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Areas of interest

Study film, animation and VFX

Study film, animation and VFX (virtual special effects) at Massey – located in the heart of New Zealand's movie and TV capital.

Need help or know what you want to study?

Work integrated learning

Your Massey studies will see you involved in industry partnerships.

Choose your career

Study in this area leads to many career options including director, producer, cinematographer, screenwriter, animator and more…

Fab first

Our Fab Lab is Australasia's first digital fabrication laboratory – affiliated to MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Global top 100

Get creative at Massey. The only New Zealand university to be ranked by QS in the top 100 for art and design.

Overview

Lights. Camera. VR goggles. Action! Where better to study than in Wellywood, New Zealand's capital of animation, CGI, and making movies and TV shows.

Learn from award-winning staff and industry experts. Discover new ideas in areas such as cinematography and 3D modelling. Master new skills using our state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, including a gear library stocked with cameras, lighting and VR/AR kits.

Film, animation and VFX is a good fit if you:

  • do well in design, visual arts (ngā toi) or technology (hangarau)
  • want to tell stories and harness new ways to
  • like creative thinking and making things.

Animation and VFX courses

Gain skills to create fantastic characters and scenes, using advanced technology and traditional techniques for cartoons and model-making.

Animation and VFX courses may cover:

  • 3D modelling
  • animation techniques such as texturing, rigging and compositing
  • CGI including motion capture and green screens
  • character design
  • storyboarding
  • VR, AR and MR (mixed or hybrid reality), also called immersive design.

Animation and VFX at College of Creative Arts – Toi Rauwhārangi

Film and TV courses

Gain skills to tell compelling stories on screen – factual, fictional, or creative non-fiction.

Film and TV courses may cover:

  • camera operation
  • cinematography
  • editing
  • lighting, sound and post-production skills
  • screenwriting
  • story and concept development.

Film and television at College of Creative Arts – Toi Rauwhārangi

How to study film, animation and VFX

Discover what we offer if you’re interested in film, animation and VFX – whether you’re coming to university for the first time, changing direction or returning to advance your study or career.

Undergraduate study

An undergraduate qualification is generally the first thing you’ll study at university.

Bachelor's degrees

Degrees are the standard qualifications you do at university – the most common is called a bachelor’s. Degrees give you enough time to explore your interests, and also focus on specific subjects.

Undergraduate bachelor's degrees with honours

An undergraduate honours degree is a four-year bachelor’s degree. We also offer postgraduate honours years.

Graduate diploma

Relevant undergraduate subjects to major or specialise in

When you apply to study at Massey, for some undergraduate qualifications you can choose what subject you’d like to specialise in. You can usually change your mind after you get to university, depending on the courses you enrol in.

Postgraduate study

Once you’ve graduated with a bachelor’s degree – or have equivalent experience – you’ll be ready to take on postgraduate study.

Master's degrees

A master's degree normally builds on a main subject of study from your undergraduate degree.

Postgraduate diplomas

Postgraduate diplomas are postgraduate-level qualifications that are longer than a postgraduate certificate. If you’re successful, you might be able to use the credits towards the longer master’s degree.

PhD and other doctoral degrees

Doctoral degrees, including PhDs, are the highest degrees we award. They’re very demanding and their entry criteria reflect this.

Our facilities

You'll have access to a wide range of first-class facilities when you study with us.

Virtual and augmented reality

A specialised room where students can explore and prototype virtual spaces and experiences, or create virtual artworks or designs using virtual reality and augmented reality equipment.

Student using film production facilities at Massey

Film production facilities

Our facilities are among the best in Australasia and include:

  • colour grading suites
  • editing tools
  • lighting gear
  • green screen
  • motion capture suite, including 24 camera Vicon motion capture array.

Plus borrow high-end equipment for your projects.

Location: Wellington campus

Toystore

The Toystore offers a wide range of audiovisual equipment for design students to borrow, as well as access to large format printing and technical support.

Fab Lab

Fab Lab Wgtn is Australasia’s first digital fabrication laboratory (Fab Lab) affiliated to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Fab Lab's capabilities include: A computer-controlled laser cutter; numerically-controlled milling machine; a sign cutter; a precision milling machine to make three-dimensional moulds; surface-mount circuit boards; and small 3D printers, for fast production of 3-dimensional forms.

Jobs in film, animation and VFX

Storytellers wanted. In this booming industry, demand is high for those with vision, with an appetite for experimentation and embracing new technologies and forms of expression.

Careers in film, animation and VFX include:

  • animators, including 2D, 3D and motion capture
  • concept and storyboard artists
  • camera operators
  • cinematographers
  • film and TV directors
  • lighting designers and lighting technicians
  • prop makers and modellers
  • sound designers and sound engineers
  • visual effects specialists.

Salary ranges for jobs

Salary ranges disclaimer

Indicative pay rates are:

Which film, animation and VFX qualification?

Examples of where our qualifications may take you.

Table showing jobs and what you could study to enter them.
Jobs Examples of what you could study
Animator or digital artist Bachelor of Screen Arts with Honours
Bachelor of Design with Honours (Visual Communication Design)
Concept designer or costume designer Master of Design
Bachelor of Design with Honours (Concept Design)
Director or cinematographer Master of Design
Bachelor of Screen Arts with Honours
Producer Bachelor of Screen Arts with Honours

Accreditations and rankings

QS Ranking - Art & Design

College of Creative Arts – Toi Rauwhārangi ranks in the global top 150 for art and design by QS World University Rankings.

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Red Dot Design ranking

Ranked 3rd in Asia-Pacific by International Red Dot Design Awards, the only design school to be ranked in New Zealand and Australia. This significant achievement recognises the high calibre of our teaching staff and the exceptional quality of our students' design concept work.

Learn more

Grey dot with NASAD in the middle

NASAD

Massey's College of Creative Arts is New Zealand's only art and design school granted “substantial equivalency” — an international benchmark of quality — by the United States National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).

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Get an information guide

Download our guides to find out more about studying film, animation and VFX at Massey.

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