Computer Graphics World

Education Supplement In "Hai Hase," from directors Florian Greth and Julia Reck, students at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, tattoo characters try to impress the new ink. "We try to get them thinking from the get-go in terms of what it would be like when they are in the real world and have deadlines, and have to get projects done on time," says Bobby Beck, CEO/co-founder of the school. "[The work] is never done; it's just taken away from you. We make sure they get into that mentality right away. That's how things are structured." Students at Animation Mentor complete approximately four full semesterlong projects. After foundation work, they progress through Classes 2 to 5, which are project-based; Class 6 focuses on polishing and preparing their portfolio, during which they update the work and "take it to the inal level," says Beck. "By then, they have gone through the whole program and their skills have taken a giant leap, so they can go back through their earlier sequences and pump them up a bit so they can stand on the same level as their more current work." Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, awards associate, bachelor, and master degrees in audio, ilm, design, computer animation, business, and other ields. Computer animation students here complete various projects as they move through their degree program. "We don't have them do an animated short ilm because we are an accelerated degree program. Students receive their bachelor's in 21 months," says Pete Bandstra, Full Sail's program director for Computer Animation. Students attend classes 40 hours a week on aver14 • Education Supplement • July 2012 age, in addition to working on their art projects. "They are immersed about 100 hours a week in 3D," he adds. Nevertheless, students still do a inal project. Each is diferent, depending on the student, who will build assets around an area, such as modeling/ texturing, animation, or texture painting, and will develop a portfolio around those. A preproduction class enables them to better plan their asset development. One of the largest art and design schools in the US, the Academy of Art University in San Francisco offers associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees for artists and animators. The curriculum consists of separate tracks, such as animation, modeling, visual efects, and so forth, as undergrads work toward preparing a demo reel or portfolio of their work showcasing their speciic area of expertise. In addition, students work collaboratively to produce a larger fully-realized project, such as a short made by groups of students utilizing a concept of their own (such as "Monster and Dumplings," which received a College Television Award for Best Animation), visual effects work on independent productions (such as the recent Cannes winner "Beast of the Southern Wild"), public service work, and short ilms originating outside the department. According to Chris Armstrong, executive director of Animation and VFX, undergrads can start or join a project at any time after receiving approval. Students sometimes work alone on these projects or in groups, depending on the scope of the work. Gnomon School of Visual Efects ofers artistic and technical training for careers in the visual efects and games industries. Although it does not offer degree programs, the school provides one-, two-, and three-year training options in Entertainment Design and Digital Production, in addition to various software workshops and online master classes. "Gnomon operates diferently from most schools. Instead of students focusing on what we normally think of as 'senior projects,' their time and energy are focused on creating an industrylevel demo reel that prepares them for immediate employment in the ilm, games, or broadcast industry," says Brian Bradford, director of admissions. "Completing an animated short as a group effort can be rewarding and educational; Richard Oud created this project for a creatures class at Animation Mentor. however, it will rarely deliver what studios are looking for when they hire artists. Well-constructed demo reels allow students to appeal to speciic job positions at speciic studios, breaking down the creative elements of their art into assets that can be evaluated for their production readiness." Within the animation, gaming, and visual efects industries, a portfolio and reel are vital for any student looking to transition to the professional world. Education facilities know this to be true, and are helping students prepare for this next step. Karen Moltenbrey is the chief editor of Computer Graphics World.

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