UTS Animal Logic Academy

The Animal Logic Academy (UTS ALA) is an award winning educational vfx studio offering a Master of Animation and Visualisation (MAV) - and PhD research opportunities.
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UTS Animal Logic Academy

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News

End of year celebration!

End of year celebration!

Nov 27, 2018

Join us for our end of year celebration! Places are limited, please email us to request an invite.

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About Animal Logic Academy

Established in 2017, the Academy is a custom built VFX studio and teaching facility at the UTS campus in Sydney Australia. Mentored by industry experts, masters students are immersed in a full time studio environment, using a combination of established film VFX processes as well as pioneering use of new tools from the real-time industry.

The Academy also offers practice-based PhD research opportunities, current research projects have already won awards at industry festivals, covering areas as diverse as hybrid CG/motion-control film-making, digital archiving techniques, and real-time music visualisation.

Graduates have gone on to work for Method Studios, Flying Bark, Animal Logic, and in 2018 their work has already been recognised with awards from The Rookies, Autodesk Shotgun and the AEAF.

Meet the Team

Chris Ebeling

Creative Lead at the Academy, Chris Ebeling is an award winning Animator, Creative Director, digital artist and writer having worked on Hollywood blockbusters such as The Lego Movie, The Great Gatsby, Gods of Egypt and Happy Feet 2. Supplementing his extensive film and visual effects background, Chris has successfully directed projects in Virtual and Augmented reality, as well as games for PC, mobile and more.

Daniel Flood

CG Supervisor at the Academy, with nearly 10 years experience in pipeline, lighting and look development at Method, Dr.D and Animal Logic, and has worked on films such as The Great Gatsby, Deepwater Horizon, Gods of Egypt, Ghostbusters, and Happy Feet Two. Dan was also key in designing the award winning ‘Turret’ Shotgun+USD pipeline used at the Academy, and in steering our real-time technologies

Matt Estela

VFX lead at the Academy, Matt Estela has over 17 years of experience in 3D animation, most recently as VR supervisor and FX lead at Animal Logic Sydney. He has worked on Peter Rabbit, The Lego Batman Movie VR experience, and many commercials in the UK.

Zoe Diamond

Head of the Academy, Zoe brings with her almost two decades of experience in the VFX and animation industry. Prior to the Academy, Zoe worked at Animal Logic as Head of Human Resources and was a member of the Executive Team. In these roles, Zoe developed and implemented strategies that supported the growth of the company and oversaw over 600 artists and staff during peak production. Some of Zoe’s credits include Peter Rabbit, The LEGO Ninjago Movie, The LEGO Batman Movie and the Academy Award® winning film Happy Feet.

Andrew Johnston

Andrew Johnston is Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney, where he works as the Research Director of the UTS Animal Logic Academy, an education and research studio focusing on creative practice and digital technologies. He also co-directs the Creativity and Cognition Studios, an interdisciplinary research group working at the intersection of performance, art and technology.

Graduate Success Stories

 

Jessica Dali

Assistant Technical Director at Method Studios, Sydney
Technical Director at Animal Logic, Sydney

“With the help of close mentors and industry professionals, I was able to leave the Academy and walk into my first job feeling confident that I was ready and knew what I was doing.”

Andrew Battye

2d animator at Animal Logic, Sydney
Compositor at Flying Bark, Sydney

“My time at the Academy helped in many ways. Experience working in a production pipeline was very important in being able to hit the ground running when you get a job.  Also the network of people you come into contact with and the relationships you form at the MAV are just as, if not more, important as the technical experience you gain.”

Alejandro Garrido

FX artist at Animal Logic, Sydney
3D generalist at Rotor Studios, Sydney
FX artist on short film Jasper (UTSALA)

“The ability to put on a different hat without losing momentum and staying in full production mode helped in my current role.  Through the Academy I met and went on to work with fellow students or industry guests that wouldn’t have been able to meet otherwise.”

Hannah Chu

Pipeline TD at Flying Bark, Sydney

“I’ve have the chance to do development on new technologies, like hololens, AR / VR development in Unity.  And most important of all, the academy provided me with the experience to understand how it feels to work in the VFX industry, and that’s what I came for in the first place.”

Aaron De Leon

3D Generalist at StartVR, Sydney

“My time at the Academy helped with building professional networks, being introduced to new software, emerging hardware, and industry workflows.”

Alessandra Grasso

Production Co-ordinator at Flying Bark, Sydney

“My time at the Academy allowed me to gain new skills, work with emerging technology, see what it’s like working in an animation studio and most importantly create industry connections.”

Emma Cooney

Lighting Artist at Animal Logic, Sydney

“Exposure to a film industry-style production pipeline was one of the most valuable experiences I got from the academy. Mirroring industry practices such as desk rounds and dailies really helped me settle quickly at Animal Logic.”

How to Apply

To be considered for this program, applicants need to be able to demonstrate proficiency or prior industry experience in digital image creation/computer graphics or coding for design, animation and/or visualisation.

Examples include:

  • animation, visual FX
  • coding, games design/development
  • tool building (software development, engineering)
  • asset creation (modeling, rigging, surfacing)
  • story, concept art
  • production design, cinematography, editing
  • motion graphics or similar

In addition to the standard admission requirements, applicants will be required to submit material to support their relevant skills (e.g. portfolio, coding examples, animation etc.) and will also be required to participate in a panel interview.

Domestic students: Apply now direct to UTS

International students: Applications for international students must be lodged with UTS International.