Computer Graphics World

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011

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n n n n EDUCATION be understated. Still, challenges face the education market in the form of qual- ity, high tuition costs, and the availabil- ity of so many resources online. Here, a number of educational institutions com- ment on why brick-and-mortar campuses remain relevant, and what the market might see this year, by addressing the SWOTs (strengths, weaknesses, opportu- nities, and threats) they anticipate as the year progresses. W ith postproduction tech- nology constantly evolv- ing, the value of a for- mal education cannot Chris Davie VP of operations SAE Institute Atlanta www.sae.edu Chris Davie is the VP of operations at SAE, which offers courses in filmmaking, anima- tion, Web and game design, and audio. He has been with the school for nearly 10 years, hav- ing worked earlier in his career as a music en- gineer. Davie operates out of the Atlanta loca- tion and oversees all US campuses, which also include those in New York, Nashville, Miami, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. SAE currently has more than 50 campuses worldwide. Strengths: “Overall, what I am seeing is a large demand for post work, so I think that having a qualified workforce to support that is definitely needed. One thing we’ve seen [is] states putting very attractive tax incentives in Face-to-Face Learning Traditional methods of education remain valuable, even in today’s digital era By Marc Loftus The audio suite at SAE’s Atlanta location features a Neve console. Many students are attracted to the school’s audio program, but some find the postproduction track more to their liking. 44 January/February 2011 conversion of students who say, ‘Tis is really cool,’ and ‘I had no idea what sound design was or what Foley work was.’ We see that in every class. One of the challenges is giving them the proper exposure. Postproduction is a huge aspect of our field.” Opportunities: “For new markets, it’s a combination. Each market has its niche, and we assess the markets that we’re in and determine what is the main demand. When we came to Atlanta three years ago, we saw a great deal of postproduction here. Obvious- ly, you can see this in areas like Los Angeles and Miami. In terms of new media, we have expanded into iPhone and iPad application development courses. We’re on the brink of launching a digital journalism course. It’s a little bit more geared to the guerilla journal- ism structure, which we are seeing in all these industries. [Networks] are not sending out a zillion trucks anymore. Tey are looking place for film and television productions, and that is driving up the need in those locations to ensure there is a workforce that can handle the increased loads. Georgia is one of those states. Florida is one of those states. In Geor- gia, it’s been astonishing what we’ve seen in the past couple of years since the tax incentive has been put in place: large film lots, Tyler Perry is based here, the world of Turner is here; but even beyond that, there are a couple more film lots. We are lucky, having locations in so many places so we can tap into that.” Weaknesses: “One of the things that we run into is that the attraction of audio engi- neering typically falls into a music recording nature. Students will come in to see if the school is a match. It’s tougher to market a postproduction education. We find that they come in and want to make records, but once they get into our post classes, we see a large

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