Brown Bag Films Dublin Assistant 3D Supervisor, Matthew Lloyd, has been teaching a 3D Modelling course in Ballyfermot! Earlier this year he set up a competition for the students in his class, we chatted with him about the course, the competition and the winning entry!

Matthew: In 2016 Ballyfermot College of Further Education launched a brand new HND in VFX and 3D Technology. Course coordinator Gareth Lee has successfully created a course which offers students the unique chance to learn current VFX and Animation Industry skills and software.

This course is the first of its kind in Ireland but what makes it unique is they employ professionals from the Irish Animation and VFX industry to teach on the course. 

As a former teacher at the college I was more than happy to be involved with a new course like this and help train new talent! Brown Bag Films has had a long tradition with Ballyfermot College and it is with their continued support that staff from our Dublin studio attend the college each week to teach.

This year I set my students a 3d Modelling Challenge over the summer break. The idea behind the challenge was to help the students expand their knowledge in 3d software.

The First Year students were provided with the 2D concept artwork below by our very own Lead Texture Artist Adrian Mulryan and were set the challenge to Model a 3D set based on his designs.

The winner of the competition was Declan O'Connor, whose moody piece received the majority of votes from a panel of 8 Brown Bag judges.

(pictured from left to right: Matthew Lloyd, Declan O'Connor, Cathal Gaffney)

Overall, the quality of the Modelling Challenge entries submitted by the students was very good! What made Declan's work stand out was his use of lighting, which helped give the set mood and atmosphere.

Check out Declan's winning entry below:

“My background in traditional 2D hand drawn animation goes back as far as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Murakami Wolf Dublin. I am currently studying 3D Technologies and VFX at Ballyfermot College of further education.

Brown Bag Films has been there from the launch of the course to support us, and I really appreciate them allowing their very talented 3D supervisor, Matthew Lloyd, time off his busy schedule to come in to share his wealth of knowledge with us.

Matthew keeps us on our toes, and even set up a 3D modelling challenge to keep us busy over the summer break, which I really enjoyed taking part in.” - Declan O’Connor

For more information on the course, please visit: BCFE HND in VFX and 3D Technology course