OT: Higher Education

[AgentZero]

So, rather belatedly, I've decided to head on back to college/university & give the whole higher learning thing another try. I'm interested in getting a degree of some kind in some sort of multimedia/graphic design course, something that focuses mainly on basically drawing pretty pictures & animations with the helpful assistance of a computer. Problem is, I don't actually know what any of those courses are called.
Is there anyone out there who knows what sort of thing I should be looking for, or if theres some sort of generic entry level courses you have to take first? And are those sorts of courses generally offered by 'normal' universities or does one have to look for a specialist school?

[geoschmo]

Graphic Arts maybe?

My community college offers a degree in web programming. It might be a little more on the programming side then you are looking for. It has classes in stuff like macromedia flash as well as java programming and database management.

Most community colleges and some universities these days are pretty flexible cause they are desperate to get you in the door. A lot of them will let you almost design you own degree if you don't see one that fits exactly what you are looking for. Basically you pick the classes that interest you and as long as you hit a few core classes and a minimum number of credit hours they will give you a diploma.

[Baron Munchausen]

Graphic Design is a pretty standard major these days. If you've already got a bachelor's degree, though, I'm not sure if it's offered at the graduate level. You probably have to do something very 'specialized' to do Graphic Design at the masters level. Getting another bachelor's probably doesn't hurt, though. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

You might be able to do this online without even having to move, or even drive to classes. 'Distance Learning' is booming, especially in computer-related fields. Many degrees can be obtained with minimal 'sitting in the classroom' now.

[AgentZero]

Baron Munchausen said:
Graphic Design is a pretty standard major these days. If you've already got a bachelor's degree, though, I'm not sure if it's offered at the graduate level. You probably have to do something very 'specialized' to do Graphic Design at the masters level. Getting another bachelor's probably doesn't hurt, though. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

You might be able to do this online without even having to move, or even drive to classes. 'Distance Learning' is booming, especially in computer-related fields. Many degrees can be obtained with minimal 'sitting in the classroom' now.



Erm... Yes... Truth of the matter is I never got around to that first bachelor's. My first forray into the world of higher education ended in spectacular failure due to a complete and utter lack of any motivation whatsoever. Now that I have motivation (an overpowering desire to never work with the general public again) I think I've got a pretty good chance of picking up my very first ever degree.

No matter, I'll keep slogging through glossy yet uninformative prospecti until I find something. Course, I only have a couple weeks to come up with something, but I'm not adverse to strolling back over to Canada or the U.S. to pick up a degree, so if anyone knows of a good program over there, don't hesitate to tell me.

[kerensky]

Hey sheck out this school here

http://www.fullsail.com/index.cfm/fa/degree.versions/dp_id/2/digital-arts-and-design

The school is located in florida, and is somewhat expensive, but is one of the best for this type of stuff.

[Cipher7071]

I don't a whole lot about the "arts" side of graphic arts, but having a B.S. in Computer Science, I can tell you that you are not looking for what I have. The closest we came to what you describe was line-drawing alorithms, ray-tracing, and lists of polygons.

So, you are definitely looking for something on the "arts" side.