Academy of Art University

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About School

Since 1929, Academy of Art University has helped prepare aspiring artists and designers for professional careers by offering 135+ accredited degree options in more than 40 areas of study. Choose from animation and visual effects, game design and development, illustration, fine art, communications, filmmaking, and more. We are first and foremost a professional school—a purpose-based art and design school where students develop their talents and acquire the specific skills sought by the creative marketplace. Our hands-on curriculum is taught by some of the finest minds working in today’s creative and innovative industries—professional artists and designers who bring their industry expertise to the classroom. Academy students graduate with a solid creative foundation, business savvy, and an entrepreneurial spirit that tends to stick with them for life.

General Info

Location: United States, Online Students: 1001+ Staff: 1001+ Founded: 1929 Type: Private Industries: 3D Animation, Architectural Visualisation, Game Design, Illustration, Immersive Media, Motion Graphics, Other, Product Design, Visual Effects Visit Website

Facilities

The Academy’s facilities are designed to prepare you for a career in your desired industry, with equipment such as the green screen, over 200 high-end workstations, and virtual lab to help you achieve your desired effect. Our hands-on learning environment creates a culture that supports curiosity, investigation, and production. Online students are also hands-on, as they engage in discussions and activities through the online platform, social media, and real-time streaming of our events. Both online and onsite studio environments are equipped to give you the skills you need to create the career of your dreams.

Staff

The Academy’s facilities are designed to prepare you for a career in your desired industry, with equipment such as the green screen, over 200 high-end workstations, and virtual lab to help you achieve your desired effect. Our hands-on learning environment creates a culture that supports curiosity, investigation, and production. Online students are also hands-on, as they engage in discussions and activities through the online platform, social media, and real-time streaming of our events. Both online and onsite studio environments are equipped to give you the skills you need to create the career of your dreams.

Technology

Software

ToonBoom, Maya, vRay, Houdini, Adobe Suite, Unreal, Arnold, Nuke, Zbruch, Syncsketch, Marvelous Designer, Movie Magic, FumeFx, 3D Element, Substance Designer, Qube, Massive, Cinema 4D, Real Flo, TV Paint, Dragon Frame, zBrush, Silhouette Roto and Paint, Trapcode, Storyboard Pro.

Hardware

Studnets have access to the lab render farm so you can distribute a render job across 20 workstations at once. Let’s do some math to get an idea of the difference that makes. If your render takes 10 minutes per frame and you have a 100 frame sequence that means it will take 1000 minutes or (divided by 60) 16.6 hours to complete on a single machine. If you instead use the farm that time is divided by 20 computers. 100 frames divided by 20 computers equals 5 frames per computer, times 10 minutes per frame equals 50 minutes total. Over 16 hours compared to 50 minutes is a pretty huge difference.

Student Showcase

Take a look at some of the traditional and digital artwork Academy of Art University students produce during their education.

Angelina Alcoseba

My career goals include becoming a well-rounded concept artist, working in a studio, and trying out freelance.

Sergio Rincon

My main goal is to work as a VFX compositor or Motion Designer on feature films.

Pietro Lopez Bernardi

My ulimate goal is to work for a company like Pixar, it is my dream since I was around 15 years old. My emphasis is Lighting and texturing

Jill Zhu

My career goal is to become a freelance editorial and advertisement illustrator.

Ekaterina Lebedeva

I want to create memorable 3D characters with engaging personalities.

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View student Portfolios

Follow this link to check out some live portfolios from Academy of Art University students.

View student projects

Follow this link to view some of the top projects created by Academy of Art University students.

•Olga Rudi - Senior Technical Artist, PlayStation

This degree is tailored towards a specific fieldwith enough electives to keep it flexible andunique for every student. I was able to takeclasses in different departments withoutneeding to change my program.

Networking & Careers

Students

Our 50,000-plus alumni work all over the world, pushing boundaries, discovering new frontiers, and creating award-winning work. They are some of the most successful and sought-after professionals in their given industry. They are Oscar and GRAMMY winners, animators, illustrators, and photographers. They make award-winning Super Bowl commercials, help create top-grossing movies and video games, and design some of the hottest fashion in the world. They are professional stylists, sculptors, actors, musicians, web designers, broadcasters, advertisers, screenwriters, architects, educators, transportation designers, bloggers and tattoo artists. They are game-changers—creative entrepreneurs who bring their magic, hunger, and work ethic to the world every day.

Studios Hiring

Following studios hire our graduates: Academy of Arts has strong relationships with the following companies: Pixar, ILM, CoSA, Ingenuity, Skydance, Laika, Illumination, Mammal, Nickelodeon, SideFx, Autodesk, SonyAnimation, Marvel, The Mill, Tippett, Disney, Dreamworks, Netflix, Bluesky, Blur, Electronic Arts, DNeg, Ignite.

Courses

Gain the skills you need for an exciting career in this vibrant and growing industry from our School of Animation & Visual Effects (VFX). Aspiring visual effects artists, 2D and 3D animators, and storyboard artist come to the Academy to learn from industry professionals in the heart of the animation industry. We are the only Animation & VFX school that teaches in a studio production environment (StudioX). Our students win prestigious awards, including Student Academy Awards. In 2015, MFA graduate Alyce Tzue’s Soar, an animated short film produced at StudioX, struck gold at the Student Academy Awards, qualifying to enter the race to the 2016 Academy Awards.

Fundamentals of 3D Animation

Students in this 3D animation course will build a solid set of foundational skills based on the twelve principles of animation. In-class exercises will include graph editor drills, best practices from planning to polish, and carefully guided demonstrations. This course will be useful for students wishing to enhance their knowledge of the basic physics and mechanics of animation.

Digital Painting for VFX Artists

This course focuses on bridging traditional art skills with digital art media. Students will learn theory, visualizing, sketching, and painting as a foundation for VFX work. This course will address the vital need for VFX students to develop a strong artistic and aesthetic eye to complement their technical skills.

VFX: Cinematography

This course will help students obtain the best possible filmed images or elements for use in a visual effect shot. Topics covered include timing lights, selecting film stock, shooting background and foreground plates, and film versus video for VFX.

Visual Effects for Games

This course teaches students to create particles and special effects for games in a production environment. Students will create fire, smoke, explosions, and other game effects. Students will script and customize other challenges that may come up, and a basic overview of Maya particles for familiarity with non-game engine effects will be covered.

Programming for Game UI and Tools

In this course, students will create user interfaces for both behind the scenes game designers, and front-facing game players. Students will create functional widgets, including buttons, list boxes, and text fields. Emphasis will be placed on effective programming using C# language

UI for Visual Development

In this course, students will study the principles of User Interface Design and learn how to apply them for vital aspects of UI/ UX design. Emphasis will be placed on Graphic Design and leveraging UI for maximum appeal.

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