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SAE Athens
SAE Athens is part of SAE Institute, the world’s largest educator in creative media industries.
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SAE Athens is part of SAE Institute, the world’s largest educator in creative media industries.
We are a dynamic college with high industry credibility, providing specialist vocational and higher education courses across creative media disciplines – Animation, Audio, Film, Games, and Web & Mobile.
With a focus on hands-on education, our courses are constantly evolving to meet the needs of students and industry demands. They are delivered on campus and online using cutting-edge technology and offer a highly personalised experience in an interactive and collaborative learning environment.
We’re passionate about our students’ potential and encourage them to chase their dreams.
General Info
Facilities
SAE Athens occupies more than 4700 square feet of space across three levels of a modern building in the area of Moschato, near downtown Athens. The campus includes:
4x fully equipped computer classes with more than 80 workstations for games, animation, web, film, music and audio productionCreative space with green screen installation, motion capture system, VR kits (HTC Vive, Oculus) and fine arts oriented resources. 4x audio control rooms (studios) and 4x live rooms. Film studio with green screen installation, equipped with cameras, lighting and miscellaneous film gear. 4x classes with audiovisual setups for theory lectures. 2x post-production film suites. Project space for student group work. Lounge area and roof garden.
Employment Rates
Most of our graduates work as freelancers in project-based work due to the dynamics and structure of the local market, while some others manage to work on international companies. Overall the majority of our graduates (60%+) are active in the Games and Animation industry.
Technology
Software
We aim in using industry standard tools and technologies so our students are aligned with the industry demands and have the capability to unfold their creativity. Autodesk 3ds Max, Adobe Suite (Photoshop/After Effects), Allegorithmic Substance suite (Designer, Painter). Unreal Engine, Unity Engine, Pixologic ZBrush, Godot, Opengl, Visual Studio, Blender, Version Control Tools
Hardware
Up-to-date PC workstations, Wacom tablets, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Perception Neuron motion capture system
Student Showcase
Take a look at some of the traditional and digital artwork SAE Athens students produce during their education.
•Chrysanthi Lykousi - 3D Modeler - Para Bellum
I am a professional 3D Character artist from Athens, Greece. When I first began learning about 3D arts, I realized how challenging it would be, as well as the long endeavor that was ahead of me. I consider myself lucky for learning about the SAE Institute of Athens and their Game Art Animation course, as I am very happy with my decision to participate in it.
Networking & Careers
Students
Students at SAE Athens have a daily experience that combines learning and practicing together with socialising and networking. SAE is a creative hub where “tribes” of game artists, filmmakers, game devs, music producers and web designers meet. They all get to share new concepts, their latest projects and new discoveries from the creative world. During their day at school they do 3 hours practical lessons and then it’s very likely that they will book a workstation to practice or progress a project. During that time, a specialised supervisor is available to help them with any technical issues they may face and facilitate their practice. Aside from the lectures and the workshops, students get at the school often in order to attend an extracurricular event. Creative events are a core characteristic of SAE’s DNA and students don’t miss this learning opportunity.
Studios Hiring
Following studios hire our graduates: There is a long history of collaboration with ViRA and Parabellum Wargames. Also, there is an active agreement with Qiiwi Games and several recruitment processes with Aventurine, Intralot, Iphigames, simulacroom.
Courses
SAE Athens offers vocational and higher education courses across creative media disciplines – Animation, Audio, Film, Games, and Web & Mobile. More specific in Games and Animation, SAE Athens offers three courses in the field of Game Art, Animation and Game Development. During their studies, the students experience the dynamics and processes of a video game studio by collaborating with each game specialisation, while also they have the opportunity to collaborate with students from other creative disciplines, especially audio students, in order to complete their productions.
BA/BSc (Hons) Game Art Animation - duration: 3 years
The course teaches the students traditional skills, such as sketching, life drawing, clay modeling, storyboarding, together with industry standard technology tools in order to design characters and environments 3D and 2D. The course also teaches animation techniques and production, and it prepares students for games played across multiple platforms.
Key learning topics:
1st Year: Observational Drawing • Technical Drawing • Concept Design • Photo Imaging & Editing • Digital Painting • 3D Modeling Techniques • Materials & Texturing • History of Animation • Animation Techniques • Lighting Techniques • Rendering Techniques
2nd Year: Character Design • Human Anatomy • Digital Sculpting • Environment Creation • Character Modeling and Texturing • Character Rigging & Skinning • Game Engines • Character Animation • Performance Capture and Emotion for Animation • Global Illumination & Multipass Rendering • Project Planning and Management
3rd Year: Motion capture • Advanced rigging • Stereoscopy & VR • Industry trends • Stylised Rendering Techniques • Post production principles & techniques • Artistic and Scientific research and practice • Research Methodologies and their application in the creative media industries • Creative media industries: past, present and future • The role of practitioners in the creative media industries • History of ideas, and scientific and cultural theories • Unreal Engine
BSc (Hons) Games Programming - duration: 3 years
Through the course students develop their technical expertise in programming, problem solving skills within the context of applying game design theory and mechanics, as well as learning two of the most used Game Engines: Unity and Unreal.
In addition, this course also covers how to develop multiplayer games and mobile app games, graphics programming with OpenGL, shader programming and how to create VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) games.
Key learning topics:
1st Year: Introduction to Algorithms • Programming Fundamentals • Game Engines • Game Design • Interactive Storytelling & Narrative Design • Level Design • Game Development Workflows • Artificial Intelligence • Pathfinding • Perception Models • Procedural Generation • Physics Programming • Learning theories and methods • Introduction to basic concepts and tools of project management
2nd: Network Programming • Tool Development • Persistent Data • Data Structures • Software Architectures for Games • Multithreading • Open GL • Renderer Programming • Shader Programming • Business Planning • Legal Issues and Law • Marketing Plan • Product Development • Presentation Techniques
3rd Year: Research Methodologies and their application in the creative media industries • Artistic and Scientific research and practice • Developing a research question / hypothesis • Creative media industries: past, present and future • The role of practitioners in the creative media industries • Animation Programming • Inverse Kinematics • Forward Kinematics • AI Advanced Techniques • Behavioural Trees • Machine Learning
Game Design Diploma - duration: 12 months
The course is teaching students game mechanics and aesthetics so they can produce fun and innovative games. They learn to create goals, levels, rules and challenges for traditional games (board game, card game etc.) and video games, creating immersive experience and interactions for the game players and even the spectators.
Key learning topics:
Game Design • Game Theory • Storytelling and Narrative • Game Mechanics • Prototyping • Game Visual Design • Art Styles for Games • Level Design • Level Flow • Urban Planning • Production Workflows • Interface Design • User Experience • Game Engines • Gamification
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