Visual & Game Programming

Bachelor Degree
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Overview
 
 
 
  BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN ARTIST AND PROGRAMMER
Part art and part computer science, the visual & game programming program offers creative students an opportunity to become part of the team that brings 3-D games, animated films, and interactive motion graphics to life. The team includes artists, who create characters and backgrounds, programmers, who write the computer code and scripts to make the characters and backgrounds move, and technical artists, who ensure that everyone works together effectively. In visual & game programming, you’ll learn to fill the important role of the technical artist, who has both artistic ability and the skills to solve technical problems. You’ll learn to bridge the gap between the creative artist and technical programmer.

What you’ll study
* Begin with intensive foundations in art and design.
* Enter the more technical areas of programming for 3-D animation, including shading development, motion capture management, and pipeline streamlining.
* Learn programming and scripting tools such as Perl, C++, C-shell, MEL scripting, MAXScript, DirectX and OpenGL, and become familiar with different operating systems.
* Create a portfolio and reel of your best work to show prospective employers.

Special features
This intensely hands-on program combines artistic skills with the technical skills deeply embedded in the concepts of animation. The curriculum was developed with input from game and animation industry veterans, including professionals from the International Game Developers Association, Electronic Arts, Acclaim, Red Storm Entertainment, Digital Domain, Pixar Animation Studios, PDI/DreamWorks, Microsoft, Stormfront Studios, BioWare, and other companies.

Career opportunities
With the advantage of having their artistic talent combined with the knowledge and skills of programming for 3-D development, shading, motion capture, and animation, graduates will have an edge in finding a wide range of employment opportunities in the entertainment and game production industries. The curriculum helps prepare students for entry-level positions that may include technical artist, technical developer, assistant technical director, 3-D tools programmer, artist wizard, data wrangler, rendering wrangler, or junior technical cinematic artist.

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