Associate Degree of Animation
BRING THE WORLD OF YOUR IMAGINATION TO LIFE.
Indicative Total Course Fees*
$53,236 AUD
* The Indicative Total Course Fee reflects the students are charged fees on a per unit basis and the fee for a unit may increase.
Complete your course faster by studying units over 15 months. (4 trimesters)
Complete your course faster by studying units over 15 months. (4 trimesters)
Whilst still classified as a full-time study load, you will complete the units over two years. (6 trimesters)
If you want to take a little longer, that’s ok too. We’ll help you work out the best study load to suit your needs.
Note: Part-time is not available for international students.
September 2023
February 2024
May 2024
September 2023
February 2024
May 2024
September 2023
February 2024
May 2024
September 2023
February 2024
May 2024
September 2023
February 2024
May 2024
September 2023
February 2024
May 2024
ASSOCIATE DEGREE OF ANIMATION
Animation is pure imagination. Few industries allow you to mix art and technology to create what has never been seen before. Animation is also a profession where technical expertise and application are as important as raw talent, and this is where SAE comes in.
Our associate degree is all about building your character and credentials by giving you hands-on experience in a broad range of topics related to the Animation and Computer Graphics industries, such as:
- Character Animation (2D/3D)
- Visual Storytelling
- 3D Modelling & Computer Graphics
- Applying Focus To An Industry Specialisation Role (e.g. Animator, Illustrator, 3D Artist, VFX Artist, Rigger, 3D Character Artist)
As a student of Animation at SAE, we offer small focussed classes and mentoring opportunities you may not find in a larger university. Develop and apply advanced techniques and strategies to use industry software like Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max, ToonBoom Harmony, Substance Painter, Unreal Engine 5, SideFX Houdini, Foundry Suite, Pixologic ZBrush and Adobe Creative Suite – to help bring your ideas to life.
Your growth and development as a creative practitioner will be assessed through the completion of industry-based projects. This will help you build a body of work and a portfolio to share with potential employers or first clients.
In preparation for an industry that commands agility and adaptability, you’ll cut your creative teeth on projects in partnership with your course peers. As your skills develop and you work on more dynamic projects, you’ll apply your capabilities to cross-discipline projects. By the end of your course, you could be collaborating with fellow students across all SAE disciplines.
With an Associate Degree of Animation, you’ll be ready for cutting-edge industry roles using modern creative production concepts and strategies. Career options include 3D Asset Modeller, Junior Assembly & Layout Artist, Junior Rigging TD, or Surfacing Artist.
Ultimately, a qualification from SAE in Animation will expand your career. As part of your course, you will be provided practical experience and work with others to help build your network. We’ll also equip you with employability skills, giving you professional strategies in communication and self-promotion.
Activate your dream career in Animation and make it a reality with SAE.
Career Outcomes
What jobs will this course lead me into?
3D Generalist
Character Artist
2D and/or 3D Animator
Media Industry Specialist
Motion Graphics Designer
Concept Artist
Storyboard Artist
3D Asset Modeller
3D Character Modeller
Junior Rigging TD
Surfacing Artist
Junior Lighting TD
Production Coordinator
3D Asset Modeller
Junior Assembly & Layout Artist
Jacinta Rochecouste
"During my time at SAE, I learned how to refine my discipline and accountability, to take direction and take lead with others and to ready myself for the industry with technical skills and a suitable folio." SAE Alumni | Current Job: Broadcast/Motion Designer
Alex Halstead
"Studying at SAE was a great launching pad into the world of 3D Animation - It gave me the necessary tools and information I needed to help get me ready for the industry." SAE Alumni | Current Job: FX Technical Director
Maree Railton
"At SAE I had the time and flexible guidance to create the kinds of projects I wanted to make. I found SAE great for creating my own path." SAE Alumni | Current Job: Animator (2D builder / Rigger)
SAE Associate Degree of Animation offers:
A collaborative learning environment where your teachers are also your mentors.
A range of approaches to learning and teaching - virtual and on-campus - that provides flexibility, real-world application and support for students.
Develop and apply advanced-techniques and strategies to use industry software like Substance Painter, SideFX Houdini and the Foundry suite.
YOUR CAREER IN ANIMATION BEGINS NOW
TOOLS & SOFTWARE
YOU WILL LEARN:
Course Structure
The Associate Degree of Animation has two stages that provide foundational learning and applied skill.
Develop your reflective, critical and analytical skills and abilities through an enhanced awareness and understanding of the purpose of tertiary education from a personal, societal and professional perspective. In class activities are used to prepare you with the skills and confidence to engage with a range of scholarly frameworks that you will encounter throughout your studies. You will explore the animation discipline through a team presentation, where you will develop group working, thinking and learning skills.
As a practice, drawing provides a core skill set for the expression of both concept and form. This unit introduces you to the concepts and methodologies of drawing using a variety of media with an emphasis on drawing from life, including anatomical studies and perspective techniques for environment and character construction.
The unit is an introduction to the general practice of drawing and rendering and specifically helps to scaffold further learning through support for developing sketch-based visual production skills & knowledge.
Take a practical first look at modeling, lighting, shading, animation, and rendering to gain a holistic, foundational understanding of computer graphics.
This unit will involve using industry-standard software such as Autodesk 3Ds Max, Maya, and Blender. The practical and theoretical knowledge of 3D production pipelines acquired in this unit will act as a foundation for successive animation units.
As the name suggests this unit provides you with an introduction to animation. You will apply the theoretical underpinnings of animation processes via a range of practical explorations and critical analyses. This will provide you with a solid understanding of animation principles and methods that will form the foundation of successive animation units.
This unit will introduce you to the mindset and skillset of the creative entrepreneur, and transform your approach to problem-solving. You will analyse historical and contemporary models of leadership and best practice in entrepreneurship, and use tools for project design that include ideation, problem framing, and pitching. The skills in this unit will assist you in developing your creative thinking, exploration, and experimentation methods, allowing you to experiment with project design and content for creative media.
In this unit, you will apply and build upon the foundational animation and computer graphics skills and knowledge that you have learned, to advance your skills via some in-depth, practical activities of 2D/3D character modeling and applied animation techniques.
By undertaking a series of iterative tasks, your static models will become talking moving characters and you will develop the skills and knowledge required to showcase them effectively.
In this unit you will engage in a collaborative studio-based learning environment, to produce a short animation under client direction and in response to a brief. You will be guided through your exploration of the production methods needed to pitch effective creative concepts to potential producers.
By working in small groups (and in accordance with the SAE Group Work Policy), various creative and organisational challenges will be encountered throughout this process, requiring the application of appropriate project management techniques to help ensure the brief is successfully met.
In CIM210 you will be working on interdisciplinary projects that relate to some of the most important concepts in contemporary media production. You will learn practical and analytical skills in order to help you develop your creative powers and meet briefs that take you out of your comfort zone. You will need to bring all of the skills you have learned so far: technical skills, research skills, communication skills and a growth mindset, and be prepared to encounter new concepts and new ways of working.
In this studio unit, you will work collaboratively on a series of projects set by briefs and led by your Facilitator. In collaboration with your your classmates, you will work towards developing several project milestones within a simulated studio environment with your Facilitator acting as your project manager, executive producer, mentor, and colleague.
Emphasis will be placed on advancing your development of the fundamentals of animation production through conceptualising, planning, and executing rapid animation productions, short films and contributing towards a portfolio. Working to a clear timeline, you will explore a range of skills and workflows in collaborative, cross-discipline, and individual work. This includes focusing on the creative, technical, and project management aspects required for completed animation production. Teamwork, collaborative skills, and engagement with specific feedback processes are emphasised in this unit, as you further refine and reflect on a set of Transferable Skills.
Media and culture are not simply entertainment, but something that affects the “real world”, our everyday lives, and our worldviews. As such, we will not ask whether media accurately reflect the real world but instead ask how media shape, reinforce, and challenge power structures that influence our understanding of the world and ourselves. This unit takes a ‘critical theory’ approach to analyze media and culture. In this unit, you will explore media texts, contexts and meaning, society and subjectivity, pop culture aesthetics, and critical cultural discourses that inform creative media practices.
Drawing on a range of creative content and analytical frameworks, you will be encouraged to develop ways of thinking about media and culture that demonstrate a broad awareness of aesthetic principles and stylistic trends; subjectivity, agency, ethics, and relations of power; contexts, disciplines and discursive formations. In support of this exploration, you will produce a range of media artifacts that explore and contextualize the relationship of media to culture through individual analysis, collaborative and interdisciplinary creative practice, and critical reflection.
In this studio unit, you will work collaboratively on a series of projects, set by briefs and led by your Facilitator. In collaboration with your your classmates, you will work towards developing several projects within a simulated studio environment with your Facilitator acting as your project manager, executive producer, mentor, and colleague.
Emphasis will be placed on advancing your development of intermediate animation production through conceptualising, planning, and executing rapid animation productions, short films and contributing towards a portfolio.
Working to a clear timeline, you will explore a range of skills and workflows in collaborative, cross-disciplinary, and individual work. This includes focusing on the creative, technical, and project management aspects required for completed animation production. Teamwork, collaborative skills, and engagement with specific feedback processes are emphasised in this unit, as you further refine and reflect on a set of Transferable Skills.
For information on tuition fees visit the Fee Schedule section of the website.
Have a question and don’t know where to start?
Fill in the General Contact form and a representative will be in touch soon.
You will use a variety of industry standard and specialised software applications relevant to your study.
CREDIT AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING
SAE may recognise your prior learning and may grant credit towards satisfying the requirements for a higher-level program. This is applied where previous learning is considered equivalent to the content and learning outcomes prescribed for units within the program.
For full details, please refer to SAE's policy on recognition of prior learning and credit transfers.
