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Animation

$99,000

Median Salary

4%

Job Growth

$209B

Projected Market Growth

Animation

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Bring your creativity to life in our top-ranked animation program where storytelling meets cutting-edge technology. You’ll explore a range of animation styles—from hand-drawn illustrations to immersive 3D characters and environments—while developing the skills to thrive in a dynamic, fast-growing industry.

Whether you dream of working in film, gaming, visual effects, advertising, or interactive media, this program equips you with the artistic and technical expertise to make an impact. With hands-on projects and industry-relevant training, you’ll graduate ready to launch an exciting career in animation, design, entertainment, and beyond!

Experiential Learning

  • Create art in motion, converting your drawings into 3D applications, and traditional sculpture mediums.
  • Learn the 12 principles of animation and how those are executed in areas such as character animation, procedural animation, stop-motion, and previsualization. 
  • Land an internship and develop your skills at OSF HealthCare, Maui Jim, Caterpillar, Jump Trading
  • Simulation and Education Center, Simantel, or OneFire.
  • Explore off-campus learning opportunities in Ireland, the Netherlands, or Los Angeles.
  • Present your work to the public at the annual FUSE exhibit.

Program Details

Required Courses – 59 hrs.

  • ART 101 Drawing I (3 hrs.)
  • ART 102 Drawing II (3 hrs.)
  • IM 140 Storytelling for Animation (3 hrs.)
  • IM 141 Principles of Animation (3 hrs.)
  • IM 150 Foundations of Interactive Design (3 hrs.)
  • IM 162 Introduction to Scripting for Animators (3 hrs.)
  • IM 226 Interactive Media Practicum I (4 hrs.)
  • IM 240 Two-Dimensional Animation I or IM 347 Experimental Animation (3 hrs.)
  • IM 241 Two-Dimensional Animation II (3 hrs.)
  • IM 243 History of Animation (3 hrs.)
  • IM 340 Three-Dimensional Animation I (3 hrs.)
  • IM 341 Three-Dimensional Animation II or IM 345 Two-Dimensional Rigging for Animation (3 hrs.)
  • IM 349 Pre-Production for Animation (3 hrs.)
  • IM 355 New Media Theory (3 hrs.)
  • IM 426 Interactive Media Practicum II (4 hrs.)
  • IM 440 Animation Capstone I (3 hrs.)
  • IM 441 Animation Capstone II (6 hrs.)
  • IM 450 Issues in New Media Theory (3 hrs.)

Career Opportunities

Animation students can find careers as animators, modelers, riggers, compositors, lighters, technical directors, VFX artists, videographers, photographers, editors, finishers, graphic designers, cinematic artists, and more!

Bradley animation graduates have worked on projects like Monsters vs. Aliens, Rise of the Guardians, and Thor: Dark World. Others have found professional paths at:

  • DreamWorks Animation
  • Blizzard
  • Hook
  • FuseFX
  • DNEG
  • Oculus VR
  • Age of Learning
  • Outpost VFX
  • Sony Pictures Imageworks

Check out Some Student Work

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