Visual Effects and Animation Schools - Production Excellence 2021
2021 Update! The Best Schools and Colleges in the World to learn visual effects and animation in a production environment.
The 2021 Best Visual Effects and Animation Schools - Production Excellence Schools and Colleges in the World rankings is something we take very seriously and no external influences or payments are entered into at any point. Our rankings focus on the quality of students portfolios that are submitted to our judging panel which best reflect the recruitment interview process.
We feel that traditional school rankings that include peer and employer reviews, faculty to student ratio, citations and other data are not adequate when ranking the best creative schools. For a complete breakdown of how we rank the best schools for 2021 please read how we rank the best schools and how we analyse the data in the sections located at the bottom of this page.
So what is Production Excellence?
Production Excellence is an accolade awarded to the very best schools that focus on working as a team to create short films and short form projects. Many schools focus on teaching the core skills of animation and film making, however it takes quite a different approach to creating an immersive experience that replicates a production studio.
We believe that schools that replicate a production studio experience provide a great advantage to students because it encourages team work, a strong understanding of pipelines, scheduling experience, resource management and problem solving.
During the Rookie Awards 2021, entrants were eligible to submit work to Game of the Year categories in either Console & PC, Mobile or Immersive Media. Each of these films were reviewed by an official judging panel consisting over 150+ industry experts. The judges reviewed films based on criteria such as creativity, technical skills, story, production quality and originality. Based on these results a range of finalists and winners were selected and a first pass of schools were shortlisted for this award.
The Rookies World School Rankings® are not like other education based ranking systems. They are driven and judged by industry professionals without the interference of paid advertising dollars that cloud the judgement of other ranking sites.
• Scott Thompson, founder of Think Tank Training Centre.
Visual Effects
Top Schools and Colleges in 2021 for Production Excellence
The official rankings for 2021 have been calculated based on the performance of student team based projects submitted to our industry panel. Full details can be found further down the page about how we calculate and rank schools.
| Rank | School | Location | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ArtFX School |
France | 128.22 |
| 2 | Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg | Germany | 81.02 |
| 3 | ECV Creative Schools & Community | France | 75.36 |
| 4 | Escape Studios |
United Kingdom | 69.54 |
| 5 | ISART Digital |
France, Canada | 68.30 |
| 6 | School of Visual Arts |
United States | 47.67 |
3D Animation
Top Schools and Colleges in 2021 for Production Excellence
The official rankings for 2021 have been calculated based on the performance of student team based projects submitted to our industry panel. Full details can be found further down the page about how we calculate and rank schools.
| Rank | School | Location | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ArtFX School |
France | 128.22 |
| 2 | Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg | Germany | 81.02 |
| 3 | ECV Creative Schools & Community | France | 75.36 |
| 4 | Escape Studios |
United Kingdom | 69.54 |
| 5 | ISART Digital |
France, Canada | 68.30 |
| 6 | School of Visual Arts |
United States | 47.67 |
2D Animation
Top Schools and Colleges in 2021 for Production Excellence
The official rankings for 2021 have been calculated based on the performance of student team based projects submitted to our industry panel. Full details can be found further down the page about how we calculate and rank schools.
| Rank | School | Location | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GOBELINS, l'école de l'image | France | 83.71 |
| 2 | ArtFX School |
France | 78.61 |
| 3 | School of Visual Arts |
United States | 74.86 |
| 4 | The Animation Workshop/ VIA University College |
Denmark | 72.16 |
| 5 | Savannah College of Art and Design |
Multiple Locations | 70.98 |
| 6 | ECV Creative Schools & Community | France | 70.31 |
| 7 | University of Hertfordshire |
United Kingdom, Online | 64.45 |
| 8 | Cleveland Institute of Art | United States | 63.58 |
| 9 | DigiPen Institute of Technology | Multiple Locations | 61.21 |
| 10 | University of South Wales |
United Kingdom, Online | 45.36 |
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Top entries submitted by Visual Effects and Animation Schools - Production Excellence students from these schools and colleges
Follow these links below to view some of the incredible entries that our judging panel were tasked with reviewing. These entries showcase the quality of work created by students which helped rank their schools.
How we calculate the school rankings
Our rankings focus on the quality of short films submitted to the Rookie Awards 2021 as teams, rather than individuals. Each short film receives a score by the judging panel and contributes to each Schools overall Production Excellence score.
Important details about how a school score is calculated:
- Schools must submit a team project.
- Each entry receives a final project score. Max 50 points.
- Each entry receives a team work score. Max 50 points.
- Each category finalist receives 5 bonus points toward School Score.
- Each category runner up receives 10 bonus points toward School Score.
- Each category winner receives 15 bonus points toward School Score.
Is your school missing?
For Students: Please put us in touch with the right person at your school.
For Faculty: Our team is here to help showcase your school to the world. Talk to us today about how to get your school certified, to promote your sucess stories and to make sure you rank highly next year!
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