Sophomore year in Drexel’s Animation & Visual Effects (ANFX) program is where students start refining their artistic and technical skills. With the basics covered in freshman year, this year focuses on more advanced animation techniques, 3D modeling, rigging, and compositing. Students also begin exploring their personal style and figuring out whether they want to focus on 2D animation, 3D animation, or visual effects (VFX).
This year’s courses take animation and VFX to the next level, introducing more complex workflows and industry tools. Sophomore year prepares students for specialization in their junior and senior years. As projects become more advanced, students refine their focus on character animation, environment design, VFX, or motion graphics. With co-op opportunities on the horizon, it’s time to start thinking about professional experience!
Core Classes
This year’s courses take animation and VFX to the next level, introducing more complex workflows and industry tools. Key classes include Basic Portfolio (ANIM146) which focuses on the basics of portfolio creation, editing, and presentation while examining portfolio examples of current professionals in various industry roles that can serve as models for student portfolio development. Previsualization for Animated Production (ANIM155) covers the all-important design and planning process that takes place before embarking on the production of an animation or visual effects piece. In this course, student will learn and practice the creation, motivation and use of pre-production plans, concept art, mood boards, shot storyboarding, animatics, performance reference and other topics integral to the previsualization process. Animation (ANIM212) builds on topics introduced in ANIM 211 (Animation I), incorporating advanced animation techniques such as inverse kinematics and dynamics. Requires students to propose, design, and produce a short animation. Digital Compositing (ANIM220) examines digital compositing possibilities through the manipulation and recombination of acquired and produced digital imagery, including study of digital image and video formats, color space, live action digital matte painting, Greenscreen/Bluescreen compositing, rotoscope masking and 2D tracking.
Skills You’ll Learn
Sophomore year deepens understanding of both the artistic and technical aspects of animation and VFX, including Character Performance Animation – Making characters act, express emotions, and react realistically, 3D Asset Creation – Modeling, sculpting, and texturing objects and characters, Rigging & Skinning – Setting up bones and controls to prepare characters for movement, and Visual Effects & Compositing – Integrating 3D elements with live-action footage, green screens, and effects.
Projects & Challenges
This year involves more complex projects that mimic real industry workflows. Students work on Animated Character Scenes – Creating short clips that emphasize acting and body mechanics, 3D Environment & Asset Development – Designing detailed game or animation-ready assets, Rigging a Full Character – Preparing a 3D character with proper joints and movement controls, and VFX Shot Composition – Integrating CGI with live-action footage using After Effects and Nuke. A major challenge in sophomore year is time management—animation and VFX require detailed work, and rendering times can be long! Learning how to optimize workflow and meet deadlines is essential.
Tips for Success: Focus on fundamentals. Animation is about movement and storytelling, not just flashy visuals. Get comfortable with software. Learn Maya, ZBrush, After Effects, Nuke, and Substance Painter. Plan ahead. Rendering can take hours—avoid last-minute submissions! Start building your portfolio. Collect your best work and document your creative process.