Art institute

[HelloJenna]

Hello, I am new here. C:
I want to be a game concept artist and I have been
checking out AI and I think I am pretty set on it.

Does AI have a good program? From what I can
tell, it seems good.

The reasons why I am going there is because it is online, and
I do not have to move away from my family.


Also, can you guys give me a more thorough description of
a game concept artist? I know a lot about it, but maybe someone
with actual experience can tell me more. C:

Thank you


EDIT:

I am going to go to UT (because I get to go there free ) and get my
skills up with their art programs. While I'm there, I'm going to sort out
the rest of my education.

[Storyboard Dave]

Hmmm... I don't want to bash the Art Institutes here but from what I've seen here on the forums, depending on which ones you go to, it can be a crap shoot. And probably more on the "crap" side.

I would've probably done what you've proposed here in reverse. I would've asked questions about them first before being "pretty set on it". Asking after the fact seems kind of awkward. Are you looking for confirmation after the fact?

With any program that someone is interested in, I would highly recommend that they go check out the facility but seeing as how you're doing it online, you can't. But beyond that, what sort of successes have that specific program had? Do they have any alums doing concept art? After completing the program- how many of their graduates are still practicing their craft (and don't give us that percentage of how many grads are employed after graduation too- working a job and working in the field of your degree are two different things)? I'd ask for proof of their success. What do their students' work look like? Is there a gallery of work that you can see?

[HelloJenna]

xDD

Well, I'm pretty set on it from what I can tell. Out of the other choices I had, this one seemed like the better one..
I was just wondering if others thought it was a good college also.

The lady I talked to said like 96% or something of there graduates all
work in there career.

Thanks for the response. 8D

[darkwolf29a]

I'm a student of AIPOD in the graphics design program. You can read the bashing about the school that goes on around here, that is for sure. And, I'm certain that you will get others saying how bad it is. From my experience though...it's worth what you pay for it...and how hard you work at it.

I like the convenience and challenge of the courses I am taking. I am, very much, in favor of the school and it's knowledge base. Honestly, i wouldn't be in art school if it weren't for them. And, I am learning a lot.

That stated, you do have to be prepared to work. You must be self motivating to sit down every day and work at the assignments, read through the lectures and such. If you can't do that, you will have a harder time.

My fiancee tried it, starting at the same time I did. However, she was not as motivated as I am, so she found things more difficult and, eventually, dropped out.

It's all about motivation, in my opinion.

[HelloJenna]

It really is. My fiance has an online course in nursing and he is freaking out about it. xD He can't learn that way..
Me on the other hand, I am able to learn over the computer.
And I am really motivated, this is my life's dream.

Thanks for posting! 8D That is really helping me feel even better about
my choice.

[SlowDaddie]

There are some good things and some bad things about the Art Institute.

Good Things:
-No portfolio required to admissions.
Anyone can get it, just as long as they finish all the paper work. This is useful if you don't have any strong work to show just yet, but envision you will grow-into the artist you want to be through the duration of the school. This is a double-edge sword and has tremendous disadvantages as well.

- Great Facilities.
You pay a ton of money and the facilities show for it. The Art Institutes have professional level equipment that's available for anyone. You won't have much difficulty accessing a powerful PC, stocked with the most current, industry-level software. If you're doing it online... then you should invest in a powerful desktop, external hard drive a large monitor, and a cintique. But the added bonus of doing it online is that it saves you the time and money from moving, being reliant on the schools computers, and finding housing.

-Convienant Locations.
The Art Institute is set up like a franchise... like McDonalds. You can probably find one within driving distance to you, and won't have to look for on-campus housing.

The Bad Things:
-Not an accredited school
Your credits will not transfer to another school. Any degrees you earn at the Art Institute won't be recognized if you decide to transfer to a different school or enroll in an MFA program after finishing the BFA or AA degree. Any colleges/universities or other places that hire art faculty don't consider Art Institute degrees to be real degrees. This is the single biggest problem with AI. It's not even a real school. When you finish, you don't technically get a real degree, you just get a piece of paper with your name on it. AI doesn't tell you they aren't accredited, so it's very shady of them to lure you to their school, make you pay tons of money, and jip you in the end. I don't think you can even get Federal loans for it anymore, because the government doesn't recognize it anymore as an actual school.

-Cost.
The Art Institute boasts one the highest tuition costs out of any other art school. You'll be paying Ivy-League levels of educational costs.

-Faculty
Not exactly has the best reputation, the faculty at the Art Institutes have high turn-over rate, part-time hours, very few benefits, and therefor attracts those who are not at a premium standard. It attracts those who perhaps are really good, but only doing it temporarily and for the pay-check. It's hit-or-miss when it comes to the quality of the teachers. You'll have one brilliant teacher, compounded by dozens of no-talent hacks.

-Time Wasting courses
Be prepared to take a lot of classes that aren't specific to your artistic development. These "filler" classes will eat up time and inflate your tuition costs.

-Bad reputation
Part of the dark-side of accepting any and all students is the type of student who gets drawn into the Art Institute in the first place. The type who couldn't get into any other school. The level of quality for the average AI student is not up to industry standard. There are always a few stand-outs who are clearly above the norm, but they're an exception. Most AI grads won't find employment, because the school doesn't stress the quality of student work hard enough, and the student isn't exposed to the reality of the competition. The school only wants the student's money, so flunking students out, or putting too much pressure that causes them to drop out, is rarely done at the Art Institute. That's part of the "bad reputation" problem.


Overall:
The Art Institute is a blantant rip-off. Don't even consider it as a "last resort." I would recommend trying out the free resources that are already avaiable and see how motivated you are to actually do them. The movies I've download from the Concept Art store are already TREMENDOUSLY more helpful than most of the schooling I recieved at AI, and they're only a couple bucks! Going to school has it's advantages over learning art solo. You'll get a sense of motivation, focus, and direction, and you'll be lead by industry professionals who will guide you on your artistic journey. So if you can, I would definately recommend going to school... I'm thinking of going back to school myself... but there are far better, and much less expensive alternatives than the Art Institutes.

Good luck.

[MartinV]

Originally Posted by HelloJenna

xDD

Well, I'm pretty set on it from what I can tell. Out of the other choices I had, this one seemed like the better one..
I was just wondering if others thought it was a good college also.

The lady I talked to said like 96% or something of there graduates all
work in there career.

Thanks for the response. 8D

In my personal experience with the Art Institutes, take what the admissions representatives have to say with a grain of salt. They are like cheap car salesmen, they will say anything to hook you. If I recall correctly, they count things like working at starbucks as "working" in a career after graduation. Talk to the students (not just the student representatives).

[hunchback]

i went to ai out in chicago. The people are nice and the facility is ok.

I saw the work that graduates where doing, I almost laughed. It was terrible.
The tuition cost is just a joke. I was looking at somewhere in the region of 95,000 for 4 years.

That was my experience.

[HelloJenna]

@Martin: OMG I Know! D:<
One thing I liked about CCS is that they encouraged you to find the best place..
and at AI, I asked some questions and got reassured that they are one of the best schools. xDD

@slow: xD Thank you so much for posting. Seems like you had a pretty
bad time. Dx Which makes me think I should search a bit more for the school
of my choice. And if I can find a less expensive school... oh, that'd be nice. D:

Do you have any other schools you know of that has a Game art and design program that's online? DX

I really would love to do it online, since I wouldn't have to move.. the other school close enough is in Detroit.. and that is an hour and a half drive. D:

@hunchback: DX That doesn't sound to appealing to me. haha.
Thanks for posting your experience. 8D

[whatshisface]

I wasn't gonna say anything but....If your only an hour and a half drive away from CCS in detroit you really don't have an excuse. You'll waste that much time every day just messing around on your computer. And if your really as motivated as you say you are, then you'll be able to power through that inconvenience

-you don't have to be part of a "game art" major to work on games. From what I understand, CCS has entertainment focused classes, combine that with an illustration major that will teach you fundamental skills and a killer industrial design department and your on your way.

also, in response to slowdaddie's post, I would say its not such a good thing AI lets anyone in, at another school (ccs, ccad, or wherever) you'll be surrounded by motivated students and a faculty that will put pressure on you will only cause you to get better. I don't care how good of a self starter you are, you can't replicate that environment online.

furthermore, if you don't think your at the level to be accepted to one of the other art schools, then its time to step back and examine your situation, I know it may seem imperative to quickly get into a school and start improving right NOW, but you really would do yourself a world of good to take a couple years and attend your local community college, get some GE's out of the way, but mostly take art classes and get yourself up to that top level, you'll create more time for studio classes when you finally get out, AND you'll have a shot at some scholarship money AND the better you are when you get in the more you'll get out of the school-EVEN if you still end up going to AI.


storyboard dave doesn't lie, track down some grads of the online program and ask them about their experience. look at their work, and ask yourself if you can do better-of course you can(this is always the correct answer)

good luck

[HelloJenna]

About the half an hour away situation... It has nothing to do with motivation with me, it's more of a I can't afford driving back and forth everyday.

But, the other night, I did decide that I am just going to go to UT, and do some of the art classes their.
Thanks for the post!

[Elwell]

Originally Posted by HelloJenna

The lady I talked to said like 96% or something of there graduates all
work in there career.

Oh please. That's a ridiculous figure for any school. I doubt 96% of the people who get an MD from Harvard work in medicine.

[HelloJenna]

Originally Posted by Elwell

Oh please. That's a ridiculous figure for any school. I doubt 96% of the people who get an MD from Harvard work in medicine.

rofl. xDD

Yeah, just trying to hook me to the school.

[SlowDaddie]

Originally Posted by whatshisface

in response to slowdaddie's post, I would say its not such a good thing AI lets anyone in, at another school (ccs, ccad, or wherever) you'll be surrounded by motivated students and a faculty that will put pressure on you will only cause you to get better. I don't care how good of a self starter you are, you can't replicate that environment online.

No I agree with you. That's part of the reason why AI has such a bad name. However, depending on the type of student, requiring zero portfolio is a "good" thing if the student has absolutely nothing to show. So overall it's bad for the integrity of the school, but it's "good" for the type of student who just wants to get in right away even if they're woefully unprepared.

[darkwolf29a]

SlowDaddie...

Where did you get all that information on the accreditation, etc? I'd like to see it.

[silvestri99]

Jenna,
I went to the Art Institute of Seattle and for the most part I would not recommend it for anyone. I did graduate in 2001 and I know the program has changed some but in all the school did not push me to be better. Also by not having a portfolio I was able to get in but that meant that I was taking classes with someone who literally was drawing stick figures. The portfolio review got no decent companies interested and the school just wanted us to finish so they were not critical of our portfolios.

In fact, the Art institute was looking to decrease the amount of quarters it took to graduate so that they could boast a higher % of grads out of the program (Computer Animation arts and Design).

Also they boast a 96% placement rate because they consider any job even remotely related to your field as placement. They were trying to get me jobs at Kinkos and Costco because those companies use computers and it fir their placement criteria.

I will say this in their defense though, there are a lot of good instructors there that have a lot to offer. If you seek them out and motivate yourself to learn then you can get a lot from the place. I also made connections and friends that I still have. In fact I think I've learned more from them after school than I did from some of the teachers.

In the end no matter what school you choose your dedication, desire to learn and need to get better will drive you to be a good artist. Teachers are only one type of reference that you can get that knowledge from and even then you have to seek those out that really want to share it with you.

Lastly, I really don't know how online schools work and I'm skeptical of them. Maybe if you had a good art foundation and the basics down then you get more out of the online thing. I would even say that you should find some good local community college classes or private lessons whereyou can cut your teeth and figure out what you want to do.

Good Luck!

[SlowDaddie]

Originally Posted by darkwolf29a

SlowDaddie...

Where did you get all that information on the accreditation, etc? I'd like to see it.

The Art Institute may claim to be accredited, but their accreditation fluxtuates year-to-year, and it varies on which organizations consider it to be a "credited" school. Some schools can be recognized only at the state-level, not the national level. The one you want to know about is if it's accredited by the U.S. Department of Education. If some AI recruiter tells you they're accredited by... some vague organization or some "higher learning college association" or whatever... then take it with a grain of salt and consider it only temporary at best. Infact, don't even ask an AI recruiter because chances are they will lie their pants off.

Accreditation or not... the Art Institute is not a smart option to choose, given the numerous alternatives with better standards and lower prices. You could also try to enrol in a BFA program at your local university or state college, as many BFA programs now include some form of digital media / design emphasis. Personally, if I got to do it all over again, I would have just enrolled in a BFA program at a University, learn what I can, get the degree, then enroll in a Art-centric art school for an MFA (Savannah, AAU, etc...).

[Shinji2821]

Ahh the Art Institutes, I know two people who attend them and say nothing good about them. for pretty much the same reasons stated above. If someone is looking to get a BFA MFA etc. here is a list of pretty much all the art Colleges or colleges with a strong art program. (in the US)

http://www.portfolioday.net/content/view/23/37/

I personally attend Milwaukee Institute of art and designed, a credited private art college, and am beyond happy with it.

btw. Ringling is pretty much the Harvard of game art and animation

[darkwolf29a]

Ok, so I guess I don't know which accrediations are the important ones. I thought I found THE one, but...I was mistaken. So far, in my searches on http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.aspx I have yet to find THE important accreditation.

I'll grant that AIP has changed one accreditation, but I'm still searching for the one accreditation that every university has to have...I'm not finding it at all.

So, if anyone's got any ideas...let me know. But, so far, I'm seeing lots of Art schools, with all manner of different accredititions.

[charlied]

Hello, I was just browsing the forums and thought I'd chime in. From my experience and the experience of friends who goto different art institutes, the quality of the school depends solely on the program you're taking and the location. I'm currently attending the Art Institute of San Diego for Video Game Art/Design and I have nothing but good things to say about it. We have good teachers from major studios who range from experienced artists to project leaders. Our school also has a mentorship program with Sony, which is nice for great learning experiences and possible internships/jobs. I must say we've gotten lucky though here in San Diego. I have a few friends at other AI's who aren't getting the same quality of education. I have one friend in particular who started out here in San Diego(and loved it) and had to move to the San Jose AI due to personal reasons. He's saying the game art/design program over there is a year behind, and he has to wait for everyone to catch up to him again before he's able to take the 3d programs he needs. On top of this, some of the game art/design teachers at that location aren't actually people from the game industry, but people from the animation industry(which is a pretty big difference). I'd say look at the quality of work seniors are putting out and ask about the teacher's experience, because the educational value seems to greatly vary from each location.