First TAD impressions

[guterrez]

hey everybody,
today my second week as full time student at TAD ends and so I thought it might be interesting for people out there how things are going so far.
I have to say I was kinda nervous when I had to decide to take a loan for an online education or not. I balanced pros and cons for some days, tried to figure out what to do and got nearly crazy about it.
finally I decided to take the risk, sent an application for a loan to my bank (my bank adviser told me it was the most professional application she had seen,^^) and started this adventure. the decision was quite easy after I did a self analysis and realized that I didn`t want to be a mediocre artist for the rest of my life.

I started TAD in week 3 so I can`t tell that much about the first weeks (hope some of my fellow students jump in on that part). the first few days I tried to get into it, developing a daily routine with classes and homework and to figure out how everything works.
the online tech called "elluminate" works very fine for me, absolutely no problems with watching classes live or on demand (I had two or three disconnects but the class always came up again after 2-3 seconds) and no delay (I`m from Austria so it was important for me to have a reliable software).
our teachers are highly professional, these guys really know their craft! I`ve learnt more during this frist 2 weeks in TAD than in 4 years art university; I know this sounds like a quote from a commercial but it seems I get all the basics and foundations here I hoped for and even more.
at the moment I`m working more then ever before; drawing, painting and learning at an intense but doable level...though I have to skip 1 or two hours of sleep every day haha
I have to say it feels really good and I can`t wait for all the things to come (oh my god James Gurney^^)
yesterday we had the funniest class I have ever seen; can you imagine Marshall Vandruff singing "Yellow Submarine" and half of the TAD students joining him for the refrain (definately one of the reasons why I take all classes live even they last till 2:30am and not on demand)

well, enough for TAD, I have to go back to the fun!
cheerio

[Jason Manley]

Thank you. I am glad you are enjoying it. I would be curious to see what the other TAD students think so far. This is the most demanding and inspiring student body I have ever had the privilege to be assisting. I appreciate you taking the time to come in and share your experience and point of view. It means a lot.


J

[jama]

Hello guys,
just wanted to share my thoughts,
and i saw that somebody already did it. No problem.
I will join this thread for sure.

Many people`ve asked me about TAD... my opinion about education there and so on.
So i thought that it will be good to summarize this one month that i`ve spent in TAD.

Well. I will try to stay rational, so i will talk about positive and negative impression.

Let start with positive ones).

TAD is awesome, because this is education i always dreamed about and never had a chance to get.
Unfortunately i realized that i want to be busy with art quite late.
Before that i was busy with engineering science i never thought that i`ll be willing to do something serious in art.
Close to my 30, i started to seriously think about getting art education,
but it is so hard to do that at my age. At least for me. Family, work, location... and many other factors don`t allow you easy to move somewhere else.
So getting those awesome lessons online made things so easy.
Moreover... i can rewatch them as much as i can. If i don`t get something.. i rewatch it... Isnt that great?
And what can be greater than to sing "Yellow submarine" with such an art-beast as Marshal Wandruff?)))
And I think this online education program will become much greater as time passes.

Teachers are at extremely high level and they put maximum effort to transfer their skills to us.
Before attending TAD.. i tried to learn everything by myself. It is hard.
I don`t say it is impossible... there are many great artists around that are very good, and they are self-taught.
But it is hard. It is much easier and effective when you have great guides, that can lead you in correct direction.
They exactly know how you should move and progress.
I learn tons of new tips every day. Some of them are not new for me, but i was using them intuitively. Now i can control them. Now i can use them to become better picture maker.
This is what TAD gives you. Not only academic knowledge, but it gains you a knowledge to become better picture maker.
Because they transfer us their experience. And that experience is very very valuable.

This is how i feel at the end of this first month.
Of course there is a long road ahead.. and i will try to do my best.

And now it is turn to talk about negative impression on TAD.
Well, my dear friends.
The most negative impression about TAD is coming, be ready

TAD will make you to lift your butt out of your comfortable seats and study hard.
TAD is not easy school, it forces me to work so hard. My rest hours quickly approach to zero, but i know that this is ONLY way to become better, to become stronger. I push my limits as hard as i can.
Every cool piece of art, requires huge amount of effort.
So force you limits, TAD is really right place for that.
TAD is making everything for us to grow up as artists.
The rest is upon us, the more we study.. the better we will become.

Sorry for such a long post.
But i tried to summarize some important tips about TAD.
I will try to post more impressions as time passes.
Thank you)

jama

[meth]

Thanks Jama for this great insight, as i saw in your sb your studies coming along great, somehow i see more "free" brush strokes and expression then in your earlier works. They will drain you as much as possible, and it doesn't matter if you don't have your free time now, it will only make you better and more self confident artist in future.
Keep on rocking my friend

M

[jama]

Thanks for your feedback Mateja))

just wanted to clarify that statement about negative impression)
It is negative impression for those who think that learning art is easy.
There is no magic button in Photoshop, no best Photoshop brush, no best art supplies in the world.
Every cool piece of art needs huge effort.

Many beginners ask me about tips for creating better art..
and i say..study hard.
And TAD is right place for that)
Hope that clarifies a bit.

[Simon Boxer]

As another student I think it's safe to say that a lot of people are doing the art hermit thing and not venturing out into the e-wilderness. They're probably all buried in their sketchbooks, but I'll take a minute to add a little insight.

The bar is high, and everyone's thriving. We're seeing marked improvement in students over just a month; it's crazy to think some people entered this course as complete beginners. It's an incredibly efficient way to hone your craft.

Also, being at a POD is awesome! If you can facilitate it I'd certainly recommend it, failing that I'd suggest at least attending the workshop(s). This year's workshop was great. It was a real pleasure to meet the instructors face to face, which adds a whole new dimension to your connection.

The course itself is well paced and delivered effectively. It's exciting to think what will happen over the span of the course, and who knows where everyone will end up. This could be the next wave of great artists! Let's make it happen.

[Pavel Sokov]

So how do you ask questions at this online school?
How do you get feedback on your homework pieces?
Are you able to participate like in a real class?

And how much is the tuition again?
I might do TAD since I might not be able to go to Safehouse Atelier, but I am really sceptical about online education.
I have taken 2 online classes so far at my business school and I definitely can't say I felt very involved. I felt distanced from the class, as if they are an afterthought of sorts. Never tried to email my teachers to ask questions or anything.

[guterrez]

hey Pavel,
questions are best handled during a live class, but of course you can also ask them in the forums or email.
about feeling distanced: I would agree if you can`t participate at all in the live classes and if you have to watch everything on demand. there are at least 5-8 hours classtime from Mo-Th and 3 hours on Friday so if you want you can be very involved into class. you get feedback on your work directly in class and it takes as long until everyone got their feedback, even if this means class ends an hour later.
there are various PODs in the States where you are able to study directly with your instructors, as I`m studying online I can`t say much about that. sounds pretty cool though, so probably I`ll try to get a place at a POD myself.
tuition depends if you get a scholarship or not, better check the TAD homepage to get the exact numbers

cheers

[phizpietl]

So, TAD, month number 1:

I have been through an art school system once already, it was a good time. TAD is something better.

To put it simply, I have produced more work in one month at TAD than I did in entire semesters at my previous school. The support from the instructors is humbling. The information is sound and enlightening. Each week, I am more and more excited to do the work, and be a part of this program. The Austin POD has an amazing set up, and it will only get better.

I'll just come out with it: I love it here.

-Phil Lietz
www.phillietz.blogspot.com
www.phillietz.com

[tja88]

Im just a part-time student, but so far, TAD is amazing. Teachers, assignments, the feedback you receive, all of it is far beyond my expectations. Us part-time students are, as far as I can tell, treated exactly the same as all the others. In fact, if we have the time, there's extra assignments waiting for us... how great is that?! If it wasnt for money issues, I'd gone the full ride!

Last fall, I attended a similar online program in Sweden with focus on illustration. I felt like it was pretty much a waste, as did my wallet. After that, I got demotivated, but as this opportunity came along, I decided to give it a shot. I'm grateful that I did.

Fredrik Rattzen

[Andantonius]

I'm also attending TAD full time, and the experience so far has been... unbelievable, really. I honestly did not think that any education out there would meet my silly, superfluous fantasies of what the ideal art college would be; but TAD is far above and beyond anything I was expecting or hoping for.

Extremely valuable skills are being taught in every single class; there's not a moment being wasted on something that doesn't matter. We're learning how subtle and powerful compositional elements can be, how to see in shape and interpret it, how to draw from observation with complete accuracy, how to photograph our own references, how to construct complex perspective with simple techniques, how to go out and record everyday life and build good concepts and ideas, how to get delicate and informational mark making, and so so much more. Stuff is being taught that I never even knew existed, and there's at least two or three jaw drops in every single class.

Beyond that, the technical side is great as well. When I was deciding on what school to go to, the one thing that made me desire to go to an art institute is the fact that I was actually going to a school and being with people. The PODs do present that option, but many can not afford it. So the dreaded question comes up: can an online school really work? And the answer is plain and simple: yes.
The technology used for class is just great, everyone has access to microphones so we can talk back and forth, the slideshow style viewing area works great, there's webcam abilities so teachers can draw live or students can laugh at each others' questionably gorgeous faces before class, and you can even share programs on your desktop, so we've had several live photoshop demos. We can raise our hands to ask questions, go out and watch pre-recorded demos if needed and put up a checkmark when we return, and even clap when the teachers finish their amazing lectures!
The other issue that seems to come up is that students have no place to get together and do stuff; but we've solved that too by setting up a ventrilo server. Students can hop in after class and participate in various shenanigans, which is really helpful for motivation as you're not just sitting in a room working by yourself. So student bonding is still going on, even when we're all around the world!

And speaking of the students, all the students are pretty amazing as well. There are so many skilled people attending TAD, and we all float around and help each other out on the forums. There's a lot of community going on here, and it's awesome!

So yeah, in conclusion, TAD is potentially the greatest thing in the history of art education. I do not regret my decision to come here in any way. The faculty cares about TAD's success, and they care about the students' success, and by george I think they're going to make it happen! As Jama mentioned, be ready to bust your arse and work like never before if you decide to attend, but busting your arse is what it takes to truly master something, and it's totally worth it in every way!

[Jasonwclark]

Just wanted to give a shout out and a thank you to everyone who's made this program possible. I'm really enjoying it and have learned more in the last few months than I did in several years trying to figure things out on my own. The feedback we're getting in class in great, and I'm already noticing a real improvement in the work I've been doing. It's challenging to be sure, and for someone who's never done the art school thing before, I still feel like I have a lot of catching up to do. But just having other motivated students around, going through the same projects and working on the same issues, makes it a lot easier and a lot more fun. I think we've got a great crew, doing really impressive work, and I like all the people I've met here so far. Cool digs all around, and definitely worth it

[Jska]

I'll chime in here and say that joining the illustration program here at TAD was probably one of the best decisions I could have made. Coming from a city where the choices in art education are pretty limited, the online program is an amazing opportunity. Being able to access the classes On Demand (and multiple times, if needed) is a huge plus, especially as I currently work full time as well. The instructors are absolutely fantastic - genuine, with real, applicable feedback. My fellow students are top notch as well, and everyone seems pretty enthused and motivated to get to the next level. All in all, its been a really great experience - especially to someone who hasn't experienced art education at all. I was definitely seeing improvement within the first couple weeks, which is ... insane haha.

I had initially joined TAD because I felt like I was hitting a wall and unable to get to that next leg of my artistic journey without some help. All I can say is, I knew within the first couple days of class that I would no longer be having that issue! More than I could've asked for - that's for sure

Be prepared to WORK. You won't regret it!

[Ryuartyi]

After coming off of two other art schools and then joining TAD, I really have to take my hat off to them. Even though I haven't done every assignment and don't have much money for supplies, I still get a LOT of quality information and feedback on my pieces especially compared to places that I had the supplies for.

Every single piece you do gets talked about. Back in my old school I would do at least ten figure drawings in a four/five hour class period and not get a single piece of feedback. I never knew if I was improving or just hit a brick wall. Without fail I've gotten critiques and suggestions on all of my work, helping me to improve exponentially in comparison.

TAD really helped me stop being so nervous about posting my art. I had to accept that I will fail sometimes but that's part of art. I thought I would also really miss the "brick and mortar" art school feel, but listening to teachers that actually care about the art you're producing and isn't simply going through the motions is really encouraging and fresh.

If you're willing to put in the work, seriously, go with TAD. It'll help you in the right direction.

...and I'm sure once I have the money for my art supplies, it will be even greater.

[skallagrim]

I've attended college before. A state college in California , a junior college in California and the Academy of art in San Francisco. I learned a few things here or there and like phillip said earlier it was fun but TAD has given me more in this first month than I ve had in my entire education. I'm not even in one of the pods (unfortunately). The teachers are exceptional and the list of visiting lecturers is incredible. There is so much information in this program and it is all applicable. Here students are at a professional level, teachers are at the head of their industries and the classes are combined in such a way that the cirriculum compliments itself. Something in one class is applied to another. I've tried working freelance for 3 years, Ive had a sh*#&y day job and felt like my career was going nowhere. TAD is a wake up call. I highly recommend it to anyone who is serious about making fine art ,illustration, or concept design their profession

[Lior Schiller]

I live at a country without a proper illustration and art studies. I was so happy to hear about TAD's online studies because it's the most reasonable option for me.

Up until now I felt like a lot of pieces I learned from net tutorials and articles are getting together and I can see the whole picture.
I learned things I couldn't learn anywhere else (that I know of).
It's really interesting and I can see my art develop only from these two month studies.
The teachers are really supporting and patience.
As you can probably see from my writing, I have some problems with English as it's my second language - the class on demand is the cure, I can hear the class over and over again, stop and translate until I fully understand. If there are still questions left, the teachers are available to answer.

You are welcomed to send me a note for any question you have about TAD's studies, but know I'm only at the part time program, so I dont' have experience from all of the classes.

[orangus]

Joining TAD meant a few things to me- that I'm super serious about following this path, and that this is not going to be a hobby anymore.

Having crossed the first month in TAD, I've been blown away by the amount of information that I've had to assimilate. Exposed to artists and works that I've never heard of before. The volume of work that i've put in this one month is equivalent to a almost 6 months of working by myself.

In TAD, they don't go with a 30 month window I think, every assignment you are pushed to churn out the best, like this is the last class. There's no option for slow progress here, even for a slow poke like me.
Having said that, the instructors are awesome, and sensitive enough to know students' limits and not push beyond a point to break you.

I'm from India and coming from a completely different time zone I've had no issues regarding classes that I miss live (can always catch it on-demand) and critique of my work. I know Jason seems to manage critiquing everyone's work regardless of time zones ( that man doesn't sleep I think )

I balance a non-art related job and this course, and there's just not enough hours in a day, so be prepared to sacrifice personal time with friends and for other things if you are serious about TAD.

Also, be prepared to be frustrated, uncomfortable and be floored by your fellow student's work and constantly pushed to up your standards.

Hats off to TAD, my fellow students and my teachers.

[Craz]

I'm a full time student at TAD. I'm eighteen years old, and I feel like I'm riding the crest of a very powerful new wave in art history. Anyone who has hung around conceptart.org for long knows the potential of its values, lessons and technology to transform the art world. TAD is that philosophy and technology in concentrated form. I want you to scroll up for a moment, click on some of the artist's thumbnails at the top of the page and browse their galleries.
From what I've heard, that knowledge used to be incredibly difficult to find. If an artist wanted to know how to make pictures like that, they had to roam the width and breadth of the land, scraping it out one bit at a time wherever they could find it. What we're seeing with the proliferation of the internet is a place where people can share that knowledge with the whole world. What we're seeing with TAD is the first complete effort to impart ALL of this training to the new generation of artists. (By 'new generation', I don't mean young people, I mean the artists, of many different ages, who are in a position to enrich their work with this training.) This is where art history is being made. I think it's obvious to anyone paying attention that there is a movement waking up and beginning to walk across the art world. Its stride will be determined by the dedication and training of TAD's first round of graduates.
After a few weeks of TAD, I can say with the utmost confidence that the movement may well be running before we even finish our courses. The instruction is absolutely mindblowing. There isn't a single weak link in the faculty here. Even Terry 'Curator of 20th Century American Illustration' Brown, who appears in Colour and Composition class to give a little lecture at the beginning, is great. He's full of information you would never have heard without him, and his presentations are delightful. Feedback is always dead on, helpful and with an insight I haven't found anywhere else. Every teacher here has so much knowledge to give and the technology allows it to flow from them in alarming abundance. This is not a CA thread, where some people may stop by and give you good crits. There will always be a brilliant artist and teacher on hand to give an in-depth and insightful critique of your work.
The assignments, to begin with, are excellent. In fact, what I'm about to say is going to seem like a ridiculous exaggeration, but I swear on Beksinski's grave that it isn't. I learned more about drawing from one assignment in Media class than I did in the entire rest of my life COMBINED. I'm working long hours, and some of it is extremely difficult for me, but it's so worth it. It's worth everything they can throw at us.
The students are becoming more and more familiar with each other and we're starting to form a cohesive student body. I'm not saying we're The Brady Bunch (although I could freak out some of the instructors by pointing out which family role each seems to occupy ), but the amount of familiarity, given that it's online for must of us (including me) is great. We've had live musical intros to more than one class from talented, guitar-picking students, we've a vent server up, and we've created "Whiteboard Mural Collaborations" many times before and after classes. The students are all totally good about not letting it interrupt class and the instructors are down with it all.
The atmosphere, dedication and training are all wonderful. I don't think I have a single complaint yet. That may make it sound like I'm trying to advertise TAD, but guess what. I AM. And that, I think says as much about the quality of the school and the excitement it generates than everything I've written so far. Think about it: the students want to advertise the school. Jason isn't putting us up to this. He's not threatening us or bribing us (although I'm sure it's crossed his mind at some godforsaken hour as he sits in the pale glow of his computer monitor, drinking Red Bull and trying to juggle teaching us vignetting and supervising the expansion of TAD's global presence, a mad glint in his reddening eyes). No. We're doing this because we want to. And we are, as far as I can tell, all being completely honest. We're not doing it, either, out of some misplaced, tribalistic sense of 'School Pride'. We want people to know how great it is here, we want to give something to the faculty in return for their stellar work, and I, at least, want you to have an idea of just what this is going to mean a century from now.
The future Terry Browns of the world will be talking about TAD and the wonderful people who put it together. And, with the training I'm recieving at TAD, I'll be damned if they won't be talking about me too.
Now, back to work...

[knoxie]

wow... so much has already been said by people who can express themselves in words so much better than I can. So I'll just touch on a few personal things that I've come across on my TAD path.

Being outside the US I'm taking this completely online. Because of timezones it means I'm taking the classes at weird hours of the day. One benefit is I get to keep a regular 9-5 job and still get to watch all the classes live and get the most out of interacting with the teachers and other TADpoles.

All the other students have said it before and I'll say it again to push it home; TAD is work; you will make mistakes and you will grow in leaps and bounds.

Thanks to all of the teachers and I'm looking forward to the upcoming months with you all. Hoping to come out to one of the PODS to come meet y'all in person at some point!

[Jussi Tarvainen]

When TAD was just starting up I was a bit doubful because it really sounds too good to be true. I took a leap of fate and went for it and that was one of the best and most important decisions of my life.

I've had a dream to be able to attend a real high quality art school but where I'm from we don't have such things. The only option would've been US with ridiculous student loans. Never could've done it if TAD didn't come along.

TAD is a real deal and it isn't just too good to be true. It's better. The faculty, well it is the top of the cream. They aren't just great artists but great, experienced and understanding teachers and that combination isn't always the case. The faculty has a HUGE variety of styles and opinions which is terrific because you aren't influenced by one type of thinking and problem solving but ten's of different and all so important point of views.

The online studying works great for me. It really is like sitting in a class room with few exceptions of course. With+ 8 hour time difference makes things a bit tricky but few sacrifices and you can work things around and that's why there's on demand. And the workshops really catches up where the online lacks the physical connection. Although

If you want to become great artist, TAD can help you. For me it is the only option but the great thing is that it is the best option of any school. Not just because of outstanding faculty, star power and great delivery system through online, ondemand, affortability and PODs but because of all the students are so motivated. There isn't a single student who's mom and pop paid them into the art school to have fun and toy around. Everyone is serious about getting the most out of the program and everybody pushes each other. And we have a ton of fun too like pre class drawing sessions and late night voice chats. You wont be alone and your comrades and teachers will push you to your limits.

It has changed lives for good.

If you have the chance I say jump for it, take a leap of fate you wont regret.

Sincerely,
Jussi Tarvainen

[hankventure]

Hi Everyone
I just wanted to give my personal experience on TAD so far. A couple of weeks ago I emailed Jason because I had concerns that I was falling behind on the workload and wanted advice on what I should do. I explained to him that I have some serious medical issues that only allow so much time and energy in the day to do art. To be honest, after I sent the email I wasn't expecting much. I had been blown off by other art schools in the past because of my situation and so I thought this would be similar. Then about an hour or so later phone rang. It was Jason. Jason had personally called to assure me that as long as I did my best with my given circumstance he and the other teachers would be there to help. I can't really explain how much this meant to me. If anything it really showed me the teachers here care. As long as you are willing to work really really hard TAD is an amazing place to experience. I really hope anyone thinking of signing up does so because you won't regret it.
-Jamie

[Serpian]

Reading all these testimonials are really good for me, because while I absolutely believe in the teachers, I've been having this nagging doubt that, what if it doesn't work on-line in the end? You've reassured me that starting here is going to be really great!

I have some more practical questions though, out of curiosity. How do the assignments work? How often do submit your homework, and do you do it to some secret thread here on ca.org or do you e-mail them to the teachers? How does the feedback on your assignments work?

I'll be there in the spring semester of 2011, be sure of it!

[Craz]

Reading all these testimonials are really good for me, because while I absolutely believe in the teachers, I've been having this nagging doubt that, what if it doesn't work on-line in the end? You've reassured me that starting here is going to be really great!

I have some more practical questions though, out of curiosity. How do the assignments work? How often do submit your homework, and do you do it to some secret thread here on ca.org or do you e-mail them to the teachers? How does the feedback on your assignments work?

I'll be there in the spring semester of 2011, be sure of it!

Awesome, David! I'm glad you made the decision to join us.

The instructors spent the first few weeks streamlining the homework policy, how much they set, and when. Things are running really smoothly for the most part.
The frequency and length of assignments varies from class to class, but we're always turning in at least one assigment a day. Light and Form has frequent homework and Sketchbook class has a basic series of assignments that repeats with variation (makes perfect sense for the class). There's always time to do assignments during class; In Light and Form, Dorian sets time aside in between lectures and crits, and John's classes (figure and media) consist mostly of crits of student assignments while we all work and listen. The figure class is structured so that the work can be done in class time.
Students post the assignment in designated threads on new forums set up just for TAD. They've got the same look and structure as the CA forums, but with a few things changed. Some time (varies a bit between instructors) before class, the instructor downloads the images from the thread and loads them into Elluminate, the class software. At that point, they're all ready to be scrolled through during class. Elluminate allows the instructors to point anywhere on the whiteboard and do rough paintovers and red-lines to illustrate what they're saying. If a student's work didn't get into the thread on time and there's opportunity at the end of class, they're usually allowed to drag their image into Elluminate for crits. This takes a bit longer, but is fine as long as they're there and ready.
The students also create their own threads- one for each class- to display all of their work. They're sort of like sketchbooks here.
In Colour and Composition, Jason views student work by opening up Application Sharing in Elluminate, so we can all see what he sees in his browser, and looking through these threads. I've personally had the experience of Jason downloading one of my images to demonstrate a crit in Photoshop.

Hope that answers your questions.

[Serpian]

it really does, thank you for a great answer! It's exactly what I wanted to hear!

[Hive_minD]

Might as well give my quick 2 cents. -Seeing my story is a bit different to others. Before the classes started and I was still trying to decide if I should go for this or not, I contacted Jason M. After our conversation I said what the heck, lets do this. Like I predicted, I did not have much time to attend that many classes. I am currently in a Norwegian art school doing my last year of illustration, and have 2 jobs on the side. Taking on one of these classes was going to be a challenge, and it is. At first I was bummeb about this, but the on demand feature is a life saver. You guys ahve no idea how much you learn just by listening in to the teachers crits of other peoples work, because in general, we all make similar mistakes and have the same things to learn.

I am currently spending my sleeping hours catching up on classes and taking notes like a madman so that in the near future, when I dont have as much on my plate (gotta focus on this final year, and obviously earn money on the side), to work on all the assignments, and on me becoming a better artist.

So peeps, trust me. Just the on demand is great to learn, and I can already see great improvement from all the participants of the Sketchbook class!

[Thujon]

Hey there, your posts and stories are so interesting! I have been thinking about TAD for hours now, and I still cannot decide weather to join or not. But I guess this is, because I stilll fail to understand how this works... so practically you join TAD but you visit the classes online??!! Like the on demand videos? Same software?

I saw James Gurney joined TAD, so this is a must!

THX for any answers!

[Ian Barker]

Hey there, your posts and stories are so interesting! I have been thinking about TAD for hours now, and I still cannot decide weather to join or not. But I guess this is, because I stilll fail to understand how this works... so practically you join TAD but you visit the classes online??!! Like the on demand videos? Same software?

I saw James Gurney joined TAD, so this is a must!

THX for any answers!

There is a live video feed in which the instructor shows his demonstration or slides, and there's both a chat box and open audio feeds for the students to communicate with. Works good!

[Craz]

Thujon, TAD is a hybrid online and real world program. The classes take place online in a program called Elluminate. All students take classes that way. If a student can't attend a class live, it can be watched On Demand at any time (the live session is recorded). Some students are doing the entire course On Demand becasue of scheduling conflicts.
A handful of students attend PODs, which are physical hubs with resident instructors and artists. Here is the Austin POD blog: http://tadaustinpod.blogspot.com/
Additionally, there are workshops a couple of times throughout the year, which allow TAD to physically manifest for its online students.

[Ian Barker]

I have a quick question for those attending TAD, especially those in PODs (sorry if this has been answered already), but is it possible to attend TAD while working a 40 hour job, at least without completely losing your mind and forfeiting all sleep?

[Ninjac]

Liffey: So far I have been pulling 30 to 35 hour work weeks outside of TAD to pay for tuition and I'm able to keep up with the homework and I'm a full time student. With dedication you should be able to keep up as well. Hope this helps