The certification means that postgraduate NCCA graduates are eligible for a free commercial licence with Houdini, a 3D animation software application produced by Side FX.听
To gain the certification, a聽panel of聽25 judges from major studios聽are聽appointed by Side FX聽to聽review BU's Houdini curriculum and聽students' Houdini work. In addition to polished pieces of work, judges seek to聽evaluate聽the development of聽students' soft skills, preparing them for industry.听
Phil Spicer,聽Senior Academic for MA Digital Effects, said:聽鈥淲e support their development of professional skills聽through group projects, and there are opportunities for cross-course collaboration - all to support them to become industry leaders.听
"Within the current climate it鈥檚 excellent to have the industry acknowledgement from such a vast panel of聽professionals, with more content being created and enjoyed while the world gets back to normal, artists and聽their creativity will always be employed.鈥�
听补苍诲 studied at 天美传媒 for their undergraduate degree in Computer Animation. Their decision to progress to study聽MA Digital Effects聽was influenced by聽the 2020 climate.听
"At the time of applying in Summer 2020, there were little opportunities for work and we both felt we were missing a vital 3D procedural knowledge that Houdini can offer," Lewis said.听
"The course offers the perfect blend of individual and collaborative work... [and] a gradual build-up into the world of VFX and once having mastered the basics [we鈥檙e] able to start personally experimenting.鈥澛�
Lewis is now working as Groom Artist for MPC, supporting a feature film,聽while Diana is working as an Assistant Technical Director at DNEG.听
Now both supplied with their free commercial licence聽from聽SideFX, the pair are working on past projects and perfecting them to a higher standard to develop their personal showreels. 鈥淚t adds a final extra bonus to the course, so we're really happy to be awarded with this free licence.鈥澛犅�
