Developing a VFX + Animation Degree Program in New Zealand
2018: We spent a month in Los Angeles connecting with some of the most renowned studios in the film and games industry for Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology’s new CGI Bachelors program, developed by Gabriel Teo.
LINKS TO NMIT’S BCGI PROGRAM:
During our time in LA, we visited Gnomon School of Visual Effects, Naughty Dog, Allegorithmic (Substance), and Riot Games.
Gnomon hosted an incredible workshop which we were elated to attend, featuring live animal drawing and sculpting, taxidermy anatomy studies, and a Zbrush 3D creature design demo. We attended this event with some of our industry colleagues who work at MPC and The Mill.
All above photos from our tour and the event at Gnomon Workshop.
At Naughty Dog, Gabriel’s long-time colleague and friend Christophe Desse (Lead Technical Artist) showed us the behind-the-scenes of some of their most notable projects.
We learned more about the latest methods for top-of-the-line game development and design and had a fantastic brainstorming session with some Naughty Dog artists about how to integrate these tools and techniques into a classroom environment.
We met with Alexis Khouri, the Executive VP at Allegorithmic, which developed the groundbreaking 3D texturing software Substance Painter. This meetup was so exciting for us as Substance is rapidly growing worldwide and is being used by many of the top studios globally.
We spoke with Alexis about the use of Substance in the classroom and how we can partner with each other to give students the best atmosphere for preparing for their future careers in film and game production.
After our time in LA, Gabriel met up with his former colleagues and students at the Savannah College of Art and Design’s Atlanta campus. Their facilities were impeccable and we learned how they integrated their classrooms with the latest tools and software to facilitate learning television, 3D, and film production.
Back in New Zealand, Gabriel met up with his former colleagues at Weta Digital to discuss developing VFX programs with the latest pipelines and technology used by industry heavyweights. We also talked about supporting students by having industry production artists co-develop and lead classes.
