Introduction of CUC Anima

Introduction

Founded in 2001, the School of Animation and Digital Arts at Communication University of China (CUC) is one of the first institutions in China to engage in teaching and research in animation, digital media art, game design and new media design. Relying on the disciplinary advantages of Communication University of China in the field of media industry, the School is specialised in animation, digital media art and technology, particularly known for its interdisciplinary and cross-media advantages integrated with art and science in its discipline development.

After nearly two decades of development, the School now has three secondary disciplines: Animation Art, Digital Media Art, and Interactive Art and Technology. The School has established a complete training system for at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels. The undergraduate courses include Digital Media Art, Animation, Digital Media Technology, Art and Technology, with pathways in Digital Screen Production, Internet and Intelligent Media Design, Animation Art, 3D Animation, Comics and Illustration, Game Art, Game Technology, Digital Entertainment, etc. The master’s degree has four programmes, including Digital Media Art, Animation Art, Design and Art and Science. The School offers three PhD programmes, including Digital Media Art, Animation Art, and Art and Science.

The School of Animation and Digital Arts consists of four departments: Animation, Digital Arts, New Media Design and Game Design. It is also named the Ministry of Education’s Secretariat of the Teaching Steering Committee for Animation and Digital Media, the Ministry of Education’s and the Ministry of Culture’s Secretariat of the Expert Committee on the Construction of Animation Teaching Materials, the National Radio and Television Administration’s National Animation Teaching and Research Base, the Ministry of Education’s Animation Specialty Construction Site, the National Experimental Teaching and Learning Centre for Animation and Digital Media of the “12th Five-Year Plan”, China Animation Society’s Education Committee, Beijing City’s Key Laboratory of Digital Animation Technology Research Laboratory. It has established artistic and academic platforms such as the “Aniwow!” China (Beijing) International Student Animation Festival, the China Animation Yearbook, and the Ministry of Culture's Digital Creative Talent Training Programme, which have had a wide impact at home and abroad.

The School has twice won the "Best Animation Education Institution" award from the Ministry of Culture's “Government Awards for Culture and Arts”. The works of the students and faculty members have won awards internationally at the Venice Film Festival, Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Student Academy Awards, Chicago International Film Festival, Tokyo Anime Awards, Stuttgart Trickfilm Festival, Animation Festival of Roanne, BAF Animation Awards of India, Tehran International Animation Festival, IndieCade Festival of Independent Games, One Show Design Awards, etc. It has won around 100 awards and nominations in international festivals and exhibitions, as well as more than 200 domestic awards, including Huabiao Awards, Golden Eagle Awards, “Golden Monkey King Award” and “Golden Dragon Award” at the China International Cartoon & Animation Festival, International Times Young Creative Awards of Taiwan Times World Chinese Creative Fair, etc. Other notable and commercially successful works include “The Legend of Three Kingdoms”, “Tuzki”, “Kung Fu Bunny”, “The Legend of Huainanzi”, “I am a Wolf”, “The Legend of Deification”, “White Snake”, etc.

The School has established long-term partnerships with leading domestic and international companies such as Disney, DreamWorks, Microsoft, Unity, Tencent, Alibaba, Sinovation Ventures, Giant Network Group Co., Shanghai Animation Film Studio, Crystal CG, etc., as well as international institutions such as Sheridan College and Centre for Digital Media in Canada, Gobelin École de l’Image in France, Filmuniversität Babelsberg in Germany, Arts University Bournemouth in the UK, DigiPen Institute of Technology and Northeastern University in the US, Korea National University of Arts, Nanyang Institute of Technology in Singapore, etc.

The School has more than 4,000 square meters of various professional laboratories and workshops, with over tens of millions of RMB invested in hardware and software, including the Beijing Key Laboratory of Digital Animation Technology Research, HP Global Centre of Excellence in Education, Apple Joint Laboratory, Unity Joint Laboratory, Shanghai Animation Studio Stop-Motion Animation Joint Laboratory, Xinhua Mobile TV R&D Centre, Beijing Radio New Media R&D Centre, Game Design Studio, Virtual Studio, Digital Synthesis Studio, Digital Recording Studio, Virtual Reality Lab, Mobile Multimedia and NGN Lab, Paperless Animation Lab, Hand-drawn Animation Studio, Animation Sound Studio, Digital HD Lab, Animation Rendering Studio and Motion Capture System, and other teaching and creation facilities.

History

Early Years

2000 The CUC became one of the first universities in China to offer undergraduate courses in animation (School of Television and School of Information Engineering).

2001 Founding of Department of Science and Arts in the School of Information Engineering.

2001 Founding of the School of Animation.

One of the first animation schools in China.

2003 Started offering course in Digital Media Arts approved by the Ministry of Education.

The first Digital Media course in China.

2004 The first group of national animation teaching and research bases of the National Radio and Television Administration.

2005 Merge of the Department of Science and Art and the School of Animation. Moved to Building 31.

2005 Founding of China (Beijing) International Student Animation Festival.

The first student animation film festival in China.

2005 Creation of PhD programmes in Animation and Digital Arts.

China's first complete system of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in animation and digital media art.

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Development

2008 Partnership with over 30 leading international animation schools, including Goblins, Sheridan and CalArts.

The first animation school in China to establish an extensive network of international cooperations.

2008 Student works such as “The Legend of Three Kingdoms” and “Tuzki” became nationwide cultural phenomena.

2009 Became home of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Culture’s Expert Committee on the Construction of Teaching Materials for Animation in Higher Education.

2010 Establishment of the first digital game design programme in China approved by the Ministry of Education.

China’s first game design course.

2010 Li Changchun, then member of the Standing Committee of the Central Politburo, visited the School of Animation and highly affirmed its training model.

2011 The School changed its name to School of Animation and Digital Arts and entered the National “985 Project” Discipline Innovation Platform.

2011 Awarded the Best Animation Education Institution in the First China Culture and Arts Government Award for Animation.

The first Best Animation Education Institution at the China Culture and Arts Government Awards.

2012 At the "Exhibition on the Development Achievements of China's Animation Industry since the 17th National Congress" held by the leading group of ten ministries and commissions to support the animation industry, the School’s educational model was highly affirmed by Li Changchun and other national leaders.

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Achievements

2012 “Happy Anniversary", "Lion Dance" and other student productions won successive notable international awards

2013 Became home of the Secretariat of the Higher Education Steering Committee on Animation and Digital Media of the Ministry of Education

Ministry of Education's first animation and digital media teaching committee

2014 The School was once again awarded the Best Animation Education Institution Award at the China Culture and Arts Government Awards for Animation

2015 The Secretariat of the Steering Committee completed the the National Quality Standards for Undergraduate Majors in Animation and Digital Media Arts Teaching

The first national standards for teaching quality in animation and digital media

2016 Animated film ‘Monkey King: Hero is Back', produced by the School’s graduates, achieved wide social impact

2017 Founded Digital Entertainment (E-sports) pathway

China's first digital entertainment (E-sports) degree pathway for universities

2018 Short live action film 'Spring Flowers', directed by the School’s graduate, won Gold at the US Student Academy Award

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Since 2018 Each year, a large number of student and faculty productions, such as " White Snake", "Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child ", "The Legend of Deification", "The Island of Siliang", "Wool Wool Town" and others, gained great social influence and won a number of notable awards at home and abroad

Programmes

After nearly a decade of development, the School now has three secondary disciplines, including Animation, Digital media art and Game design, with a complete undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral educational and research system for animation and digital media art. Undergraduate courses in Animation and Digital Media Art include Animation Directing, Animation Design, Digital Animation, Game Design, Digital Screen Production, Media Design, etc.; Masters degree courses include Animation Creation and Research, Animation Art Theory, Animation Industry Research, Digital Media Art Theory Research, Digital Media Art and Technology Research, Internet Multimedia Design, etc. The PhD programme includes Animation Theory Research, Animation Industry Research, Digital Media Art Theory, Digital Content Research, and other areas.