Professional Studies

Professional Studies

Useful Links

Organisations and Professional Bodies

Creative skillset is a very good resource of information, funding and even career opportunities within the creative sector in the UK.

www.creativeskillset.org

Creative Scotland is a Scotland specific resource in which also gives advice, funding and help to people and organisations with the creative industries in Scotland.
www.creativescotland.org.uk

The link below leads directly to the creative Scotland funding application page. Creative Scotland receives its funding primarily from the Scottish government through Tax breaks etc., and also from the national lottery funds.

http://www.creativescotland.com/funding/funding-overview

The Animation Guild is an example of a union which helps support people working within a computer arts role. Unions and guilds can help animators make sure they are getting the correct wages and working conditions as well as give support and advice if there is a company dispute.

www.animationguild.org/about-the-guild/

The animation Europe website is more geared towards film makers and investors than animators specifically, but a wealth of information can be found regarding funding, advice and even a full film list dating back to 1926 with the first animated feature ‘The Adventures of Prince Achmed’ by Lotte Reiniger (Germany)

http://www.animationeurope.com/index.asp

Legal and Financial

Copyright Law

The link below leads to the government website that details what copyright is and what can it apply to.

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy/c-about.htm

The link below leads directly to the Copyright Design and Patents Act 1998 for further reading on the law of copyright.

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/cdpact1988.pdf

You can register with certain copyright companies which will protect your right to copyright for a fee. This is not always necessary as you do not have to apply for copyright; it’s an automatic right after a piece has been completed. This sort of service is more of a guarantee.

http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/

Tax through PAYE (Pay as you earn)

If you are employed by a company, Income Tax and National Insurance contributions are deducted through the Pay as you earn system by the employer. These deductions are taken directly out of the gross wages an employee earns and sent off to the government.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/working/intro/employed.htm

On the flipside, if you are self-employed you need to fill in what is called a self-assessment tax return. A self-employed person has to keep all records of any business transactions etc. to provide this information so the government can be sent the tax and national insurance payments.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/working/intro/selfemployed.htm

Value Added Tax

Companies must apply to the government when they reach a certain monetary turnover for VAT. The company must charge VAT on top of the retail price of the goods.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/start/introduction.htm

Registering a company

Companies House exist to register and dissolve limited companies in the UK. By law (Companies Act 2006), all limited companies must be registered to a Companies House which displays the company information to the public.

http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/about/functionsHistory.shtml

State pension and pension schemes

If you have been making national insurance contributions, you should be entitled to a state pension from the government when you reach the applicable age. 30 years’ worth of National Insurance payments are required to get a full state pension.
https://www.gov.uk/state-pension

From October 2012 companies are required to get the employees to sign up for pension schemes. These small payments are deducted from wages and given to the government who add it to your pension entitlement in later life.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pensionschemes/understanding.htm

Health and Safety

I have found this article on the Creative Skillset website that details the responsibilities of employers specifically within the UK film industry. This page goes into detail about the health and safety at work act 1974 which means that both the employer and the employee have a responsibly to make sure they are in a safe and danger free working environment and that they are working in a safe manner.
http://www.creativeskillset.org/companies/your_staff/health_and_safety/article_3857_1.asp

The following document relates to ergonomics and goes into detail about making sure we have the correct posture and working environment to avoid injuries. Ergonomics is the practice of making sure a person’s workplace is well suited to them. This will include, making sure desks and chairs are set up correctly to avoid injury and making sure the environment is suitable for working in. Nobody will be comfortable working in freezing or stuffy hot conditions.
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg90.pdf

Other help and advice

The following links are to animation websites and online magazines that provide free advice to other within the animation industry. This advice comes from other animators directly through the use of various online forums.
www.cgsociety.org
www.skwigly.co.uk

Next we will list a number of websites where we can not only find other freelance animators and examples of their work, but also possibly showcase our own portfolios.

These websites were provided to us by Dundee College last year.

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2012/04/03/who-are-best-creative-freelancers-uk

http://creativepool.com/freelancedirectory/

http://vitamintalent.co.uk/

http://www.freelanceuk.com/find-a-freelancer/3d-modelling-animation

https://shootingpeople.org/home

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/freelancer#

http://thisiscentralstation.com/

These forums are very useful for making contacts within the computer arts industry which will benefit us. If we ever get stuck or need some advice from other 3D artist, this is where we can turn to.

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