Courses for going into concept art

[Elodin]

I'm interested in going into concept art in the games industry and I'm looking for a course which gives the best opportunities for employment at the end of it. Currently, I'm focusing on the design/development courses and looking for places with good contacts to the industry as I see this as my best chance for employment in the end. So far I'm considering Entertainment Design at Art Center and the full time Industrial Design course at FZD School of Design as possibilities but also Game Development courses at some universities closer to home in the UK.

What I really want to hear is other peoples' opinions on finding the best course: am I taking the right approach when considering the different courses? I've heard a few people say its better off looking at general courses in art and then trying to go into the industry, would you agree with this?

Any advice or opinions would be appreciated!

[saprissa9]

If you have the means to go to art center then I suggest you take the opportunity. In my opinion the graduates of that school own the industry. In my opinion, if you go to art center then you don't need to go to FZD. But then again I could be wrong.

[Elodin]

Its not so much I was hoping to go to both, I'd ideally like to go to Arts Center but FZD might be a more affordable option.

What are your views on FZD by the way? I was reading up on the thread on the school here on the forum (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=190666) and noticed you got a chance to talk to some of the schools students, what was your impression on it?

[saprissa9]

I read some bad reviews from FZD students. They say that the teachers have preferences. They place the good students in a different place from "the bad" students in the classroom. And that teachers spent more time with the "good" students. Well, at least that is what SOME students claim. And there are reasons to believe that. Feng wants to make that a top school and I mean who wouldn't want that?? I also noticed one thing. I mean I do not know how many new students they take each time. But I noticed that there are not that many graduates in the graduation show. I wonder how many people quit during the year. I can see why you want to go there. It's Feng, it's one year and you get a diploma which kind of helps but not really. I was considering going there but I would much rather go to Concept Design Academy and spend a year there than going all the way to Asia and spend more money. Plus CDA is full of teachers who graduated from Art Center.

[Elodin]

Yeah I read about the discrimination at FZD and it put me off the school a bit but I feel like I still have to consider it since its more realistic tuition-wise than Art Center and they seem to have good connections to the industry. Not sure on it :/
I'll check out CDA Have you got any places you could recommend?

[saprissa9]

Art Center is my first choice. My second choice will be CDA. Next is red engine studios. LAAFA offers a entertainment design track. LAAFA is really good but to be honest I have not read any reviews about the entertainment track that they offer. I have seen some really good stuff coming out of Otis and Laguna. Otis and Laguna have some really good teachers there too. And finally there is Kazone Art school. I am thinking of doing a mix of CDA and Red Engine when I go to Cali.

[pocky]

Yeah I read about the discrimination at FZD and it put me off the school a bit but I feel like I still have to consider it since its more realistic tuition-wise than Art Center and they seem to have good connections to the industry. Not sure on it :/

Feng has lots of connections but not sure if it applies to the graduates.
The furthest a top student gets is LucasFilm in Singapore.The rest have to settle for small mom and pop studios doing casual games or non c.a jobs as there's not much jobs in Singapore.

From my impression, Feng at most will put in a good word for you if the co. you applied to calls up the sch to ask. That is provided if you're the top performing ones in the cool crowd. If you're not in the cool crowd, good luck! Heard Feng will 'sabotage' the students whom he doesn't like. He doesn't really connect you or introduce you to the international market. You have to do the job searching yourself.

From what i see online, Feng does a lot of self promotion for himself and his own school, one of these ways is he uploads a lot of his favorite students works in his FB and blog and he calls out their names at times. So i'd figure it's very good publicity for those students since Feng has lots of people in the industry visiting his online portals.

Education wise, like what has been mentioned by others, you will be fine if you are absolutely sure you can be in the cool crowd. If you're not confident enough, have to find ways to improve yourself first to make sure you are up to par.

It seems like 95% of those who survived till graduation were already quite proficient before entering the school. It's more like how much better the already quite proficient became at the end. Some okay ones remained as mere okays, some okays became quite good and obviously the already good ones became super duper.

It makes total business sense that the school minimizes time and effort spent on students. If you ran an education business, you ideally want to have all the good students who already can do most of the stuff. You only need to guide them a little and they can produce good work.You can then use them and their work to promote your school further since people have to see to believe. It's an illusion and impression. What people don't see and don't know is that these works are done by people who already could do them before attending the school.

[saprissa9]

Thank you so much Pocky! I knew something was up with that school. That really sucks! If you don't make it in the cool crew you are pretty much F!!! Scratch FZD, I am going to Cali and study at CDA or Red Engine. Regular students also paid their tuition Feng. You could at least help them with connections....

[Medelo]

Art Center is my first choice. My second choice will be CDA. Next is red engine studios. LAAFA offers a entertainment design track. LAAFA is really good but to be honest I have not read any reviews about the entertainment track that they offer.

Yeah, the ent. design at laafa is really new, I'm part of the first batch and will graduate early next spring. That's probably why there's not much stuff about it yet.

[pocky]

You're welcomed Saprissa. I hope i don't get blasted for sharing someone else's blog here but i think this is a good benchmark for people who want to know if they are in the safety zone before attending FZD.

Here's the link to to a typical FZD student's blog --- http://willkohart.blogspot.sg/p/2011.html

This guy was previously working in a game studio and the works shown in this blog were all done before he went to FZD.

All of those in the cool crowd were at the very least like this or even way better before FZD. They went back to school to polish up a little and to get a better sense of design.

For the elites, FZD is probably the go to place for what you might call connections. The rest are pretty much F! like what you said, either die a slow death or a fast one.

[saprissa9]

Thank you so much pocky. Don't ever be afraid of telling the truth. Even if it hurts someone. I'm definetely not wasting my hard earned money there. Pocky I heard that FZD makes the students sign like a contract where they are not supposed to talk about their experience with FZD. Do you know something about that?

[saprissa9]

Yeah, the ent. design at laafa is really new, I'm part of the first batch and will graduate early next spring. That's probably why there's not much stuff about it yet.

Give us your thoughts about it when you are done. Also does LAAFA offer individual courses? I can't seem to find them, I feel like a dumb ass right now lol. I think they do I just cant see them.

[Alice Herring]

Give us your thoughts about it when you are done. Also does LAAFA offer individual courses? I can't seem to find them, I feel like a dumb ass right now lol. I think they do I just cant see them.

Heh heh heh. I had the opposite problem at first! I didn't even know they had full programs! (Kept seeing their fliers at work.) Did you look under "Extension class schedule" ?

[Medelo]

@Saprissa: Yeah, I'll definitely do so. I technically 'finish' this December, but the deal with them is if you complete the full-time 3 year course they give you an extra term at the end for free to touch up on anything you might've missed, so I'm counting that as the 'end' of the whole program.

Also I believe the link for the upcoming quarter is here: http://www.laafa.org/PDF/Summer2012Schedule.pdf

[saprissa9]

Holly crap a free term? That's really cool! And thank you for the help. I'll check it out.

[saprissa9]

Oh crap yeah I see it now lol. It is under extension wow. Well, I don't want to be a concept artist. I want to go to Gnomon and become a 3d artist. I would like to take some classes in some art school before I enroll. But I can't decide where now. So many choices, 3Kicks, CDA, RED, and LAAFA. Thank you guys.

[koomega]

yes feng zhu class is a awesome instructor you can learn concept art from him,but his school is based on china,but if you can go to his country it will be an opportunity

[pocky]

Saprissa, yes the contract signing is real. Everything is done for the school's benefits. I feel that the students are always at the losing end but of course some people don't see all these.

From what you guys have been talking about here, it seems like there are so many good schools in the U.S! So lucky and spoilt for choice!

Hi koomega, feng zhu's school is not in China but Singapore, somewhere in South East Asia. For the people on the other side of the globe, unless they have the money and really want to learn under Feng specifically. Otherwise, it doesn't really make sense since they have so many other choices.