hello everyone,
I am from Germany and a bit bored of it with what they offer...
Does anyone know a brilliant animation school for 3d computer and traditional animation?
Maybe somewhere in the California area? Or anywhere else?
thanks in advance
katharina
Ahh, I have the same problem here in the US. I've attended 2 universities that i was told had very good computer animation programs (even by alias wavefront) but both schools got rid of their computer animation teachers for one reason or another, so I have been self taught so far. The school I am at now (east tennessee state university) has a very well equiped animation lab, and funding for teachers, but perhaps it is hard to hire good animation teachers because they can easily get a better job in the industry.
hey
thanks for the reply, but its not only the 3d computer animation I
look in to the university of southern california.
their animation / film program is one of the most respected, but it's a grad program...
san fran art college, scad, etc... there're quite a few. look at the web site of a company you respect, and they'll most likely have a number of school's listed there.
sheridan in canada is also quite good.
it's a hard decision, but also consider the option of home schooling. think of how much you'll pay for school and tuition, and consider how much you can learn and how long it'll take.
what i learned most from college though, had almost no application to my livelihood. so it goes.
best of luck,
.signature
You will find a few good places in the UK, I am at the Swansea Institute of Higher Education, if you want to read the course layout check:
http://www.sihe.ac.uk/prospect/baca.htm
This year is the first year they run the course, and I can tell you that I am pretty happy with it already. Es ist mega scheun man, kein problem 
It is mostly self-tuition for the animation bit, the lecturers give us tutorials, and we do them. But the course contains many many more things than just 3D, we do the history of cinema, we film (one of my assignments for this term is a 1 minute film), we do A/V, pre-production, computer systems, visual studies etc. it is a great course.
This is the stuff I have produced since I am at the institute:
There is not much there yet, but check it anyway.
If you want to find courses in the UK, go to:
Cee ya!
I am in Orlando Florida, and I went to a school called Full Sail. The animation Program is a good program and is always getting better. You lean good 3d skills as well as animation.
You learn mostly maya for the 3d programs and photoshop for the 2d program. Things may have changed snce I have graduated.
Not a whole lot has changed here DCMS.
Still using Maya for 3D and Photoshop for 2D.
Fullsail is continuing to update these programs and licenses as new versions come out and a lot of time and money is being spent on opening up new labs with some exceptionally high end equipment.
To the original poster - http://www.fullsail.com will tell you all about this place.
-FS_RAZ
I still say Bowling Green, Ohio has a greta program. Thsi is a boring town and a typical uni, but a great computer art program! We get all new hardware and software (hardware every 3 years no matter what-we get top of the line)
Jon
whoops, it's http://art.bgsu.edu
In the UK one of the best schools is the National Center for Computer Animation at Bournemouth University (NCCA)
http://ncca.bournemouth.ac.uk/
They run both an undergraduate degree in computer visualisation and animation and they also run three masters programs in Computer Animation, Special Effects Animation/Compositing and a Games course. THey use all the major software depending on you specialist area. (XSI, Maya, Houdini, Chalice, Shake?, Renderman, C)
They have Very strong links with ILM, and all the major SOHO effects houses) Last year they had an ILM staff member lecture for five weeks on the couse.
http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/edu...5000/765911.stm
As far as job prospects go. There are many ex staff and students at ILM, Pixar, Mill Film, CFC, Framestore, MPC, Double Negative, Codemasters, Hensons and the list goes on.
Edited by taffy on 03/27/01 05:51:26 AM.
The Renaissance Center is an exceptional training center for 3D animation. They have an intense Maya training program. Check them out at www.trcmedia.org for the training classes and www.rcenter.org to see the incredible facility.
Taffy,
did you attend their undergad program or masters?
How did you like your student experience there?
If you're still looking for a decent 3d and 2d animation school in the US, I'd suggest taking a gander at SCAD. I'm currently in my senior year there and overall it has been a very nice experience. It's an art school located in Savannah, GA, and there are many different aspects of media that you can explore. If you choose to focus on 3D computer animation, you are required to take at least one 2d classical animation class. They stress the importance of drawing and visualization, and alternative methods of design. The facilities are state of the art, with absolutely every 3d and compositing/editing software package available. We just got in over 1000 brand new ibm workstations running duel pentium 4 xeons with maxed out ram and rediculous video cards. There are also some stop motion classes available, and a major coming soon, if you want to explore that aspect of timed media. The name of the school is Savannah College of Art and Design and the website is www.scad.edu. It's a bit pricey, but I highly suggest taking a look at it. Also, if you want more personal information on the school, or a look at the level you may be at by the time you graduate, feel free to email me with some questions.
Mike
How was your bournemouth experience Scotth?
If you're specifically thinking about California, there are 2 great schools here for animation/vfx: Academy of Art (in San Francisco) and the California Institute for the Arts (CalArts for short, in Orange County). I go the the Academy of Art and so far it's very impressive - all the 3d/vfx teachers are professionals in the field (some teach only part time), and every year the students seem to come out with amazing animations. The program of choice here is Maya, but MAX, Houdini, SoftImage and Lightwave are also popular (you choose one and stick with it ...). The labs are stocked with the latest SGI and NT workstations(for upperclassmen), a little slower workstations (for the rookies), and like 40000 macs for everyone else. One of the good things about this school (and CalArts) that sets it apart from FullSail (and the like) is that it's a "well-rounded" program ... in other words, you'll become a master at your 3D package of choice (if you put in the effort), but you'll also learn "traditional" art - figure drawing, painting, sculpting, etc ... believe it or not that helps in 3D and companies (like Pixar if you've ever heard of it, wink wink) actually consider traditional art background(matte painting??? i dunno ...) Anyway, you should consider the Academy of Art ... it's fun because it's San Francisco (just don't stay in the dorms, they kinda suck) and because you get to do what you really like (hint, 3D). I can think of only 3 drawbacks: It's expensive (c.25,000/year), the "campus" is spread out throughout the city so you might have to walk a lot, and it's expensive. Also it's relatively easy to get into, especially for international students. Well hope that helps ...
Vlad
the websites are ...
www.academyart.edu
www.calarts.edu
"Dad, when I grow up I want to be a 3D animator!"
"Son, you cannot do both..."
Vlad,
Does that 25,000$ include housing and living cost for a year or just tuition?
Also is there an kind of 3d for visual effects cirriculum?
Are you in the computer art program?
thx
Kim
Kim,
Yeah I am in the computer art program, and they have 5 concentrations: Animation, Modeling, VFX/Compositing, Game Production, and New Media (web design, etc.) I'm in the Animation concentration, but just by taking another semester I will be able to receive a bachelors in Computer Arts with 4 concentrations (less new media) so that's good. The visual effects program here (from what i hear) is really state of the art ... they have inferno, flame, combustion, smoke, flint, (i think we have flint), and a bunch of other high end stuff dealing with uncompressed videofor people that REALLY get into special fx. And the 25,000 is the total cost ... tuition is around 14-16k a year ... housing is 8-10k a year (a little more if you want to live somewhere else, which is what most people here do ... around 1k a month) ... and they have some computer lab fees ... shouldn't go over 12,500 a semester though, living expenses included.
Hope that helps ...
"Dad, when I grow up I want to be a 3D animator!"
"Son, you cannot do both..."
An additional question Vlad,
How does the Academy of Art consider transfer credit? Do they accept any or much of it?
Thx
k