Studies/Programme

The teaching at MoPA's 3D animation school is focused on careers in the animated film industry, which require artistic skills, cinematographic knowledge and mastery of various software programs. These professions are most often practiced in teams, in studios that produce animated feature films, animated series, special effects, etc.

The MoPA 3D animation training program lasts five years and is organized into two cycles:

- The first 3-year cycle enables students to acquire the fundamentals of cinematographic art and techniques.
- The second cycle, lasting 2 years, is an advanced and professionalization cycle. Students can choose to specialize in either the visual arts or animation.

The three-year Stop Motion MoPA animation training program enables students to acquire all the skills needed for full stop motion production, with the same high standards as those required by professional studios.

These courses can be supplemented by a year in a preparatory class, to bridge the gap between high school and our animation training courses.

MoPA's animation training program includes 2D, because we want to teach the fundamentals of animation, and it's an absolute must. However, this is not the ultimate aim of our studies, and our final films are made using 3D or stop-motion animation techniques.

The MoPA preparatory class is a year of study with a generalist artistic program with a strong narrative focus, designed to bridge the gap between high school and a degree course in animation. This year will enable you to :

- acquire the artistic and technical fundamentals required for further training in animation cinema
- learn about animated film and gain a better understanding of the professions in this field
- build a portfolio that reflects your personality
- confirm your professional orientation

Entry to MoPA's 3D animation school can be direct from the first year. However, the preparatory class enables you to acquire a solid skills base and reveal your creative universe. Entry to the first year depends on your results, so you won't need to retake the competitive entrance exam.

A list of equipment will be sent to you a few months before the start of the school year, so that you can take the MoPA animation training course. We also have partnerships that will enable you to benefit from interesting offers.

The MoPA school is authorized by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research to award the accredited Expert Diploma in 3D Design, Production, and Animation (Master’s level).

I access the educational regulations of the accredited diploma in the 3D Animation Cinema program at MoPA.

For Stop Motion training, the MoPA school issues a school diploma.

A 2-month internship must be completed between the 3rd and 5th years of MoPA's animation training program (either 2 consecutive months between the 3rd and 4th years / or 2 consecutive months between the 4th and 5th years / or 1 month between the 3rd and 4th years then 1 month between the 4th and 5th years).

MoPA's 3D animation school has an extensive network of studios, companies and alumni working in the animation industry! Students are encouraged to play an active role in their own research, but can count on the support of the MoPA school.

In fact, students can carry out an internship abroad if it is linked to their 3D animation training. What's more, MoPA's 3D animation school is Erasmus+ certified, so students can consider spending a semester in one of our partner schools in Italy, Belgium, Switzerland or Germany.

MoPA's 3D animation film school places particular importance on both the academic artistic fundamentals that educate the eye and enable the creation of beautiful 3D images, as well as on design, scripting, storyboarding and other aspects.

These subjects are covered very early on in the curriculum, so as to train professionals in the 3D animation industry. In fact, writing workshops are organized as early as the preparatory class, and scriptwriting courses begin in the 1st year of the MoPA animation training program.

Exactly! After the 3-year 1st cycle, which provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the process involved in making an animated film, 2nd cycle students choose a specialisation for their final 2 years at MoPA. They can choose between two options: ‘Animation professions’ and ‘Image professions’. To find out more, please visit our page dedicated to the 3D animation course.

With its stop motion program, the MoPA animation film school trains future professionals specializing in the stop motion animation process for feature films, animated series, commercials and institutional films. With its project-based pedagogy, students learn to work as a team, in the real conditions of the biggest studios, using modern equipment.

An animation school trains students to create moving images using digital or traditional techniques such as 3D animation, VFX, stop motion, and 2D animation. A film school, on the other hand, prepares students to produce live-action films using actors, real-world sets, and on-set cinematography. While both disciplines share a strong focus on storytelling, they rely on different production pipelines and career paths.

Animation — The production pipeline typically includes storyboarding, concept art, 3D modeling, rigging, texturing, animation, lighting, visual effects (FX), rendering, and compositing. Typical careers include 3D Animator, Character Designer, 3D Modeler, FX Artist, Lighting Artist, Compositing Artist, and Animation Director.

Live-action filmmaking — The production process generally includes screenwriting, casting, location scouting, filming, editing, color grading, and sound mixing. Typical careers include Film Director, Director of Photography, Cinematographer, Film Editor, and Sound Engineer.

In France, the leading animation schools are members of the RECA (French Network of Animation Schools) and generally award professional qualifications registered with the RNCP (France's National Directory of Professional Certifications) and recognized by France Compétences. MoPA is one of these schools, specializing in careers in 3D animation and visual effects.

Yes. MoPA's 3D animation program is designed to replicate the technical and organizational workflows of a professional animation studio, giving students hands-on experience in real production conditions.

The program mirrors the realities of the industry through:

> A complete production pipeline identical to those used in professional studios, covering pre-production (storyboarding, concept art), 3D production (modeling, rigging, texturing, animation, lighting, FX), and post-production (rendering and compositing).

> Collaborative, multidisciplinary teamwork on long-term projects, with students taking on specialized roles such as director, supervisor, animator, lighting artist, or compositing artist, just as they would in a professional studio.

> Industry-standard software used throughout the curriculum, including Maya, Houdini, ZBrush, Substance Painter, and Nuke—the same tools employed by leading animation and VFX studios worldwide.

> Teaching by industry professionals, with courses and project supervision provided in part by experienced artists and supervisors currently working in animation and visual effects studios.

> An internship integrated into the curriculum, allowing students to gain first-hand experience in a professional production environment.

> A team-based graduation film, produced as a short animated film, presented before a professional jury and often selected for international film festivals.

This career-oriented approach helps students develop the three key competencies expected by employers: technical proficiency with industry tools, the ability to work efficiently within a production pipeline, and the collaborative skills required to contribute to long-term team projects. Graduate employment rate: 80% of graduates are employed in the profession targeted by the certification within 12 months of graduation (Source: MoPA Graduate Employment Survey). This indicator, monitored as part of the RNCP qualification awarded by the school, reflects the proportion of graduates working in careers directly related to 3D animation one year after completing the program.

Yes, the diploma awarded by MoPA's 3D animation school enjoys strong recognition within the animation and visual effects industry, supported by several objective indicators and an international track record that is rare for an animation school.

International recognition backed by prestigious awards

SIGGRAPH: MoPA has received multiple awards at this leading international conference for computer graphics and animation.

Student Academy Awards: MoPA is the most awarded school in the Animation category of this competition organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, widely regarded as a stepping stone to the world's most prestigious animation awards.

More than 200 international film festivals: Through its partnership with Yummy Films, the animated films produced by MoPA students are screened at more than 200 film festivals worldwide, where they regularly receive awards and distinctions.

A recognized institutional framework

RNCP qualification registered with France Compétences and officially recognized by the French State.

Member of the RECA (French Network of Animation Schools), which brings together France's leading animation schools.

A curriculum aligned with industry standards: a complete production pipeline, industry-standard software (Maya, Houdini, Nuke, etc.), and collaborative, studio-style production workflows.

Graduate employment rate: 80% of graduates are employed in the profession targeted by the certification within 12 months of graduation (Source: MoPA Graduate Employment Survey). This indicator, monitored as part of the RNCP qualification, demonstrates graduates' ability to enter the job market quickly in their field of study.

Together, these factors—international awards, institutional recognition, industry partnerships, and a strong graduate employment rate—position MoPA among the leading 3D animation schools in France and internationally. The school is widely recognized by animation and VFX studio recruiters as a benchmark institution.

A VFX (visual effects) program prepares students for careers focused on integrating computer-generated imagery into live-action productions, including feature films, television series, commercials, and streaming content. While this type of training differs from a traditional 3D animation program—which focuses on producing fully computer-generated animated films—it is built on a largely shared technical foundation.

Key skills required to work in VFX:

> 3D modeling and texturing – Creating digital assets such as objects, creatures, and environments to be integrated into live-action footage.

> Matchmoving (camera tracking) – Reproducing the movement of the real camera in 3D to seamlessly integrate CGI elements into filmed scenes.

> Rotoscoping and keying – Isolating filmed elements (often shot against a green screen) to combine them with digital assets.

> Lighting integration – Matching the lighting of 3D elements to the lighting conditions of the live-action footage for realistic integration.

> Dynamic simulations / FX – Creating smoke, fire, explosions, fluids, crowds, destruction effects, and other complex simulations.

> Compositing – Combining all production elements (live-action plates, CGI, mattes, and visual effects) into a final, cohesive image.

Industry-standard VFX software used throughout the MoPA program includes Maya, Houdini (FX), ZBrush and Substance Painter (modeling and texturing), Nuke (compositing), and Mari (advanced texturing). These are the same professional tools used by VFX studios around the world.

At MoPA's 3D animation school, these skills are taught within a curriculum that covers the entire production pipeline—from pre-production to 3D production and post-production—in a studio-like environment. Students learn to collaborate within multidisciplinary teams, just as they would in a professional VFX studio.

Beyond technical expertise, a successful VFX education also requires a strong understanding of live-action imagery, including cinema, photography, and observation of the natural world. Great VFX artists know how to study light, movement, and materials, then recreate these phenomena convincingly using computer-generated imagery.

Stop motion is a frame-by-frame animation technique in which puppets, figurines, or physical objects are photographed one pose at a time to create the illusion of movement. To pursue a career in this field, a specialized stop motion animation program is the most direct path.

The Stop Motion program at MoPA

MoPA is a stop motion and 3D animation school offering a dedicated three-year program structured around six core areas that cover all the skills expected in a professional studio:

> Artistic culture: Film history, art history, and film analysis. The objective is to develop the visual and narrative sensitivity that is essential for any animation artist.

> Art direction: Concept art, character design, and environment design. Students learn how to create a coherent visual universe and design both characters and environments.

> Directing and filmmaking: Screenwriting, storyboarding, cinematography, and editing. The program covers the complete filmmaking process, from storytelling to post-production.

> Fabrication: Sculpting, 3D printing, and set building. Students learn every aspect of stop motion craftsmanship, including armatures, puppets, and miniature sets through hands-on workshops.

> Animation: Clay animation, stop motion animation, and acting. This is the core of the discipline: bringing puppets to life frame by frame through strong timing, performance, and expressiveness.

> Professional development: Workshops, internships, and industry conferences. Throughout the program, students build connections with professionals and gain valuable insight into the animation industry.

A program within a recognized ecosystem

As a member of the RECA (French Network of Animation Schools) and an institution awarding a state-recognized RNCP qualification, MoPA supports the international distribution of its students' films through its partner Yummy Films. Student productions are screened at more than 200 international film festivals, including the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, which features dedicated stop motion categories.

By covering every aspect of the profession over three years, MoPA prepares students to join leading stop motion studios—including Laika (United States), Aardman Animations (United Kingdom), Folimage (France), as well as a wide network of independent studios. Recruitment is primarily based on the demo reel developed throughout the program, the key element of any professional animation portfolio.

Stop motion is one of the earliest animation techniques. It consists of photographing physical objects or characters one frame at a time, making slight adjustments to their position between each shot. When these images are played back at a rate of 12 to 24 frames per second, they create the illusion of movement.

The main stop motion techniques:

> Clay animation (Claymation): Animation using clay characters (e.g. Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run — Aardman Animations).

> Puppet animation: Animation using articulated puppets built around armatures (e.g. Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings — Laika; The Nightmare Before Christmas — Tim Burton).

> Cutout animation: Animation using articulated paper or flat elements, a historic technique popularized by some of the earliest animated films.

> Pixilation: A technique in which real people are photographed frame by frame to create stylized and unconventional movement effects.

What makes stop motion different from other animation techniques?

> Unlike 2D animation (drawn images) or 3D animation (computer-generated imagery), stop motion relies on photographing real physical objects and sets.

> This handcrafted approach gives films a distinctive texture, tangible materiality, and physical presence that digital animation often seeks to replicate.

> The production process is slow: one second of animation requires between 12 and 24 individual photographs, representing several hours of work.

From a technical standpoint, the stop motion industry relies heavily on Dragonframe, the world's leading frame-by-frame capture software used to control cameras and preview animation during production.

Studying stop motion at a 3D animation school allows students to develop a hands-on understanding of the fundamental principles of animation—principles that remain the same regardless of the medium, whether 2D, 3D, or stop motion. This dual technical approach broadens an animator's skill set, whether they pursue a career in stop motion, 3D animation, or hybrid productions.
 

What does practicing stop motion bring to an animator?

> A physical understanding of timing. By animating a real puppet one frame at a time, students internalize the rhythm of movement before learning to control it through 3D animation curves. The relationship between intention and result becomes immediate and tangible.

> Performance through puppet acting. Bringing a character to life by directly manipulating a puppet develops a strong sense of gesture, posing, and expressiveness—skills that transfer naturally to every animation medium.

> A practical understanding of the 12 Principles of Animation (anticipation, follow-through, squash and stretch, etc.), experienced in their most tangible form before being applied through 3D animation software.

> A multidisciplinary skill set. Students learn sculpting, armature building, set construction, studio lighting, image capture, and post-production. As a result, stop motion animators gain a comprehensive understanding of the entire production pipeline, making them highly versatile professionals both within and beyond the stop motion industry.

> A unique blend of craftsmanship and authorship. Stop motion requires artistic decisions about visual style, materials, colors, and environments long before production begins. This encourages students to develop both their technical expertise and their creative identity as filmmakers.
 

At MoPA, stop motion is taught through a dedicated three-year program structured around six core areas: artistic culture, art direction, directing and filmmaking, fabrication, animation, and professional development. Together, these subjects cover all the skills expected in a professional studio. Rather than treating stop motion as a simple introductory workshop, MoPA's animation school offers a comprehensive education in stop motion as a fully-fledged animation discipline.

MoPA's 3D animation program approaches artificial intelligence as a tool that complements artistic and technical skills, not as a replacement for the work of 2D, 3D, or stop motion animators. The educational objective is twofold: to ensure students are familiar with AI tools so they remain competitive in a rapidly evolving industry, while also giving them the knowledge to use these technologies critically and responsibly in a professional environment.

The program also teaches a critical approach to AI by addressing several key issues that future professionals are likely to encounter in studios:

> Intellectual property and copyright – Legal considerations surrounding AI-generated content and the datasets used to train generative models.

> Artistic and technical limitations – AI cannot replace the animator's sense of timing, acting, or artistic direction, all of which remain at the heart of the profession.

> Hybrid production workflows – Learning when AI can enhance the creative process and when traditional artistic techniques remain the best approach, depending on the project's objectives and constraints.

Ultimately, MoPA's 3D animation program prepares students for an industry undergoing rapid technological change, where proficiency with AI tools is becoming an asset without ever replacing the fundamentals of animation: observing movement, visual storytelling, artistic culture, and mastering the complete production pipeline.

A stop motion program and a 3D animation program both prepare students for careers in the animation industry, but they are based on two very different approaches. Stop motion involves animating physical objects, puppets, or miniature sets by photographing them one frame at a time, whereas 3D animation focuses on creating entirely digital images using computer software. The two techniques are complementary and are often combined within the same production.

Different techniques and tools

In a stop motion program, students learn how to build puppets, construct miniature sets, animate frame by frame, and shoot on a real film set. The main tools include armatures, cameras, and specialized software such as Dragonframe.

In a 3D animation program, the curriculum focuses on 3D modeling, rigging, texturing, animation, lighting, visual effects (FX), and compositing. Students work with industry-standard software such as Maya, Houdini, ZBrush, Substance Painter, and Nuke.

Different production workflows

Stop motion is a highly demanding handcrafted technique: one second of animation requires between 12 and 24 individual photographs, representing several hours of work. By contrast, 3D animation follows a digital production pipeline that allows different stages of production to be distributed across multiple teams working simultaneously.

Complementary career opportunities

A stop motion program primarily prepares students for specialized studios such as Laika, Aardman Animations, Folimage, and many independent studios. A 3D animation program opens the door to careers in feature animation studios, television series, video game development, visual effects (VFX), advertising, and virtual production.

Beyond their technical differences, both programs share the same core foundations: storytelling, timing, acting, and a strong understanding of cinematic language. Ultimately, the choice between a stop motion program and a 3D animation program depends on the student's creative preferences: do they enjoy building and manipulating physical objects, or would they rather create entire digital worlds on screen? Both paths lead to rewarding careers in the animation industry and often intersect within the same productions.