Course Content
Year One
Game Art Fundamentals - 40 credits
The Game Art Fundamentals module introduces you to the fundamental skills required of this multi-disciplinary practice. You will focus upon developing drawing skills, skills in movement and animation and digital technologies as well as research and teamworking.
• Fundamental drawing practices; anatomy, character, style, posing, visual languages.
• Fundamental of movement; stop motion, rotoscoping, general animation.
• Fundamental digital skills; Illustrator, Photoshop, Blender. After Effects.
Narrative and Worldbuilding - 20 credits
The module will challenge you to apply the fundamental drawing and movement skills from semester one to begin to develop narratives and world-building. You will develop the basic digital skills in 2D and 3D modelling to begin to apply your conceptual skills to game assets.
Research Basics - 20 credits*
This module aims to develop students’ core academic research skills including locating sources, evaluating credibility, and analysing information. It will provide the foundations from which students will cultivate their confidence to engage in theoretical discourse and idea-driven dialogues which will be required throughout their undergraduate studies.
Interdisciplinary Understanding - 40 credits
This module aims to introduce you to the principles of Interdisciplinary working: collaborative working, critical thinking, and reflection. Projects within the module will challenge you to work with another discipline to explore a societal and cultural theme or challenge.
Year Two
Subject: Production Pipeline / Specialist Pathway - 40 credits
This Production Pipeline / Specialist Pathway module builds upon your fundamental development at level 4 through experiencing the production pipeline and identifying the multidisciplinary opportunities to specialize in a chosen pathway.
You will be able to specialize in pathways including Character, Environmental, 3D generalist.
21st Century Challenges - 40 credits
The 21st Century Challenges module builds upon the introduction to Interdisciplinary problem-solving developed at level 4 to continue to refine, and begin to apply, your skillsets through real-world projects and live briefs.
Projects will tackle 21st Century Challenges to develop your leadership, collaboration, future literacy/critical thinking skillsets.
Real-world Contexts - 20 credits
The Real-world contexts module challenges you to apply the situated awareness and future-thinking skills to deploy your own practice in the creation or promotion of value for a variety of external stakeholders and communities.
Research Proposal – 20 credits
The Research Proposal offers you an opportunity to strengthen your research skills, consolidate your research experience and orientate your level 6 contribution around an enquiry of your choosing that is inspired by your learning across all modules at level 4 and 5.
This research proposal will be used to continue your personal and professional development at level 6 where you will identify a route for your own enquiry.
Year Three
Subject: Final Major Project - 60 credits
The final major project is your opportunity to research, develop and output a self-initiated body of work aligned to your chosen professional ambitions. You will experiment, take risks, strengthen your skillsets developed at level 4 and 5 and create a cohesive portfolio of work that you are proud to showcase at the end of your degree.
Positioning in Practice - 20 credits
The module aims to support your readiness in developing your unique professional career in Game Art. It will embed attributes reflective of the requirements of real-world practice aligned to your specialist discipline.
You will have the opportunity to reflect upon how your experiences over the last 3 years have allowed you to position yourself as a professional in preparation for graduate level work, continued study, research, and entrepreneurial ventures.
Contribution - 40 credits
Your practice is underpinned by your knowledge. Demonstrate your research and analysis skills in your final research submission, where you explore ideas in both written and practical forms.
*modules available through the medium of Welsh.
Learning & Teaching
All programmes within CSAD are delivered through a studio-based approach to learning.
Studio-based learning provides an authentic learning environment which fosters cohort level community building, peer learning whilst being authentic to the demands of the individual disciplines. All studio spaces are bespoke to the needs of the disciplines within which students will receive a variety of learning opportunities including:
Group Seminars, Group Critiques (crits) & Presentations, One to One Tutorials, Technical Workshops, Peer learning, Independent Guided Learning.
During their first year of study each student can expect to receive between 10 and 15 hours of contact time per week via lectures, seminars, tutorials, and practical workshops.
Students take a significant lead in their studies, develop their own research focus and expertise base and actively engage with the process of assessment and the manner in which their individual expertise is expressed and tested.
Students will be supported as they work autonomously such that they are able to generate significant and unique learning through rigorous, self-directed, and collaborative practice.
Assessment
Throughout the duration of your studies, you will be evaluated on three main criteria, which underpin all of the disciplines being taught at CSAD:
Skills:
The practical, technical and conceptual skills you acquire during your course.
Context:
Your understanding and knowledge of broader intellectual context within which your discipline and work is located. This includes historical, environmental and ethical issues and will often be explored in your 'Theory and Context' modules.
Ideas:
Your understanding of intellectual and creative ideas from within and beyond your discipline; plus your ability to acquire new concepts and form new ideas. Ideas will be explored in your written work, as well as being evident in your practical progress. Each of these criteria is given equal weighting during the assessment process. That is to say that they are seen as equally important and critical to your development; an emphasis which is designed, for example, to enable a more well-rounded skill set from a student who may be skilled technically, but weak in generating ideas, or a student with much creative flair who may struggle to hone a broad concept into a strong, individual design.
We provide a number of ways for you to track your progress en route to submitting your work for marking. Understanding that the emphases will revolve around the core areas of skills, context and ideas, you will also become familiar with the structured assessment form used by your tutors and learn to relate to your work back to the intended learning outcomes of each brief.
The main types of formative assessment are; academic (feedback from your tutors); peer (from your course-mates or project partners); and self-assessment (which is your own critique, in light of other forms of feedback). You won't just be receiving feedback at the end of a brief, however – your tutors will often assess your progress as your work develops, providing formative feedback at crucial moments where it is hoped to encourage you to take risks, maintain your motivation or shape-up your ideas ahead of deadline.
Employability & Careers
You will be prepared to enter a variety of multidisciplinary roles ranging from concept artist, environmental artist, research and development, 3D generalist, modeller, motion graphics artist, or technical and previs artists.
During the course, there will be the opportunity to undertake live briefs and work experience. This will include building contacts and undertaking placements as well as exposure to game art professionals through industry talks and mentoring. You will be offered support in forming your own business if you choose to do so.
Some graduates become teachers by taking a PGCE, or elect to continue their studies with CSAD by pursuing a Master’s level qualification, or into research with a PhD or a Professional Doctorate in Art or Design.
Entry Requirements & How to Apply
Typical Offers
Tariff points: 96-120
Contextual offer: See our
contextual offers page.
GCSE: Preferably five GCSEs at Grade C / 4 or above to include English Language / Welsh First Language, Mathematics / Mathematics – Numeracy.
English Language Requirement: Academic IELTS 6.0 overall with at least 5.5 in all elements, or equivalent.
A level: Minimum three A levels. No specific subjects required. Welsh Baccalaureate – Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate considered as a third subject.
BTEC National / Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma: MMM-DDM
T Level: No specific subjects required.
Access to Higher Education Diploma: No specific subjects required.
International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma: 24 points. No specific subjects required.
Irish Leaving Certificate: No specific subjects required. Higher level subjects only considered with a minimum grade H4.
Scottish Advanced Highers: No specific subjects required.
Other requirements: Successful interview and portfolio review. Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio.
Combinations of the above qualifications are accepted if they meet our minimum requirements. If your qualifications aren’t listed, please contact
Admissions or refer to the
UCAS Course Search.
Further information on Overseas qualifications can be found
here.
If you are a mature applicant, have relevant experience or
RPL that you would like us to consider, please contact Admissions.
How to Apply
Further information on how to apply can be found
here.
Tuition Fees, Student Finance & Additional Costs
For up to date information on tuition fees and the financial support that may be available whilst at university, please refer to
https://www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/fees.
Undergraduate costs of study in CSAD
Materials
CSAD provides a variety of basic materials. These enable students to develop their competence in a range of skills and demonstrate their technical ability. Materials needed in unusual quantities, or those that are specialised, expensive or unusual are at the student’s expense. Advice will be given about how ‘unusual’ is defined, which materials are deemed to be ‘expensive’, and examples given of what is viewed to be ‘unusual’. CSAD students often elect to spend on materials they prefer to work with, including sketchbooks and pens, as well as specialist equipment of their own choosing.
In the main, no charges are made for the use of equipment, with the exception of some specialist high end equipment such as the Mimaki and 3D printers. Access to Cardiff FabLab is subject to student membership; it offers reduced fees for student use.
For further information about additional course costs, including fees, equipment requirements and other charges for each undergraduate programme, please visit
https://www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/additionalcosts.
Field trips and visits
Field trips that are part of core learning will be paid for by the School. Additional visits are occasionally arranged which are optional and where the students may be asked to share the costs. The costs of study abroad, including exchanges, placements and projects are the responsibility of the individual student.
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