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JOHN C. HENCH DIVISION OF ANIMATION AND DIGITAL ARTS, USC SCHOOL OF CINEMATIC ARTS (SCA), Los Angeles, California www.cinema.usc.edu/animation/index.cfm Degrees: BA and MFA in Animation & Digital Arts. Number of students: 120 VR/AR: Classes in Immersive Media and a lab where students can collaborate with others across SCA divisions as well as across schools. Keeping up with technology: “Many of our professors are engaged in top productions outside of USC. For example, John Brennan, who teaches Motion Capture, worked on the recent remakes of The Jungle Book and The Lion King. We have other top industry professionals teaching master classes – all are working for major Hollywood studios,” notes Professor Teresa Cheng, chair of the John C. Hench Division. This keeps students in touch with tech trends. “Many technology companies are also connected with us to introduce and demonstrate their latest innovations.” Connecting: “We have an annual event called Studio Day. This year, 33 studios/companies came on campus for full-day portfolio reviews with 80 students. At SCA, we also have staff members whose jobs are to connect all students to potential internships and first jobs. Based on our own industry contacts, which include ex-colleagues and outreach people, we are often notified directly about open positions. SCA also actively features industry speakers on a regular basis and hosts an annual event called Talent Week.” Challenges: “The landscape of the whole film industry is changing rapidly, so keeping up with what is happening outside of our campus is essential. Our focus is on content making, which is always in demand and forms the foundation for all types of production. Tools and methods come and go, but developing strengths in storytelling is critical for our students’ careers.”
TOP AND BOTTOM: Ninety-nine per cent of the SCAD’s alumni are employed within 10 months of graduation, according to Jeff Light, Chair of Visual Effects, Savannah College of Art and Design. (Photos courtesy of Savannah College of Art and Design)
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SCAD (THE SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN), Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; Hong Kong; Lacoste, France www.scad.edu Degrees: BFA, MA and MFA in both animation and visual effects degree programs. Number of students: 200 undergraduates and 51 graduates (Visual Effects degree program for fall 2018/spring 2019). VR/AR: SCAD’s new Immersive Reality degree program launched this year. Keeping up with technology: “We send faculty members to innovative conferences like SIGGRAPH, Unreal Academy, and GDC to research and network about evolving technology,” says Jeff Light, SCAD Chair of Visual Effects. In addition, we have at least two alumni mentors that visit our classes multiple times throughout the academic year to share their experience with the latest industry tools and methods.” Connecting: SCAD president and founder Paul Wallace and the SCAD faculty puts an importance on “bringing leading industry professionals to SCAD’s global locations to interact with the students through master classes, portfolio reviews, recruitment
opportunities, signature events, and the university’s SCADPro initiative,” according to Light. “SCADPro is a design shop and innovation studio that generates business solutions for the world’s most influential brands.” New in 2019: “By the end of last year, it was abundantly clear that the visual effects industry is rapidly moving into the area of rendering in real-time. Previously, this seemed to be more in the purview of game design, but the clients we worked with in VFX increasingly demonstrated a need for rendering shots with Unreal Engine or Unity. The work our students produce is recognized as stunning in the area of photorealism and dynamic simulation, and the next level is to achieve that caliber of imagery in real-time, especially for AR/VR applications.” ANIMATIONSINSTITUT DER FILMAKADEMIE BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG, Ludwigsburg, Germany www.animationsinstitut.de/en Degrees: Animationsinstitut offers basic studies and project-based/postgraduate studies in the fields of Animation and Interactive Media. Number of students: In basic studies, 12 students are admitted in each academic year. In project studies/postgraduate studies up to 16 students can participate. VR/AR: VR, AR, 360° and other XR techniques are an essential part of the curriculum. Keeping up with technology: “Training follows a practice-oriented and project-based approach and is always state of the art,” says Professor Andreas Hykade, Director of Animationsinstitut. This includes giving students the opportunity to implement 360° and VR projects. Hykade adds, “We only work with guest lecturers who work in the industry, which ensures that industry standards are taught. The Research and Development department of Animationsinstitut consists of a multidisciplinary team dedicated to the creation of innovative tools and technologies. In addition to commercially available tools, Animationsinstitut relies on its own developments like VPET (Virtual Production Editing Tools) or the Facial Animation Toolset for Autodesk Maya.” Connecting: “National and international professionals from the film and media industry pass on their knowledge and their experience to the students in seminars, mentorships and workshops. Many of them offer students the possibility to work for current projects during their internship semester,” says Hykade. Challenges: “To provide the knowledge for our students to be able to develop their own IPs.” New in 2019: Over the years, R&D at Animationsinstitut has explored a wide variety of topics that have been crucial in media productions of today and tomorrow. The current projects have a strong focus on Digital Actors, Virtual Production, Immersion, and the potential of Virtual and Augmented Reality in narrative entertainment productions.
TOP AND MIDDLE: The R&D department at Animationsinstitut der Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg has developed student projects with Foundry, DNEG, NCAM, Trixter, Ikinema and Stargate Studios, among others. (Photos courtesy of Animationsinstitut der Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg) BOTTOM: MA Digital Effects students use a Panasonic VariCams in a greenscreen tank. It was a promotional shot used for a Panasonic case study. The National Centre for Computer Animation at Bournemouth University was the first educational institution in the U.K. to use Panasonic’s VariCam digital video camera. (Photos courtesy of Bournemouth University)
NATIONAL CENTRE FOR COMPUTER ANIMATION, BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY, Bournemouth, U.K. www.bournemouth.ac.uk/about/our-faculties/
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