Admissions procedures, Character Animation

General procedures
When you apply for the bachelor programme in Character Animation, you must use KOT - the Danish Ministry's official application portal. You can search for the relevant information, forms and guides here.

You will have to hand in an application form either electronically or along with a portfolio, showing your work. Please note that the application form is only online from February 1st til March 15th.

After the application deadline on March 15, an admissions committee will select applicants for interviews and test. The interviews and test will take place in April/May, and by June, the committee will notify the applicants of the results of the admissions tests.

Once admitted to the Bachelor Programme in Character Animation, you can apply for accomodation in Viborg.

If you do not pass the admissions test, the 1st year coordinator will provide you with individual critique and feedback on both portfolio and admissions test results.

If you are not selected for the admissions test, we will invite you to participate in a workshop where you will receive individual feedback and guidance in order to help you develop your skills.

Admission Criteria
There are 3 different criteria which must be met in order to apply for the bachelor programme in Character Animation:

• Educational background

You must hold the equivalent to a high school diploma/A-levels (in Danish: STX, HTX, HH, HF).


• English skills

All international non native English speakers must together with the application send an English language test certificate from IELTS, TOEFL or other tests of equivalent standard.

All Danish students must have English on B-level according to the level system in Danish secondary schools, or equivalent proof of English skills.


• Drawing skills

The Character Animation programme is a talent based education, which means that your skill level and the potential demonstrated in your portfolio will determine your chances of being admitted.

The specific requirements for the portfolio are listed below.

Before applying for the bachelor programme in Character Animation, many applicants find it useful to attend the semester course in classical drawing at The Drawing Academy located on campus; The Drawing Academy offers courses of 20 weeks intensive high end classical drawing. More information about the semester course at The Drawing Academy.

Portfolio Requirements for the Character Animation Program
Your portfolio should represent you as an artist and include your best work. It is important that we see a good demonstration of your skills within all the different categories listed below.

From 2013, we are only accepting digital portfolios in the form of a link which should be included in your letter of intention attached to your KOT application. We ask that all portfolios are well organized and are clearly divided or separated into the categories listed below. We also ask that your name and contact information are easy to find and that you put a copy of your letter of intention on your blog as well.

We suggest using Blogspot, Tumblr or online PDFs and that you consider the size of your images and other posts so that it loads easily and quickly. We will not accept portfolios using Facebook, DeviantArt or Flickr. We recommend uploading videos on Vimeo and posting images no larger than 2MB to reduce loading time. Please also make sure that your blog, link or website functions properly. If it does not function at the time of the admissions review, we will disregard your application.

Content requirements for portfolio, Character Animation:

• Drama and acting (min. 6 drawings):

Drawings in this category should depict characters expressing a specific emotion or feeling. From reading the character's body language, the viewer should be able to clearly determine the character’s mood or feelings.

• Movement (min. 6 drawings):

Drawings in this category should depict characters that are in motion—walking, jumping, dancing or doing sports, for example. In short, any situation where the character is in movement. Proportion and dynamic posing should be taken into consideration.

• Storytelling (min. 5 panels / drawings):

Create a sequence of drawings that visually tells a story or a sequence of events. Consider composition, camera angle and posing of the character to tell the story without the use of text.

• Life drawing (min. 8 drawings):

Drawings in this category must show proper anatomy, size proportions, and an understanding of shape, body dynamics and weight of the figure.

• Perspective (min. 4 drawings):

Drawings in this category include environments, buildings or landscapes that demonstrate an understanding of the principles of perspective. This may include classic studies of perspective, but at least one drawing should use perspective of an object within an environment.

• Freestyle (min. 8 drawings):

Submit some of your best imaginative character based drawings which show us your favourite drawing style(s) and highlight your personal and unique abilities. It is a plus to show versatility and range in drawing style.

• Letter of Intention:

Please write a brief description about why you would like to study Character Animation: What are your influences and inspirations? What are your ambitions for the future work? What are your favourite stories, films and/or games and why? List any related work or educations you have been involved in.

• Optional:

You are welcome to include links or additional categories work outside of our requirements, like animations, interesting projects, story ideas or graphic work.

Deadlines
The deadline for handing in the KOT-form and the portfolio is March 15 at 12:00.

Education number (Optagelsesområdenummer)
50610 Bachelor in Character Animation
(This number is for both programmes. You must write in your letter of motivation which programme you are applying for).

Find application form here: www.optagelse.dk

Optagelse.dk asks you to send a printed application to VIA University College, but you're also very welcome to mail it to The Animation Workshop, Kasernevej 5, 8800 Viborg, Denmark - or send it via e-mail to Tina Ratky Jensen at tina@animwork.dk

We will send you a return receipt by email upon registration of your application. If you are an applicant and have not received a return receipt by March 20th, please contact Tina Rathky Jensen at the email address above.

Download portfolio requirements here

Admission for international students