is Academy of Arts a good school to go to

#1521

from what ive seen come out of academy of arts, it looks like they have a superb animation program, but im not really sure about other areas as far as modeling or texuring or even their 2d program.

#1522

congrats Derek, it must be exciting to get into those pixar classes.

#1523

Thatā€™s awesome! About 80% who gets into those Pixar classes always gets a job at Pixar or another major studio.

This school rocks!

#1524

hi there all. I just started AAU 3d Animation Grad program this semester.

Itā€™s going quite well for the only week we had yet. Is there anyone enrolled this semester too?

Also can I learn about these pixar classes? How do they work? I donā€™t see it in the list of classes Iā€™m supposed to take through the education.

Thanks in advance;
Aziz K.

#1525

Hey Akocan,
Iā€™m enrolled this semester too :), though itā€™s my last semester :sad: The Pixar classes are upper division classes (senior classes) and the only way to get in is to submit your demo reel to your department head I believe. I would talk to your advisor because they will know exactly what you need to do. My roommate is also in the Grad program and one of his Instructors works at Pixar, their first day of class was actually held at Pixar! I asked him about it and he said itā€™s not even one of the official ā€œPixar Animationā€ classes. So you might want to look into what other opportunities are available to grad students.

-Mic

#1526

Iā€™m currently enrolled in an illustration class, special topics: Visual Development. The instructor is also from Pixar and our 3rd class will consist of a studio tour. :smiley: Not only that, he said that heā€™ll be bringing in some guest speakers from various fields such as VFX and games as well. There is a few basic requirements for this class but I got in just by talking to the advisor (because Iā€™d taken another illustration class: Adv.Perspective). However this is not an animation class but more of a conceptual art class to prepare illustrators to work on 3D projects.

Iā€™m in this class because I wanna tour Pixar :stuck_out_tongue: (ah nono, that is just part of the reasonā€¦ I want to do some conceptual art for games).

#1527

Iā€™m sure thereā€™s platy of people who didnā€™t go to any kind of 3d specific school and work at large studios like ILM and Pixar. Iā€™m sure these people put a lot more interest into talent than what school you came from when it comes to hiring.

#1528

Try your best. Give it your all. Become one of the best.
If your skills are good enough, the Academy has connections to alot of the industry.
I gotta say, our school has alot of good connections.

#1529

I just started teaching at the AAU, and Iā€™ve been quite impressed with the schoolā€™s facilities and the level of work shown in their student galleries/displays. AAUā€™s instructors (particularly the animation/game department) are typically industry veterans thatā€™s worked on high profile projects, which is something I canā€™t say for some of the other schools in SF.

Unfortunately, my freelance work has gotten pretty crazy lately, so Iā€™m going to have to stop teaching for now.

#1530

OMGā€¦ Robert. Hahaā€¦ dude letā€™s have lunch sometimes man.
I didnā€™t know you taught at our school!

#1531

I came in wanting to work at ILM. After taking classes from many former ILMā€™ers, ILM is definitely not top of my list anymore, for many reasons. One reason is, once you get hired, you are stuck at the position for along time. For example, if you are into compositing and you get into ILM doing Roto, it will probably take you a long time to work your way to another position. Itā€™s better to get in with other experience under your belt.

But this school is filled with many former ILM employeesā€¦ so if you are good enough and nice, Iā€™'m sure the faculty would do what they could to help you outā€¦

#1532

Iā€™d love to, but I had to stop teaching because my freelance work got too crazy. Iā€™ll probably be moving to L.A. soon too, soā€¦ Thanks for asking though!

I felt bad when I had to stop, because students have said ā€œPlease donā€™t go, youā€™re one of the best teachers Iā€™ve ever had.ā€ sniff :sad:

#1533

This makes me think how many people Iā€™ve ran into at school that Iā€™ve discussed something with on CGTalk, but neither of us knew.

#1534

Hey there.

I didnā€™t see anyone else having a blog showcasing their work at Academy of Art. So Iā€™ve started a blog. And Iā€™ve also started a thread so that ā€œyouā€ can also open up a blog and post it there.

you in?

#1535

Hey guys,

This is my first post on cgtalk but Iā€™ve been reading this thread for the past 5 days and have finally made it through all 103 pages.

To tell you a little about myself, Iā€™ll be 21 years old next month. Iā€™m from Phoenix, AZ and attended University of Arizona for 2 years where my focus was drawing. This semester, I am going to a community college to get the rest of my liberal art classes out of the way before coming to AAU in the Spring semester to major in 3d modeling.

At U of A, the art classes I took were Drawing 101, Color & Design, 3d Design, Figure Drawing 1 & 2, Figure Sculpting, and Illustration Studio 1. Three of these classes transfered in as art electives (figure drawing 1, illustration studio, 3d design).

I know you guys have answered a lot of similar questions throughout the thread, but Iā€™m looking for some advice on which classes I should take and which I should waive out of for my first semester.

Also since I have read the thread, I know all of the pros and cons of living in the dorms, but I think it would be good to live there for a semester so that I could meet new people. Obviously, I wonā€™t be able to live in the under 21 dorms. Any thoughts on which dorm I should try for?

Iā€™ll be in SF this wednesday through saturday to tour the school and register for classes.

Thanks for the help.

#1536

What classes you take are really up to you - just check out all the interesting illustration classes they have available (Iā€™m assuming youā€™re an illustration major) they have experimental, character design, perspective, painting classes, and if you want to expand into computer illustration or animation, they have many classes for that too. Talk to your student advisor, they can help you plan which classes you need to take, but remember, if thereā€™s a class that you want to take, even if itā€™s not on the class track for an illustration major, just take it. The best advice I got when starting there wass from my perspective teacher - ā€œtheyā€™re going to make you take only certain classes to complete your major, but the best students create their own major to learn what they want to learnā€ (paraphrased).

As for the dorms, the best by far for over 21 is the Jones street dorms - itā€™s a simple apartment building with a great view, every apartment gets their own bathroom and kitchen. and itā€™s about 6 blocks from the illustration building.

Good Luck!

#1537

Iā€™m actually gonna be majoring in 3d modeling but that advice still works. Iā€™ll check out the Jones street dorms when I come up there.

Thanks a lot.

#1538

Yep, Iā€™m living in Jones right now, and heā€™s right. We have nothing but cool, easy going, artists here. Weā€™re almost like a big family now, we all know each other, and hang out all the time.

#1539

What do you think my chances are of getting into the Jones dorm if I apply now?
Thanks again

#1540

good luck boy!