Academy of Digital Animation Feedback

#1 My first thought is that if you're interested in getting into games, there are many ways that are better than this.

For starters, there is no talk of what the course ACTUALLY teaches. The only thing that even hints at that information is the "free sample course", but clicking on that link takes you to a page that says the free sample is going to be held May 7th. All in all, it sounds like this is something that may have a little bit of information, but mostly is just trying to cash in on the fact that the games industry is a hot dream job.

They make mention that they use Maya and XSI, so Im going to assume you are interested in art. All in all, if you're looking to spend money on education, I'd look at art classes - particularly drawing classes- at a local college over an online course. Drawing classes are incredibly helpful if you are looking to get into the industry as an artist. Generally, two semesters of drawing classes will get you at least a basic (but very solid) understanding of light and shadow and how light moves across a form, human form and anatomy, and perspective and all that good stuff. Besides that, though, you'll learn how to take your time and analyze what you are looking at. This is EXCEPTIONALLY useful for an artist in any field.

Don't choose to go to school if the write up says anything like "In this program, you will learn such and such modeling application to create artwork which you will then place in your own game". You can get a solid working knowledge of a program with 6 months of steady use. Besides that, there are TONS of really good tutorials online which are entirely free. Im self taught in that area, so I know it's possible.

Bottom line: if you are serious about being an artist, go to a school that will teach you how to be an artist, not a program jockey. I know a lot of people think they "can't draw". Few know that drawing is a skill that can be learned. It's like anything else, the output is directly related to the input. If you're serious about it the end result (like getting a job and x or y industry), be serious about it getting there (like spending your nights drawing or doing tutorials instead of playing WOW for 4 hours).

Here are some of the tutorials I used when I was learning.

Proclones Low Poly Tutorials - These tutorials show you how to make a model in Gmax. These tutorials use an add on that's required to export models for C&C Generals, but more than anything, the addon is nothing but an exporter and a skin change for the program. If you download standard Gmax, you can go through these. Seeing as how they are written out, you can go through them at your own pace. Great for learning basic 3ds Max.

Ben Mathis' Tutorials - Ben Mathis is an artist at NeverSoft. He did an AWESOME set of video tutorials which cover creating a character from scratch and running it through the whole nine. Modeling, unwrapping, and texturing are all covered, with ever second of the process documented. Besides that, he has some other quick ones up, like how to paint hair as well as a good work flow for doing normal maps. He uses 3ds Max, so it has a lot of specific 3ds max knowledge. That said, though, you should check these out anyway because most of the stuff covered is general theory and technique that is easily transferred to other programs.

Learning Maya -Learning Maya is an extensive database of maya tutorials. Everything from modeling, to unwrapping, to rigging, to rendering, to animating is covered. Besides that, the maya tutorials that come with the program are quite well done and gave me a working knowledge of the program in the 2 weeks it took to get through all the basic ones. I'm not entirely sure, but I want to say those tutorials are available with the Maya Personal Learning Edition.

Anyway, that's that. Hope this was helpful. :)

#2 Thanks, actually yeah your post was helpful. I decided to not do the online classes. I think I am going to spend the money on some content packs and a copy of SoftimageXSI instead and just cram down and put alot of time into getting familiar with the software.

For the total price of the program, thinking about it, the money would be better spent on products and materials to help me learn the material better.

Actually, I am not looking to be just an artist, I already program but I wanted to increase my skills in the 3D and animation area. Thanks for your help.