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We are just starting to think of college for my now high school sophomore son. My oldest is a sophomore at Emerson College in Boston, so we have been through this process once already.

S is interested in computer graphics and animation. What schools should we be looking at? Is there a major in CG and animation or is there another major we sould investigate?

Thanks for any help.

By Digmedia (Digmedia) on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 03:54 pm: Edit

One really good program is at Purdue: the Computer Graphics Technology program in the School of Technology. We visited and interviewed and it looks good.

Their web site http://www.tech.purdue.edu/Cgt/ has a lot of info including a four-year list of classes.

Another resource to spend time with (just posted this to soozievt) is the Animation Industry Database (http://aidb.com). If you click on the "schools" link under Shortcuts and then look at those in the US, you'll find 320 of them listed. Not all of these are full majors or minors or programs in animation - some are only single courses - but for each school there's a link to the appropriate department. aidb.com can lead to hours of research into these schools.

My son is sending an app to Emerson. What does your oldest think of it?

By Pattykk (Pattykk) on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 04:02 pm: Edit

Digi: Does Ohio University have a program in animation?

By Digmedia (Digmedia) on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 04:32 pm: Edit

Not yet, but according to the Department Chair (Telecommunications) an animation sequence will be added soon to the TCOM specializations (as in next year?????).

By Laurenz (Laurenz) on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 06:57 pm: Edit

Digmedia,

Thanks so much for you help. My oldest is a BFA musical theater major and Emerson fits him perfectly. They attract really smart, very individual students with a love for learning and exploration. He is away this semester at their Castle in Holland and is this weekend on their class trip to Paris. He is in the honors program, which has been quite challenging, and he loves every minute of what he is doing. The theater and voice training are excellent.

The facilities are first rate. They just built a new $6 million state of the art theater/film/communications building and refurbished the Majestic Theater. My son, while in Boston last term, was living in a brownstown overlooking the Common. Hard life isn't it?

Boston is a great place to go to school. What does your son want to major in at Emerson?

By Ksolo (Ksolo) on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 08:55 pm: Edit

Laurenz:

If your son wants to major in Computer Graphics and Animation, he should look into the Vancouver Film School (www.vfs.com), Digipen (www.digipen.edu), SCAD (www.scad.edu), RSAD (www.rsad.edu), and the Academy of the Arts in San Fran. I may be missing a few. Ohio State University has a program too, but it's not that good.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 10:01 pm: Edit

Loyola Marymount in California has a very good animation program, but it's more film-based than computer based animation. They have an excellent track record in the industry, however.

Another option with an excellent computer graphics program is Rochester Institute of Technology.

You might also want to look at the electronic arts program offered at the University of Denver to see if it's a match.

By Digmedia (Digmedia) on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 12:44 am: Edit

Laurenz:

My son did a summer workshop at Digipen (the Advanced Animation course). It was a great course and he ended up with a short animated film that will be part of his portfolio for some apps. Digipen is a great school, BUT it is NOT even remotely close to a college experience - no housing, no cafeteria, etc.

The summer program that I would suggest is the one at Purdue (in June). It is priced right and the students get to stay in the dorms (unlike Digipen, where the hotel costs far,far outweighed the course cost). The major problem with the Purdue program for us is that it didn't have the more advanced course that we needed. Check the Purdue CGT site for more info on the summer program.