Art Institute Online Reviews

Game Art & Design - Nice Idea, Bad Execution

Game Art & Design
Reviewer: Anonymous (Graduate) on February 3, 2008

Materials:		Teachers:
Institution:		Support:
Value:		Technology:

Review:

I took on this program in the hopes that it was what I have been waiting for all my youth - a degree in a game related field. What this program is, however, is just a general approach to all facets of games creation minus the programming. It covers all factors of game art creation at a mostly beginner level with a few other classes thrown in there that are challenging to learn in respects to the software needed. 3D Max was the modeling software of choice when I attended from 2003-2006. Beyond that, you need Photoshop, Painter (for one class) and Macromedia Flash (for the animation and games prototyping class). NOTE: I actually made it through my last year of school without ordering ANY of the “required” textbooks, which is a said statement about the program. All the information you may need can be found on various sources online. Also, be prepared to cover non-game art oriented classes like literature and history. Not everything here bleeds games.

The teachers are a mixed breed. You have the really knowledgeable and good ones like the excellent Jeannie Novak and then you have "the others", those instructors that hold full time jobs and do this on their spare time for extra dough. You can tell the difference after the second week of each class which instructor is which. The institution that The Art Institute of Pittsburgh (the operating arm of AIO) is quite sad. In my 3.5 years in the program, I experienced so much turnover with no fewer than 3 academic advisors and 2 financial advisors. For some reason, they cannot maintain a consistent workforce which is frustrating when you constantly have to tell your story to a new face.

Support was average. Their financial department was less than helpful in my experience. Again, the changing personnel doesn’t help but they don’t provide all of the payment and loan information up front so be prepared to do your own homework there - which you should do regardless. In terms of Value, the program never fully prepared me for a job in the games industry. The degree is probably more profitable to you if A) you are already in the industry or B) you plan on doing ALOT of outside of class work to beef up your portfolio. Their discussion board system was fine for what we needed it to do. I have no complaints there. Team-based projects are annoying as not everyone is online at the same time. Plus you will have team members that do almost nothing on their end, effectively forcing one or two dedicated classmates to do ALL of the work. Overall, it was an "interesting" experience that's very expensive. Be prepared that the material covered here does not fully prepare you for a job in the games industry nor is it too helpful in attaining one. Perhaps now some two years after I graduated, things have changed. But I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this program to anyone when there are more viable products out there such as Guild Hall at SMU in Texas and Full Sail in Florida.