Where you can study
International students
International students are not New Zealand citizens or residents.
Specialise in Visual Effects for your Bachelor of Screen Arts with Honours at Massey
The Visual Effects major teaches you the skills to develop an exciting professional portfolio of work that you can carry into your visual effects career.
Design and control visual destruction, explosions, fluids – you name it – using both procedural and keyframed motion, and fully integrate your visual effects into live-action footage from concept to postproduction.
Gain skills that will help you create fantastic characters and scenes using traditional techniques and advanced technology. Study character design, 3D modelling, texturing and rigging, storyboarding, compositing, particle generation and dynamics. You’ll work with motion capture, virtual production, and a green screen stage.
Facilities
Visual Effects students will have access to world-leading and cutting-edge hardware, such as motion capture facilities, and software including Houdini, Maya, Nuke, After Effects, Photoshop, Blender, and Renderman.
Planning information
Full-time study is recommended. You’ll take 120 credits per year or 60 credits per semester.
About this major
The Visual Effects major in the Bachelor of Screen Arts with Honours consists of 180 credits.
Minors
Completing a minor is optional and may be a way for you to show the breadth of your degree.
A minor must be in a different subject from your major and be made up of at least 60 credits.
If you’re interested in doing a minor you should contact us using the Get advice button on this page. Our student advice team will be able to talk you through your options and help you plan your degree.
More information: ‘Yellow Book’.
Official regulations
To understand what you need to study and must complete to graduate read the official rules and regulations for this qualification.
You should read these together with all other relevant Statutes and Regulations of the University including the General Regulations for Undergraduate Degrees, Undergraduate Diplomas, Undergraduate Certificates, Graduate Diplomas and Graduate Certificates.
Courses you can enrol in
Course planning key
- Prerequisites
- Courses that need to be completed before moving onto a course at the next level. For example, a lot of 200-level courses have 100-level prerequisite courses.
- Corequisites
- Courses that must be completed at the same time as another course are known as corequisite courses.
- Restrictions
- Some courses are restricted against each other because their content is similar. This means you can only choose one of the offered courses to study and credit to your qualification.
180 credits from
Course code: 289104 Introduction to Visual Effects 15 credits
An introduction to the principles and concepts of visual effects. Students will gain a creative and basic technical knowledge of the tools and techniques essential to the production of visual effects.
View full course detailsCourse code: 289209 Visual Effects Production 15 credits
Further the application of industry standard tools for VFX production. Students will gain extended creative and technical understanding of VFX production processes and develop their knowledge and application of aesthetics and form.
View full course detailsCourse code: 289219 Visual Effects Project 15 credits
Further extend knowledge of industry standard tools for visual effects production. Students will apply techniques, creative approaches, and methodologies to the production of a short visual effects project.
View full course detailsCourse code: 289303 Major Project Development 15 credits
Students engage in technical prototyping, technical ideation, and practical experimentation associated with preparing for Major Project production and post-production studio courses. Techniques are project and discipline-specific and may include developing new technologies and learning pipeline-specific methods and tools.
View full course detailsCourse code: 289333 Screen Arts Major Project 30 credits
Work to an advanced technical, creative and professional standard in a collaborative production environment to complete a Major Project. Students will put into production the projects developed in the Major Project Development course managing deadlines and schedules to ensure project completion.
View full course detailsCourse code: 289701 Production Planning and Development 30 credits
Students gain a professional knowledge and develop expertise in a range of creative research practices, tools and techniques for organising large scale productions. Students will apply these skills toward planning and communicating an Advanced Production Project.
View full course detailsCourse code: 289803 Advanced Production 60 credits
Students will produce and finalise an advanced work demonstrating highly executed production standards informed by their research. Students will be required to demonstrate and sustain an professional creative and technical level of proficiency together with professional production management of workloads and deadlines.
View full course detailsEntry requirements
Admission to Massey
All students must meet university entrance requirements to be admitted to the University.
Specific requirements
There are no specific entry requirements for this qualification, outside of university admission regulations.
English language requirements
To study this qualification you must meet Massey University's English language standards.
English language skills
If you need help with your English language skills before you start university, see our English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses.
Can't meet the entry requirements?
If you need to do a course before you start your programme, there may be options for you in Summer School.
Fees and scholarships
Fees, student loans and free fees scheme
Your tuition fees may be different depending on the courses you choose. Your exact fees will show once you have chosen your courses.
There will also be some compulsory non-tuition fees and for some courses, there may also be charges for things such as study resources, software, trips and contact workshops.
- Get an estimate of the tuition fees for your qualification
- View a list of non-tuition fees that may be payable
Already know which courses you're going to choose?
You can view fees for the courses that make up your qualification on the course details pages.
Student loans (StudyLink) and Fees Free scheme
You may be eligible for a student loan to help towards paying your fees.
The New Zealand Government offers fees-free tertiary study for eligible domestic students. Find out more about the scheme and your eligibility on the Fees Free website. To use the site's eligibility checking tool, you will need your National Student Number.
Current and returning Massey students can find their National Student Number in the student portal.
- Student loans (StudyLink)
- Fees Free
- Student portal
Scholarship and award opportunities
Search our scholarships and awardsFees disclaimer
This information is for estimation purposes only. Actual fees payable will be finalised on confirmation of enrolment. Unless otherwise stated, all fees shown are quoted in New Zealand dollars and include Goods and Services Tax, if any. Before relying on any information on these pages you should also read the University's Disclaimer Notice.
Careers and job opportunities
Visual effects producer, special effects technical director, virtual producer, editor, media technologies developer, 3D modeller, rigger, art director, VR/AR developer, audio producer, CG artist, motion capture animator, digital effects artist.
International students
New Zealand is a great place to study. Massey University’s reputation is supported by our international rankings, accreditations and associations. We are rated 5-star plus by the QS World University Rankings.
Massey University has small class sizes, and our lecturers and staff are friendly and approachable.
As an international student, there are entry requirements that will apply to you. We recommend that you apply at least three months before your anticipated start date so your application can be processed in time. There are additional steps you will need to take. These include obtaining a visa and travel bookings if your study is to be in New Zealand.
Related study options
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Game Development – Bachelor of Screen Arts with Honours
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Immersive Media – Bachelor of Screen Arts with Honours
Virtual and Augmented Realities (VR and AR) allow new ways for us to blend the physical and digital worlds, creating uncharted possibilities for the future.
Media Technology – Bachelor of Screen Arts with Honours
The evolution of media technologies and screen production, driven by digital innovation, is offering new ways of working and is creating new tools and techniques for content production and consumption.
Useful planning information
Key information for students
Compare qualifications and academic information across different New Zealand institutions. Learn more on careers.govt.nz