Today, you’re continuing work on a set assignment and today you’ll be working on creating realistic lighting in your scene. After class, you feel like you’ve earned some downtime, so you decide to meet up with some friends to play some Magic The Gathering at a coffee shop downtown. Let’s do this again tomorrow, shall we? New day, new classes, new opportunities.
Animation Degree Pathways
Our Post-Graduation Pathways
Our graduates boast exceptional employment stats, so a degree is not necessary to secure a career in 3D Animation. However, should you wish to further your animation education after graduation from our program, we have established pathways with BCIT and University of Gloucestershire. For more information, book a time to speak with one of our Program Advisors or check out our Pathways page.
Financial Aid For The Diploma in 3D Animation
The Financial Guidance and Support You Need
You have options available to you when it comes to financing your education with College for Arts and Technology. Our Finance team can answer any questions you may have on payment plans, bursaries and grants, and student loans. We believe in empowering people through education and proudly offer the support and guidance you need to ensure finances are not a barrier on your path to higher learning.
3D Animation was reviewed and approved by the registrar of the Private Training Institutions Regulatory Unit (PTIRU) of the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Skills Training.
This program is not eligible for the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program. Learn more about PGWP eligibility on the IRCC website.