Full Sail Gaming School

The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale is clearly a better choice for a better education in game development and design. At the art institute, you will acheive a bachelor of science. That's the same as going to a 4 year university.

Full sail only offers an associates degree. good enough for those that like junior college.

http://www.aifl.artinstitutes.edu/

no I don't work there and no I didn't go there. I have friends who have gone to both schools. aifl is clearly better. Who doesn't want a bachelor's degree?

For the most part this is still an industry that will take talent over paper. If you have the chops and can show your ability to work under deadlines you'll have a far better chance than someone that is less talented with paper.

Ok so all of you against trade schools such as this... here's my question/dealie.

I have a passion for computer animation, and was an animator/artist at a small game company around where I live. I did modeling, animating, texturing, scene setups..etc. That was over 2 years ago, as I went back for a little more college but then got into my current job (web developer / graphic artist) and I want to get back into computer animation.

I used Lightwave 5.6 back when I was working for said company, and also had a beginner knowledge of 3DS MAX 3.1. I've since been told by friends (and one who works in Xbox games) that Maya is the tool to learn. That said, this is good because Alias has Maya PLE and I have books and such.

So do you all recommend a *normal* college education..with say a BA in Art and teach myself Maya or whatever on the side? Not a lot of colleges offer much in the way of Animation courses... which would help because working with others (labs) always helps.

I don't know what game companies / etc are looking for these days. I've heard everything from "a college education is a plus", "we just wanna see how good you are..college or not", "must have college edu" etc. I just want to know the best way to set myself up

So any advice would be good as I'm sure there are others here wondering the same thing. Thx in advance

Im applying to Savannah College of Art and Design, which incidentally has Computer animation, and Game Design as possible majors...

Now that I read what all of you have said, my lifelong dreams for college have been shattered into a million pieces :/

In response to #3 and #4, I strongly disagree... You only *ever* get out of your education what you put into it. I busted my ass at Full Sail, and it payed off even before the end. An animation tool I wrote for a project was picked up by the teacher and used to help teach the principles of animation to the class. That same project, against all odds (having only a 2-man team, the first ever attempted), recieved the highest grade ever attained in that class, and was actually retired and preserved for future generations I had a job lined up a month before graduation... something almost entirely unheard of at FS.

After starting at my job, I discovered that people actually in the industry scarecely match up to even mediocre students from Full Sail. There is much more to programming games than meerly knowing c/c++. There is much more than meerly knowing the API's. Computer Science degrees will not teach you the structure and flow of a game the way an education tailored to that end will.

In fact, many people passing through Full Sail already have Computer Science degrees.

Don't go to Full Sail expecting an easy ride. It's definately not for everyone, but if you're passionate about your dreams, and have a little experience programming so you know that you can do it and enjoy it (cuz lets face it, not everyone can be a programmer) then its a great place to be.

I went to this school for film. Nice campus, nice equipment - and that's about it.

Yay! It's my school. I am currently enrolled in the Computer Animation course, soon to graduate and go into the game design track.

I like the school, I think it teaches you all that you need to know in order to start in the industry. It is really all about the person, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink from it. This school is 24 hours so it requires a lot of dediction to what you are doing, I've had many a long night spent in lab and open lab... and yes it does cost a lot of money, but buck for buck this school gives you most hands on time than any other school.

It's really tought me everything I need to know about Maya and animation. And by what my roomates been making in C++ it's given him all he needs to make video games.

Bleh...if you want to attend these types of schools go to the Guildhall instead ^_^

Strongly agree, #3. Schools like this can actually be a detriment.

If you wanna be a programmer, go get a computer science degree and do game stuff on the side. If you wanna be an artist, go to art school and learn game stuff on the side. Traditional educations are MUCH more desirable. Schools like this don't teach you the fundamentals... and many companies upon seeing a "game school" on your resume willl toss it and keep looking.

To anyone who is considering Full Sail: don't.

Their recruiters are superb - the school looks great, but what it boils down to is that you'll pay a ridiculous amount of money to be shoved through a program where people teach you how to push buttons and ignore the fundamentals that are so important. You end up a cog in the machine; they take your money, and that's all they care about.

I'm not saying that everyone who goes/has gone to Full Sail will fail - look at Jeff Unay, who is currently modeling for Quake 4 at Raven. Don't be fooled, though: the school did not make him who he is; only hard work, dedication, and natural talent could.

Look at their job placement rate. Is that entirely in the industries in which they teach? Or is that the total rate, combining people who get jobs in the game industry and people who end up getting jobs at WalMart to pay off their heavy student loans?

Some people recommend *not* putting Full Sail on your resume, if you've been throug the school. It can hurt you more than it helps.

In the end, if you want to study computer game design/computer animation, you need to do your research. There's plenty of information out there; I didn't just make all this up. Be informed, so you can make the right choice.