FAQ

The training follows the needs and trends that exist in the industry so that you will arrive very well prepared for internships and jobs.

We use the most commonly used (and required) software – including node based and realtime ones. Among other things, we will provide training in Houdini, Nuke, Maya, Zbrush and Marvelous Designer as well as Unreal Engine. 

We are very proud to be one of the few schools that are certified by SideFX (Houdini) and Epic (Unreal).

Please note that this education believes in using the most relevant software – not to be confused with similar educations that claim to work closely with the industry but mainly use cheap/free software. We focus on quality, even though it forces us to pay really expensive software fees.

All students are assigned their own (borrowed) powerful desktop computer free of charge during their studies – and also get their own workplace in our newly renovated premises (updated with more space and a brand new ventilation system before the start of the semester).

We do not require the purchase of any student literature – so study allowance (CSN) can instead be used to create a better study environment (buying your own extra monitor, drawing board, comfortable office chair or the like) and to subscribe to the licences that are not part of the school’s offer, see below.

The school provides Maya, Houdini, Nuke, Ftrack, Substance Painter/Designer, Unreal, Motion Builder, Marvelous Designer, etc. free of charge – but the students themselves are expected to pay for student licences (for a total of about SEK 250/month) in the form of Maxxon One ( Zbrush/Cinema4D/Redshift) and Photoshop.

The education is held on site (i.e. no distance learning is available at the moment).
It is located at Campus Skellefteå – in the middle of northern Europe’s fastest growing gaming cluster (Arctic Game).

Visual Magic: VFX artist for film and games has, together with several other game-related educations, its own floor in one of the buildings on Skellefteå Campus. There we offer a creative environment. In total, there are approx. 400 students in games/graphics at Campus Skellefteå!

You can find more information about the place of study and other things at:
https://skelleftea.se/platsen/eng/campus/campus-home

Skellefteå is a city (in almost exponential growth and almost zero unenployment rate) in the northern parts of Sweden.
https://www.visitskelleftea.se/en/

Det är givetvis en fördel om du har testat skapa saker i 3D – men inget krav. Att du är estetiskt lagd (har en känsla för färg och form) är viktigare. Vi kommer att se till helheten, det vill säga att om du är bra på att rita/måla för hand kan det kompensera för brist på erfarenhet i 3D-program – och tvärtom.

Vi kommer att skicka ut ett antagningsprov till alla sökande där de får visa vad de kan.

Bra fråga 🙂

Kärt barn har många namn. Officiellt (inkl. på ansökningen) heter utbildningen: VFX-artist: 3D-visualisering och digital compositing

Vi använder dock oftast istället namnet: Visual Magic – VFX-artist för spel och film (alternativt, på engelska: Visual Magic – VFX-artist for Games and Film).

Tack vare kommunala bostadsföretaget Skebo kan vi garantera boende till alla som vill studera hos oss! Bostadsgarantin innebär att du som studerande får förtur till en hyreslägenhet – du slipper alltså oroa dig vad gäller boende! Läs mer >>här<<

Antagning.se har enbart program och kurser för Universitet och Högskolor. Vi är en Yrkeshögskoleutbildning. Läs mer om Yrkeshögskolan <<här!>>

Vi kräver Engelska 6 eller motsvarande kunskaper. Detta främst för att de studerande ska kunna hänga med vid föreläsningar från internationella artister.

Det går jättebra att söka även om du inte har läst Engelska 6 (eller bara saknar slutbetyg)!

För att vi ska få koll på din engelska (utan ett betyg) ska du då istället bifoga en kortare text (ca en halv A4) där du, med egna ord på engelska, berättar om varför du vill gå utbildningen. Texten behöver inte vara perfekt, det räcker om vi ser att du har hyfsad koll 🙂

Utbildningen berättigar till studiemedel – men du måste själv ansöka om detta hos Centrala studiestödsnämnden: https://www.csn.se/
Nedan finner du lite uppgifter som kan vara bra att veta i din kontakt med CSN:

Utbildningens officiella namn
VFX-artist: 3D-visualisering och digital compositing

Anordnare
Vuxenutbildningen, Skellefteå kommun

Most of the lectures/classes are held in English – both to help our non Swedish students and because of English being the chosen corporate language of the industry (thus our guest lecturers tend to prefer to teach in that language). Also, most VFX-software are in English anyway.
Individual help is provided in both English and Swedish.

De flesta föreläsningarna/lektionerna hålls på engelska – både för att hjälpa våra icke-svenska studenter och för att engelska är det valda koncernspråket i branschen (därför brukar även våra gästföreläsare föredra att undervisa på det språket). Dessutom är de flesta VFX-programvara på engelska.
Individuell hjälp ges på både engelska och svenska.

We want to give everyone the opportunity to apply and have therefore chosen not to base our admission on grades. We also make sure to process all applications anonymously to ensure that age, gender, ethnicity, etc. will not affect the selection. What is assessed is knowledge and skills – in combination with your commitment to attend this education. We try to look at the whole picture, that is, if you are good at drawing/painting by hand, it can compensate for the lack of experience in 3D programs – and vice versa.

Thus, everyone who applies for the education needs to send in assignments that show practical skills. This year there are three assignments worth up to 40 points each, for a maximum total of 120 points. Instructions for these are listed below, click on the plus signs…).

Assignment 1. A hand-drawn pencil drawing, see specification below.
Assignment 2. A colourful illustration or animated sequence created with a computer, see specification below.
Assignment 3. Sample of previous work, see specification below.

Note: The application pressure is high (in previous years there were way over 100 applicants) so the assignments are very important. Make sure to send in all three – and follow the instructions (including naming conventions) to the letter.

ASSIGNMENT 1

Technique: Hand-drawn drawing – including initial concept / sketch, use pencils. Format: A4, scanned or photographed.
Assessment basis: Creativity and drawing knowledge as well as a sense of form and / or anatomy as well as visual narration.

You are expected to show the process in steps, either by providing the initial sketch or by taking pictures while you draw – i.e. you need to show how you worked to get the final picture.
Please note: Several images should be combined into a single picture (only one assignment 1 is to be sent in). Name the file with your name and which assignment it is (e.g. ”roy_batty_1B.jpg”).

Select one of the following tasks:

• Alternative 1A: “Wizard sampling potent brew”. Motive: A magician sipping on potions (or similar).
• Alternative 1B: “Self portrait – skating”. Motive: A self-portrait where you do a trick on a skateboard.

ASSIGNMENT 2

Technique: An image or movie clip with strong colours that you have created/modified with a computer, drawing tablet or similar. You do not have to do everything from scratch but can use assets and other materials. No requirement for specific software.
Format: An image of max. 50 Mb or a movie clip of max. 60 seconds (max. 1 GB). The image/clip needs to show some sort of breakdown (showing how you created your work).
Basis of assessment: Your sense of form and colour, your creativity and how you can handle selected software.

Multiple images or movie clips (including breakdowns) must be merged into a single file (only one assignment 2 is to be submitted).

Name the file with your name and which assignment it is (e.g. ”dorothy_gale_2A.mov”).

Select one of the following tasks:

• Alternative 2A: ”Misplaced monster trying to blend in”. Motive: A colorful depiction of a monster doing its best (?) to fit in with the environment.
• Alternative 2B: ”Visual Magic”. Motive: Someone who uses magic to create something really colorful.

ASSIGNMENT 3

Here you submit something you have done before (or especially for this application).
Motive: Optional but preferably linked to/relevant for the education in some way. Including breakdown(s) and/or comments are highly recommended.
Format: An image (can be a collage with several motifs), max 50 Mb in size or a film clip no more than 2 minutes long and max 500 Mb. Only one work sample 3 file should be submitted (but it can be a picture collage or a show reel).
Assessment basis: How your submitted work shows skills that can be further developed in our education, i.e. your potential.

Name the file with your name and which assignment it is (e.g. ”kuro_hebi_3.xxx”).

NOTE: You must send in an actual file. Just providing a link to a portfolio/showreel or similar is NOT approved, as we must be able to download/store the assignment in order to assess it anonymously.

Submission

Submit the three work samples well in advance of the deadline (June 16) – so we have time to react if any file has become corrupt or has other problems.
If the file is >10 MB, we recommend that you use a web service that can send large files, for example https://sprend.com/ eller https://www.transfernow.net/

Send all three assignments to magnus@visualmagic.se
Mark the email (subject) with ”VFX24 ASSIGNMENT ”, the number of the assignment in question, and your name.

NOTE! Your ability to follow the above instructions (incl. follow our file naming conventions, stay within file size limits, etc.) will also be assessed – so please double check before submitting…

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me at: magnus@visualmagic.se or 076-7613116
Good luck!

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Oh, and don’t forget to send in the actual application…
More info about how to apply: https://www.visualmagic.se/om-utbildningen/
Register and apply (Nordic students): https://apply.yh-antagning.se/to/skelleftea/ht2024/8