Digital Animation Curriculum

The Digital Animation Certificate program is under review. Please send an email to CELACAD@sfsu.edu to be added to our mailing list for program updates.

About the Curriculum

The curriculum fully immerses you in character animation with classes in drawing, modeling, rigging, lighting, texturing, storytelling, and improvisation. The focus of these classes will be to help you understand the field as a whole, while you acquire a language that is common to the industry. Our program offers a unique blend of education in traditional animation principles that are critical to telling great stories, and new technologies that are radically transforming the possibilities of digital animation.

Your success in the digital animation industry is our goal.

Certificate Requirements

The certificate program requires completion of 27 semester units.

Digital Animation Curriculum

  • Principles of Computer Animation (2 units) ($640)
  • Drawing for Digital Animation (2 units) ($640)
  • Digital Animation Level I: Mechanics of Movement (3 units) ($960)
  • Modeling/Rigging I (2 units) ($640)
  • Animation Story Workshop (1 unit) ($425)
  • Digital Animation Level II: Body Mechanics (3 units) ($960)
  • Modeling/Rigging II (2 units) ($640)
  • Lighting/Texturing I (2 units) ($640)
  • Digital Animation Level III: Character Animation (3 units) ($960)
  • Lighting/Texturing II (2 units) ($640)
  • Studio Class (3 units) ($960)
  • Breaking into the Animation Industry Workshop (1 unit) ($425)
  • Bringing Digital Alive (1 unit) ($425)

Admission Requirements

To be admitted to Digital Animation Certificate Program, students should have at least 60 units of academic credit with a minimum GPA of 2.0 or sufficient experience to demonstrate that they can perform upper division work. However, students who do not have 60 units are encouraged to apply and may be admitted to the program on a conditional basis. (See Academic Certificate requirements.)

Graduation Application

What Students Are Saying

I went to college at University of California, Irvine, where I graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science in 2002. After school I started working for an Indian software company, which after a short stint in India, placed me in San Francisco. I found out about the program from an ad on a tram on my way to work. I had originally signed up to take the first course because it sounded interesting, and I'd always enjoyed visual fx-heavy films and games. I had not really intended to try and get into it professionally, but after enjoying the coursework and learning more about the program, I decided to go that direction.

It has been a great experience. The courses cover a lot of different topics, and the instructors have all been very helpful and knowledgeable. The small class sizes provide a great setting for learning.

Darren Williams, Student

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