SIGGRAPH Educational Write Up.. Yea or Nea?

oXYnary

What do you professionals think of the conclusions of the write up on Gamasutra of the SIGGRAPH discussion of formal art skill environments versus technical ones for students?

Do you think the conclusion was too broad? That the industry is more or less more technically conservative (IE skill over fine) than the broader CG field?

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=10364

(This is a discussion, I wont argue or even post in this thread after words. I do though want to hear your thoughts on the points of the article specifically if you agree/disagree. It might help some of our members here.)

ebagg

I skimmed the article, decent read. Why does it have to be one or the other? I think the major thing is for a school to really help students find their position in the game industry. At my school I was taught 3d modeling, texturing and animation, and everything in between, plus we learned about art history and had a large chunk of classes spent working on fine arts, experimenting in traditional media and figure drawing. If you care to be a professional artist you need both the technical skill and the art background to truly master your craft.

But when it comes to colleges, many I've come across with game art degrees have non-existant help getting students jobs or even telling them they have to start to focus their skill set for a specific position within a company. I figured it out on my own, as I'm sure many of us here did and made our way in on our own accord. Students need to have conferences with knowledgable faculty to help them think less about just turning in homework assignments, and more about getting a job once they graduate. My school in particular didn't have much emphasis other than maybe two of the artistic 3d teachers urging students to get more into their game art. In a perfect world every aspiring game art student would have the self discipline to figure out how to get in on their own, but hey, if students are shelling out big bucks, they should be given a big dose of reality, get a little fear in them to get up to a professional level while in school, and it might get through to a few more students that they can't glide through college and expect to fall into their dream job.

fmnoor

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Specifically, there are two factors may be the cause: the loss of apprenticeships in most industries and the shift in mindset of students (American in particular)who demand to be treated not as students, but as paying customers, entitled to the services they want.

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I've seen this in my school, they get weeded out very very fast. These are the people who complain about every aspect of life drawing, sculpture etc. Very distressing.

Mark Dygert

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Specifically, there are two factors may be the cause: the loss of apprenticeships in most industries and the shift in mindset of students (American in particular)who demand to be treated not as students, but as paying customers, entitled to the services they want.

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I've seen this in my school, they get weeded out very very fast. These are the people who complain about every aspect of life drawing, sculpture etc. Very distressing.

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I can agree that many college youth think that you get the degree and skills by simply having your parents pay out the cash while you go on a 4-7 year binge. But on the flip side if anyone is paying that kind of cash I would demand the education I pay for. When I was shopping around for a college that would give me the skills I wanted I couldn't find one (1995) or they wanted to give me very little of what I wanted and a mother F-Ton of things I didn't. I'm sure things have changed in the 11 years since, but really I stand by the idea that if you take the time to train yourself be it in school or out, that in and of it's self will be a skill that will help you more than most in an industry that is always changing and coming up with new ideas and ways to work.