Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art & Design

About School

Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art and Design provides an environment in which students are encouraged to work hard to achieve their full potential. The college guarantees small class size with serious individual instruction by highly qualified instructors who are working professionals in their fields. We offer students a solid, well rounded education, and the encouragement to help them develop as artists.

At the same time, we expect students to conduct themselves in a professional manner which includes the ability to take direction, meet deadlines, work cooperatively, and fulfill responsibilities. The development of good work habits is important in preparing for a successful career in animation, concept design, advertising, graphic design, art direction, comic books, or graphic novels. Our mission is to provide the industries we serve with professionals who are ready and able to contribute as entry level employees, and to provide our graduates with the knowledge, skills and confidence required, not just for their first job, but to build careers.

Success Stories

The inclusion of professionalism as part of our grading system has helped graduates make an easy transition to the workplace: they are used to meeting deadlines, taking criticism, and working as team members. Further, no one graduates without entry level skills for what they are studying.

We offer the only in depth concept art program in Canada for AAA Games and Animation. Graduates have been hired as full fledged Concept Artists straight from graduation (i.e. not as trainees or assistants).

We have had animation and concept art students hired as full animators (i.e. not just interns) while still in school, and several have been given summer internships and then asked to stay on (instead of completing their diplomas). Although we recommend against this practice to our students due to the rapid changes in animation and the need for as deep an education as possible, it speaks to the high level of our students even before they complete the program.

We don’t just set up our graduates for a first job - we set them up for life-long careers. We have many examples of success stories we are proud of - more than we can list here!

Alumni Employment Rates

From 2014-2017, our post-graduation employment rate is 87% for Animation graduates and 79% for Concept Art graduates. It may be higher but we have lost touch with some of our graduates (especially international ones) and are uncertain as to their status.

For 2018, 75% of Animation students and 79% of Concept Art students are or have been employed in the industry or went on to further studies.
We are still compiling data for 2019.

We are only in the 2nd year of our first four-year ISSA class so we don’t have rates for that program yet.

Student Artwork

We want our students to develop an understanding of visual language, as it applies to both traditional and digital art forms, and the ability to take intelligent risks and explore a multitude of visual ideas. Our graduates understand the range of choices they have for creation, and which of those choices to make to get the effects they desire. They have the knowledge and skills to choose, for example, to develop illusions of deep space, shallow space, or create flat design.

Courses

We offer three, four-year diploma programs. The curriculum for these programs is the same for all students (to ensure they all graduate with the requisite skill sets).

Currently, the oldest and most popular program is Classical & Computer Animation & Production. In addition to a series of both classical and digital animation courses, the curriculum for this program includes in-depth drawing classes, cartooning, acting for animation, character design, background painting/design, and a sequence of visual language, storytelling and storyboarding courses. In Year 3, as the culmination of a series of linked courses, each student produces an original short, using 2D computer animation. While doing this, they begin their Introduction to 3D Animation course as well. In Year 4, students complete a group 3D film project, with an environment and feel set up to mimic the studio environment as closely as possible (including having a director and technical director/producer).  The 4th year is six weeks longer than the previous years because of the intense amount of work required. The structure of this program allows students to hone their skills in various disciplines (rigging, lighting, compositing, etc.) during the academic portion of the year, in addition to the experience of being supervised like they would be in-studio during the actual film production. The curriculum is designed in a way that gives our graduates an experience that smooths their transition from student to professional.  During this period, specialization of interested areas also takes place.

The Concept Art for Animation & Video Games diploma program was developed to meet the increasing level of proficiency required by the video game and animation industries in this area. The program offers a rigorous, in-depth curriculum based on suggestions and portfolio requirements from major video game producers and animation companies. It includes a mix of fine art, illustration, animation, and cartooning courses, as well as concept courses and instruction in all necessary computer software from Photoshop to Maya. Students in Year 4 work on a “real time” assignment for a hypothetical client.

Our Illustration & Storytelling for Sequential Arts diploma program was designed with input from leading Canadian artists in the field. It gives students a broad and highly employable skill base that includes using digital media, creating mobile comics, knowledge of the entire Adobe Suite, essential graphic design and illustration for advertising skills, storyboarding for film and advertising. Year 4 contains a full year (2-semester) graphic novel development course that leaves each graduate with a package that can be pitched to publishers. Core courses include all the basics of creating, penciling and inking comics, storytelling and scripting for comics, and children's book illustration.

We also offer art and animation workshops, portfolio development courses and professional development courses. Just some of the examples are listed below.

Name	Duration	Price	Intake Dates
Classical & Computer Animation & Production	4 years	Year 1 - 3: $11,850 ($14,000 International)/yearYear 4 - $12,850 ($14,000 International)	September
Concept Art for Animation & Video Games	4 years	Year 1 - 4: $11,850 ($14,000 International)/year	September
Illustration & Storytelling for Sequential Arts	4 years	Year 1 - 4: $11,850 ($14,000 International)/year	September
3D Rigging Animation and Python	72 hours	$1,800	Variable times throughout the year
Intro to Traditional Fine Art Skills & Portfolio Development Certificate Program	180 hours	$2,430	Summer
“Learn to Draw” Portfolio Development	48 hours	$875	Variable times throughout the year
Introduction to Animation	30 hours	$400	Variable times throughout the year
Comic Books	30 hours	$400	Variable times throughout the year
Cartooning Part 1 and 2	30 hours	$400	Variable times throughout the year
Introduction to Life Drawing	30 hours	$400	Variable times throughout the year