The first cohort of students from Animation College’s Rotorua campus are on the cusp of graduating from their three year Level 6 Diploma in Applied Animation (DAA) and Level 7 Diploma in Digital Media (DDM).
It’s a proud time for campus tutors who are thrilled to celebrate with the nine students, eight of whom are of Māori descent. Heritage has played an important role in adding cultural layers to many of the projects undertaken by the students over the past three years.
In addition, another 10 students are also graduating from the 2 year Level 6 Diploma in Applied Animation (DAA) to their third year, the Level 7 Diploma in Digital Media (DDM). They will be part of the ceremony too; in total 19 students will be graduating.
In addition, the third year students have been able to work at Digital Basecamp, a collaborative one-stop-shop for creative techs, where they worked alongside industry leaders on live projects as Digital Apprentices. With state-of-the-art facilities and Digital Apprentices pioneering the space, the industry is buzzing in Rotorua.
Nige Ward, senior Regional Manager, Rotorua Animation College says, “The Rotorua campus adds a real whānau feeling to storytelling, it offers the ability to nurture individual animation skills, both in a traditional 2D sense with the paper and pencil, and with software such as Flash/Animate, Photoshop and After Effects.”
The Animation College Rotorua campus was launched in May 2015, with one programme; the Diploma in Applied Animation 2D. Nineteen students and two staff were on site on one floor. Now Rotorua has 42 students, five staff, two floors, two programmes, and Digital Basecamp.
