This page will help you get more out of your Library resources for your assignments, projects and dissertations in Animation & Visual Effects.

Research independently

The resources listed here will help you to make a good start with your research.

Search for a wide range of sources including e-books, articles, reports and images.

Useful for getting a basic understanding of your topic.

You can find ebooks on Discovery, but you can search the full text of the books by using the individual services. More services can be found on the Ebooks webpage.

  • Bloomsbury Visual Arts

    An ebook collection covering animation, game development, fashion & textiles, design & illustration, photography, architecture & interiors and more. Explore key topics as well as search and browse books.  Additional features include an interactive world map of architecture, time-line and images of key buildings and museum objects.

  • Ebook Central

    (Searchable in EBSCO Discovery)

    Access around 200,000 ebooks across all subject areas.

  • Screen Studies

    A useful research resource for anyone studying the moving image; this platform contains ebooks, screenplays and a history of cinema timeline.

Searching beyond the basics

This section lists resources for specific purposes.

Find journal and magazine articles. These include up-to-date publications.

  • ACM Digital Library

    (Searchable in EBSCO Discovery)

    Full-text articles and conference papers published by the Association for Computing Machinery. Useful for topics such as computer games, artificial intelligence, entertainment technology.

  • Art and Architecture Complete

    (Searchable in EBSCO Discovery)

    Use this resource to search for journal articles, e-books and images. All visual arts subjects are included. Links to the full text are provided, where available.

  • Engineering Village

    Engineering Village consists of three databases: GEOBASE, GeoRef and Compendex. GEOBASE indexes journal literature across the earth sciences from 1980-present. GeoRef covers geological literature from North America (1785-present), plus geological literature from the rest of the world (1933-present). Compendex is the most comprehensive bibliographic database of scientific and technical engineering and computing research available. 

  • Film and Television Literature Index

    (Searchable in EBSCO Discovery)

    Helps you to find out what articles have been published in journals related to these subjects. Often you can link to the full text of the article too.

  • IEEE Xplore

    (Searchable in EBSCO Discovery)

    Full text of technical literature in electrical engineering, computer science and electronics.

  • Science Direct

    (Searchable in EBSCO Discovery)

    Access 1000s of Elsvier articles and book chapters from our subscribed content on scientific, technical, and medical research.

Find (mostly) non-current, full-text, journal and magazine articles.

  • JSTOR

    (Searchable in EBSCO Discovery)

    Provides access to more than 12 million journal articles, books, images, reports and primary sources in 75 disciplines.
    Watch this video for great tips.

  • Animation Directory

    (Searchable in EBSCO Discovery)

    Directory of contact information for the film, television and video industry in the UK and Ireland.

  • GDC Vault

    (Searchable in EBSCO Discovery)

    GDC Vault hosts a variety of audio, video, and PowerPoint presentations of Game Developers Conferences. Topics include game design, programming, audio, visual arts, business management, production and online games

    This resource is restricted to members of the University of Portsmouth

    You have two ways to access the login instructions:

    1. Contact the Library from any Library enquiry desk or by contacting us:

    2. Connect to the University VPN and use the link below:

    View restricted access information for resources

    To verify you are a University member, please use your university email account or include your student/staff number in your message. If calling, please have your student/staff card ready.

  • Sage Research Methods

    Access books and videos about quantitative and qualitative research methods and many more social science research topics. Use the Tools drop-down at the top centre of the screen to access a handy Project Planner which is full of FAQs about what you need to consider at each stage in a project/dissertation. Tools also contains a Methods Map which is ideal for quickly finding details about a particular research method.

For newspaper archives visit the Visual Culture subject page.

  • Nexis Uni

    Full text articles from many news sources and trade journals both UK and international. Archives sometimes stretching back to the mid 1980s. For use in the UK only.

  • PressReader

    PressReader lets you access UK and international newspapers, plus a wide range of magazine content. Everything is full colour with archives varying in length depending on the publication.

    Login guidance

  • Statista: the portal for statistics

    Access to more than a million statistics from many different sources. Useful for finding industrial, economic and consumer market statistical trends.

Find primary sources including documents and images.

  • Archives of Sexuality and Gender: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940

    Explore 20 collections of documents, including minutes of meetings and conferences, press releases, fliers, brochures, press clippings, US government memoranda and reports, private correspondence, surveys and photos.

    Watch this quick introduction to the archive - please note we only subscribe to Part 1 which contains British material as well as coverage from North America.

  • Disability in the Modern World

    Disability in the Modern World: History of a Social Movement encompasses an international set of resources to enrich study in a wide range of disciplines from media studies to philosophy.

  • Popular Culture in Britain and America: 1950-1975

    (Searchable in EBSCO Discovery)

    Explore documents, fanzines, photos and newsreel footage to help understand these key decades when consumer culture and pop music took off and protest movements were big news.

Find more sources from the Visual Culture subject page.

  • Bloomsbury video library

    Formerly known as ArtFilms, this resource brings together award-winning, international film and videos across a wide range of interdisciplinary subjects including visual arts, architecture, music, film, dance, history and culture.

  • Audio Network

    High quality production music for TV, film, advertising and corporate video. Pre-cleared for worldwide and multi-platform use. Students should contact their course leaders in order to set up an account.

  • BoB: On demand TV and radio for education

    An archive of UK television and radio programmes from free to air channels (1998 onwards). For use in the UK only. Find some great tips about how to use BoB in these short videos.

  • Bodies in Motion

    You can access the basic subscription which includes 400+ high resolution sequences of athletes, artists, and dancers taken from one, two or three camera angles. Perfect reference for gesture drawing, anatomy study, and animation.

    This resource is restricted to members of the University of Portsmouth

    You have two ways to access the login instructions:

    1. Contact the Library from any Library enquiry desk or by contacting us:

    2. Connect to the University VPN and use the link below:

    View restricted access information for resources

    To verify you are a University member, please use your university email account or include your student/staff number in your message. If calling, please have your student/staff card ready.

  • Human Photo References for 3D Artists and Game Developers.

    A database of images and clips to assist in the production of 3D characters for cinematic sequences and next generation game characters. Also known as 3DSK.

    This resource is restricted to members of the University of Portsmouth

    You have two ways to access the login instructions:

    1. Contact the Library from any Library enquiry desk or by contacting us:

    2. Connect to the University VPN and use the link below:

    View restricted access information for resources

    To verify you are a University member, please use your university email account or include your student/staff number in your message. If calling, please have your student/staff card ready.

  • Kanopy

    A unique collections of films including award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases on every topic imaginable. Content can be searched or browsed.

  • Rhino House

    Provides access to thousands of animal and human motion clips.

    This resource is restricted to members of the University of Portsmouth

    You have two ways to access the login instructions:

    1. Contact the Library from any Library enquiry desk or by contacting us:

    2. Connect to the University VPN and use the link below:

    View restricted access information for resources

    To verify you are a University member, please use your university email account or include your student/staff number in your message. If calling, please have your student/staff card ready.

  • Stash

    Access over 5,000 design, animation and VFX projects. VPN required for off-campus access

  • Visible Body Suite

    Visible Body is a 3D human body reference and study tool. Explore general anatomy, functional units, cross sections, muscle attachments, bony landmarks, muscle actions and more.

    To access this resource:

    • You must register for an account either on campus using a university PC or the University wifi, or if off campus register using the VPN.
    • Sign up with your University email address.
    • Once registered you can use your account to login off campus.
    • You must login on campus or via VPN every 150 days to revalidate your account.