Digital Sculpting

This course is currently offered in collaboration with Creative Futures Academy (CFA). CFA is a ground-breaking partnership between: The National College of Art and Design, University College Dublin, and the Institute of Art, Design + Technology. Our tailored programmes and micro courses offer access to expertise and networks across the three leading creative institutions and our industry partners. Learn with us as we experiment, innovate and respond to change.

What is it?
Digital sculpting is the process of using computers to produce digital art. Using leading Industry software, students will explore the basics of the sculpting process for both character and creature sculpting.

You will learn how to generate sketch ideas and to progress a character design from initial concept to completed digital mesh. Utilising a subdivision digital sculpting workflow, you will create your digital character/creature as a digital sculpt in a final pose.

Other areas will also be explored such as preparation of digital sculpts for 3D printing and high-quality renders for portfolio presentation.

Students who successfully complete this course will receive a Certificate in Professional Skills (Level 9 Award, 10 ECTS).

What will I do?
A 3D digital modeller is an artist first and foremost creating or bringing to life the fantastical and fabulous. Using the power of technology these creatives use digital sculpting to produce high quality concept art, Game and animation characters, collectible toys, 3D printed props, scenic elements and more.

You will learn about the Digital sculpting process and about the importance of blocking out, the mesh surface, level of detail, mesh preparation and presentation. You will design and produce a 3D printable humanoid or creature character bust using digital sculpting software.

The programme may include a range of topics such as:
Origins of design thinking | Writing a design brief | Competitor analysis | Creative leadership, vision and values | Brainstorming and ideation | Audience/customer profiling | Customer journeys & empathy experiments | Synthesis and insights | Visualisation methodologies | Storytelling | Prototyping & iteration | Design metrics, evaluation, validation and testing.

Undergraduate qualification of 2nd Class Honours or higher at Honours Degree level.

Applicants without a Level 8 qualification may be considered based on their prior experience and learning through our RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) process.
As part of the RPL process, applicants in this category will be required to present a qualifying statement of a standard that demonstrates their ability to undertake work at Level 9.

A CV detailing your professional experience is required.

Experience using a drawing tablet is a big plus but not essential.

Materials / Equipment Requirements
Each student must provide their own drawing tablet – examples include:

The Huion Inspiroy H950P or the Huion New 1060 Plus (both available for approx €57 online).

Alternatives might be the Wacom One (approx EUR59 online), or for those with a budget to spend and who want a professional version would be the Wacom Intuos 5 (approx. €400).

Portfolio: No

Applications are now open for this programme.

IADT operates a rolling admissions policy for graduate taught courses, with decisions issued in 4 weeks after a submitted and complete application is received. An application is incomplete until you provide all required items on the checklist (including the application fee, if applicable).

Generally, courses will remain open to applications until all places are filled.

10 Weeks Online

The course will be delivered from March to May 2024 fully online, mostly on Thursday evenings, from 5pm to 9pm on:

7th, 14th, 21st March (Thursdays)
26th March (Tuesday) and 28th March (Thursday)
2nd April (Tuesday) and 4th April (Thursday)
11th, 18th, 25th April (Thursdays)
9th and 16th May (Thursdays)

March to May 2024

Future careers
This course will enhance your career opportunities in any current or future role by providing you with vital design thinking skills in creative problem solving, visualisation techniques and innovation strategies.

For recent graduates, this course will provide a competitive edge for entering the workplace. For professionals, the course is ideal for anyone working in a team or project-driven environment that is customer-focused. The skills learnt on the course are applicable to product/service ideation, development or improvement, or for startups and R&D teams who may be developing new and innovative offerings.

Graduates and participants from the course have come from a wide range of private and public sector organisations and companies including:

ESB, Google, Deloitte, Accenture, Trinity College Dublin, Dell, UCD, Publicis, IBEC, Silvercloud Health, Dynamo Design, Dublin City Council, Epsilon, South County Dublin Partnership, Johnson Controls, Click n’ Go, AIB, Bulgari, RTÉ, NUI Galway, Group M, Aerlingus.