Best MA study in Game Art and not have a ridiculous price

Enalrem

I'm searching for a MA study in Game Art, preferably with a specialization in 3D. I found a lot of universities online, but I don't really know how good these schools are. I know there are a lot of universities in America that cost like 250.000 and then you have a good MA grade, but I am looking for something with a bit of a lower price (20.000 euro's max for one year). So which are the best universities internationally to follow a Game Art Masters of Art that will give a MA?

Note: I'm not here to have a discussion wether it is a good thing to follow a games master. Currently I have the funds for it and I still want to continue studying untill I'm ready to work 

Joao Sapiro

this has been asked countless times, im pretty sure if you spent 5 mins on google you would find lots of topics about it. If you want to be able to work on this industry, beeing pro-active and actually trying to research stuff before asking other people is a must-have skill.

Kyetja

I'm far from doing a master since I still have 2 years of my BA to go, but I have actually been doing some research on this topic.
There seems to be a distinct lack of affordable Game Art related courses, the UK has a few but none of the university websites have work samples, so that's not that great in my opinion.

Taken the fact that you are also from the Netherlands you might want to look into Finnish, Danish, Swedish and German schools, they have no to little tuition fees since you're from the EU, most of them allow you to pick your own courses and add them to the main curriculum, this one has some 3D specific courses: http://www.aalto.fi/en/studies/education/programme/game_design_and_production_tech/
Most of these EU based schools tend to have a broader curriculum than just art though, but you would have plenty of time and money to invest in some online courses, perhaps a second option might you be unable to find a proper 3D related course in the end.

In any case keep this article in mind: https://flippednormals.com/blog/creative-students-handbook-schools/
It has some good tips on picking the right school.

Kwramm

http://polycount.com/discussion/68766/university-of-hertfordshire-school-of-creative-arts/p1

I hate to endorse a particular place, because I'm sure other universities had good courses too... but Herts really has really damn awesome showcase here, which I have only seen matched by (half) a handful of other universities. Tuition for international students is usually much lower in the UK than in the US.
Schools in other EU countries are usually cheaper than UK ones, but you may face a language barrier.

Aabel

If I could move to the Netherlands I would go to NHTV https://www.nhtv.nl/ENG/masters.html

Shrike

There is the GA Hochschule in Berlin which is in that price range and is pretty good. 
A Masters is a long time, make sure that a Bachelor is not enough. This is a kind of abstract degree to have a masters on. 

Kwramm

Shrike said:

There is the GA Hochschule in Berlin which is in that price range and is pretty good. 
A Masters is a long time, make sure that a Bachelor is not enough. This is a kind of abstract degree to have a masters on. 

I think you're thinking of a PhD or of the old Magister studies? Most masters programs tend to be around 1 year, with 2 years for extreme cases and for part time, not including the time needed for the pre-requisite bachelor.

Neox

Shrike said:

There is the GA Hochschule in Berlin which is in that price range and is pretty good. 
A Masters is a long time, make sure that a Bachelor is not enough. This is a kind of abstract degree to have a masters on. 

does the Games Academy even offer a Masters Degree? Let alone a Bachelors, as far as i know they lost the Hochschule part a while ago. All i could find are 2 semesters courses and 2 year courses named Gamedesign (GA) and Digital Art (GA), Game Programming (GA) and Gameproducer (GA). which all 4 sound like they are barely worth as much as the piece of paper they are printed on. Please tell me i am wrong, but this degree doesnt look like it would open any door towards the USA for instance

Shrike

Im not sure, Ive been on the normal one when the Hochschule was not existing yet, they seemed to have problems finding people for it, maybe its gone again. Degree wise the normal one is just a diploma, thats not worth a lot but they had very good teachers, depends if you are after the skills or the papers. In our Industry skill stands far higher than degrees tho, but yes its definitely a safer thing to have a good degree in general, especially if you are in the middle or behind the curve. 

@Kwramm It seems like in some parts of the world, the Bachelor / Master order is reversed, or the english language has some other names, else im confused

Enalrem

For now I think Herts is probably the best masters I could go to, Bournemouth seemed interesting too. So far as I have seen most MA studies take one or maybe two years fulltime. And I thought Bacherlors always comes before Masters

almighty_gir

I'm currently doing the MA at herts, as well as lecturing on the BA (bachelors is before masters). My only comment would be that i didn't expect there to be as big an emphasis on research, and theory as there is. There is still a good practical element, and the tasks we've been assigned have made me think a little differently than i normally would, i'm very excited to get started on my final major (teamed up with @JLHGameArt and @TudorMorris for it).

Looking at your portfolio, you'll fly through the practical stuff. Just understand there's a lot of theory/writing to accompany it, which i hate... But i'm persevering.

Kwramm

almighty_gir said:

 My only comment would be that i didn't expect there to be as big an emphasis on research, and theory as there is.

That's got to do with the requirement that a masters should prepare you to do your own academic research. A masters allows you to do a PhD. Basic research skills are pretty much a requirement for that. I doubt that many of your fellow students will go that route, but since it's possible, the uni has to prepare them.

Neox

Shrike said:

Im not sure, Ive been on the normal one when the Hochschule was not existing yet, they seemed to have problems finding people for it, maybe its gone again. Degree wise the normal one is just a diploma, thats not worth a lot but they had very good teachers, depends if you are after the skills or the papers. In our Industry skill stands far higher than degrees tho, but yes its definitely a safer thing to have a good degree in general, especially if you are in the middle or behind the curve. 

@Kwramm It seems like in some parts of the world, the Bachelor / Master order is reversed, or the english language has some other names, else im confused

if you want to work in the united states, your skills must be VERY high to get a visa with a "diploma". otherwise, a bachelors degree equals 12 years of working experience. If what you want is skill, the internet offers that for cheaper and/or free.

EMC3D

I'm currently doing my MA (Game Design) at Sheffield Hallam University, this is the first year it's running and from what I've experienced so far and looking at the rest of the year, it's very much practical based with open ends into what you want to achieve (3d environment art for me).

The course has a bit of research work, which is great for making you think more critically about projects and theory in general, but it also links into the practical side so it flows pretty nicely from research > pre-production and creation.

It was set up by a chap who also runs the BA Game Art at SHU, he's fairly down to earth and had previously worked in the industry for a while so his personal touches on the courses are always designed to a fairly good quality in setting up modules to benefit the students portfolio and what not. The teaching staff there are a mixture of industry workers and none industry workers (but with great knowledge in engines and solid portfolios)

Hertfordhisre is also a huge catch for the 3D stuff too if you're interested in the UK education scene.

Plan122

I currently study at a school in New Zealand and it is amazing!! It is currently rated number 1 for media design but the great thing is that they have a few other schools all over the world they have a course for bachelors in Game art and theirs one for animation etc etc 

Where I study they have great teachers that have industry experience for example there's a guy that used to work for 2K australia that worked on NBA etc and a teacher I had for 3D modelling worked for Gameloft.

A mega bonus is at the end of the game art course you have to develop a game and you have a panel where recruiters come and oversee your work and there is also a chance that if you have great talent that Sony will employ you to work on a AAA game. 

They also sometimes host Game jam and have alot!!!!! of guest speakers like so far i went to a lecture with some guy from WETA workshop if you know what that is then you know it is a awesome opportunity....

https://www.mediadesignschool.com/courses

worth checking out and it wont break the bank  

another caveman

I think if I was in Netherlands I'd go for http://www.digitalartsandentertainment.com/
- anyone with reviews from this one?

Enalrem

another caveman said:

I think if I was in Netherlands I'd go for http://www.digitalartsandentertainment.com/
- anyone with reviews from this one?

Oh man, it looks really nice. And pricing is only 900 euros for one year. Looks amazing, but sadly there are no masters there. And my financing only can allow a masters ... 

Anyway thanks a lot already for the comments, I really can do something with this!

Neox

another caveman said:

I think if I was in Netherlands I'd go for http://www.digitalartsandentertainment.com/
- anyone with reviews from this one?

belgium