THE DIGITAL ACTOR: CHARACTER DESIGN & ANIMATION - 2026/7

Module Overview

This 1st year module is concerned with animation and characters. Students are introduced to 2D character animation, using a 'bone' system to rig a character. The data produced is then refined, edited and applied to 3D characters that students design. Students will also learn the principles and applications of motion capture, animated visuals typically used in idents, TV / film titles, user interfaces and more. We look at a wide variety of examples and explore animation principles such as secondary motion and squash and stretch. Working in an industry-standard motion graphics application, students learn basics such as colour adjustment and masking, before moving on to advanced techniques such as rotoscoping, motion tracking and With the addition of a digital 'set', built from basic planes and a library of object models, students produce a short, animated story.

The Digital Actor: Character Design & Animation will explore character animation fundamentals, character visualisation and previsualisation using up to date technological means and give students the opportunity to design, create technical specifications for and develop a 3D character within in a video game environment. The module connects to other visual arts and games design modules in your first year as well as to those that follow in later years of study including the Final Major Project at the culmination of the degree. It also contributes to the acquisition of technical and specialist software skills across the first year of the degree, including such specialist skills in 2D and 3D animation applications as Reallusion and other character animation software.

Module provider

Music & Media

Module Leader

MOONEY Stephen (Lit & Langs)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 4

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes

• Character Animation Fundamentals


• Character animation software


• Animating text


• Motion tracking


• Synchronising sound and movement


• 2D character animation


• Interactive 3D environments


• Motion Capture


• Character Visualisation/Previsualisation


• Character Design and Development


• Character rigging


• Digital sets


• Storyboarding for animation


• Facial Animation


• Cleaning and editing motion capture takes

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate:

• their knowledge of, and skills with, digital animation and image-making techniques and technologies


• subject knowledge relating to the close analysis of form, meaning and context


• cognitive/analytical skills in critical thinking


• professional/practical skills in communicating ideas in visual form that will feed forward into their future careers in the games and creative industries and beyond


• creative engagement with the opportunities and limitations of particular modes of digital animation, skills that will feed forward into their modules in future years of the degree, including their major project in their final year ¿ creative engagement with the themes discussed on the module, which may include sustainability and global cultural awareness matters


• an ability to locate their own creative work fruitfully and articulately in relation to existing digital animation and art traditions and the contemporary field of visual production as part of their journey to hone their contextualising skills through their degree


• their understanding of, and expertise in, production techniques and compositional skills while also encouraging students to experiment and work continually through the semester (rather than attempting to create work just before deadlines)

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

Creative Project Portfolio with Reflective Critical Commentary (1000 words) (100%)

This summative assessment represents a culmination of the module's output with students presenting a larger creative project of character animation. They will also submit a reflective critical commentary on the project (1000 words)

Formative Assessment & Feedback:

The module includes weekly assignments covering the production skills required for each of the briefs, so continuous formative oral assessment and feedback is given through timetabled group critiques. Immediate oral feedback is given on works-in-progress presented during class. In addition, during the 2 laboratory seminar sessions held the week prior to submission of assessed works, students are given individualised technical support and immediate feedback on their works in progress.

Digital animation, presentation and critical analysis skills will be developed and honed which will feed forward to the summative assessment at the end of the module and towards building the students' resilience and confidence in presenting work publicly. There is the option of a range of other feedback mechanisms agreed between tutor and students in week 1 of the module, such as seminar contribution and writing exercises.

Module aims

• introduce students to motion capture, editing the resulting data and attaching the animation to pre-rigged characters
• enable students to have an emergent understanding of the fundamental principles character animation fundamentals, character visualisation and previsualisation
• provide students with the opportunity to explore a range of animation techniques
• create work where students are encouraged to produce rigged characters, skeletons and associated IK chains and to create a short, animated story
• prepare students to be able to make informed and sound decisions about what approaches and techniques may be most suitable for a specific project
• enable students' to demonstrate their reflective writing skills in relation to their studio-based activities.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• develop further technical skills in ways that facilitate creative independence and an ability to continue learning processes outside the classroom through the use of online tutorials, books, etc., providing an overview of digital and media arts production techniques and pipelines


• facilitate students' continued productive reflection on their creative work and connect this to critical approaches encountered on the module


• hone and develop students' writing skills in academic writing by developing an awareness of the application of their creative practice in informing their critical thinking, and vice versa, and in further developing workshopping and editing skills through in-class discussion and sharing of experience alongside study of critical and source materials


• further develop students' grounding in resourcefulness and resilience as developing digital artists by giving them the freedom to experiment with form and style in response to form-based exercises, and by providing them with the supportive and encouraging safe space of the laboratory seminar within which they can develop further their skills in receiving and giving constructive critical and creative responses to their own work and those of other students and to develop a more developed awareness of their creative process in relation to the technology, digital animation and game design


• help students develop further the sorts of visual communication skills so valuable in the games industries and related creative industries (and beyond) through the editing and feedback process engendered though the exercises and the workshopping process in tandem with an emphasis on seeing alongside designing as a critical tool in developing artistic skills

The learning and teaching methods include:

• Lectures and demonstrations


• Laboratory seminars and open-ended tasks


• Group critique

Sessions are taught in small groups in bespoke labs. Cameras are supplied by the university; lab computers are equipped with suitable editing software. Students may also use their own equipment as desired.

Students will also engage with preparatory reading. Designed to help students reflect on and apply their learning to creative and critical outputs, the laboratory seminar environment acts as a safe space for developing and exchanging ideas, support and observational and digital graphic skills.

Varied learning materials such as lexical texts, visual materials, sculptural objects and other physical material prompts, video and sound objects, games and gamified texts are designed to increase student accessibility and will present them with a range of interpretive materials and approaches with which to work and develop their own thinking and creative responses.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: DMA1020

Other information

The School of Arts, Humanties & Creative Industries is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas:

Employability: this 1st year module further explores digital character animation not just in relation to games and the games industries, but beyond to a whole host of industries and fields that utilise these skills, techniques and technologies, such as film, tv, interactive art, music and many other industries by providing up-to-the-minute knowledge and understanding of tools and techniques used every day in these fields at professional level. In focussing on, and growing, key digital animation skills and knowledge, such as character animation principles and programming, motion tracking techniques, storyboarding for animation, character design and development, and more, in this module you will develop the sorts of proficiencies and abilities that will facilitate your practice as a professional digital visual arts practitioner. The skills and aptitudes developed in this module will feed forward to the visual arts and design modules throughout your degree, such as character advanced animation techniques, game environments and virtual production.

Equally important for employability within these areas (and often overlooked) is the development of ‘personability’: so that employers, collaborators, funders and commissioners want to work with you.

Digital Capabilities: this module, and the programme as a whole, is built on the very latest digital techniques and technologies developed and employed by not just the games industries, but the wider creative industries and beyond, thus ‘digital capabilities’ is at the heart of your learning in The Digital Actor: Character Design & Animation. Students develop a knowledge of, and important skills in, character animation, digital set development, Interactive 3D environments, motion capture and editing, and more. In addition, the opportunities and challenges posed by generative AI will form part of the skills development of students. Appropriate use of digital media and communication platforms is increasingly important for visual arts and creative industry professionals and students will gain and develop those invaluable skills as part of this module.

The generation and production of 2D and 3D character animation is an inherently ‘digital’ activity, and this module engages at all levels with technology and digital skills. As part of the module laboratory seminars, you will also be encouraged to communicate with one another and to work on some exercises using SurreyLearn, Microsoft Teams, and other digital and file and output sharing platforms, skills will be carried forward to other modules across your degree and beyond.

Global and Cultural Capabilities: Visual arts and digital animation and are fields that reach out to all parts of the human experience and all parts of our global cultures. Digital animation and visual art, especially through the creation of digital avatars that represent individuals, also play a very important recording and preservation role in narrativising and keeping alive and vibrant different identities, cultures and experiences, especially those that might otherwise be silenced or endangered. The weekly laboratory seminar sessions give students the opportunity to present your own visual work and to experience and respond to those of others in a friendly, constructive and open forum. Games Design students will be exposed, throughout their degree, to a wide range of approaches, textuality and visuality from all over the world and students are encouraged to bring this knowledge into their digital graphics, visual arts and design practice right from the beginning of their study of image creation.

Resourcefulness and Resilience: this module, through the shared experience that comes about from sharing work with other students will help equip you for the real world setting of your current and future digital visual art practice. You will benefit from the experience of your peers and  your tutors who are all have professional digital visual arts skills and from periodic guest speakers attached to the Games Design programme as you progress through your degree.

This module provides students with a number of challenges which reflect the current state of the art. Students need to respond to these with inventiveness and flexibility and are often required to research and develop their own solutions to given problems. This module also helps set the stage for more detailed discussions in later visual arts and design modules on your degree about your practice as an artist, the practicalities of building a portfolio of work and a profile as an artist in the games industries and beyond.

Sustainability: Students are made aware of sustainable production practices around the production and presentation of digital graphics, animation and visual art. Furthermore, from a content viewpoint, students may choose to produce creative work that directly addresses environmental and sustainability issues as part of their subject matter. Teachers across the School also work closely with the University of Surrey’s Institute for Sustainability to explore and promote the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2026/7 academic year.