The School of Visual Arts

Date: Nov 28 2012
Major: Design Arts - Industrial Design/Graphic Design/etc (This Major's Salary over time)
If you want to work in the 3d/vfx industry save yourself a couple of thousand dollars (over 100,000 dollars to be exact) and go to a public university to learn computer science or something computer related and on the side supplement yourselves with Gnomon or digital tutors. SVA is a joke. I talked with alumni from 2012 and 2006 and they both agreed that you can teach yourself everything but that at sva you learn aesthetics and you get pushed by others. Lets be honest you can learn aesthetics from a county college art class or by sharing online. And if you aren't self motivated and need others to push you then dont bother trying to be an artist. Compare your work with others online at CG society or AREA. And if you want to last in the industry just knowing how to use software, which is what the sva curriculum is based on you wont survive when the industry suddenly changes direction software wise. example Photoshop has been the go to tool for texturing, lets say someone went to SVA and took Photoshop classes for four years they graduate and then Mari comes out… Why did i say learn computer science? well 1. check the job postings at dreamworks, pixar, imageworks, see any animator, modeling, texturing, etc positions open? No the jobs that they are hiring for are TDs and software engineers. I guess ads from art institutes and similar quick career schools gave the regular Joe hopes of being in the industry. now the industry is flooded with people from art schools. also the programs are heavy on coding and if you know how to code and you keep being artistic on the side you'll def stand out. Im transferring out of SVA this spring. I mean if you have the money go to sva but get ready to compete with hundreds of working artist. I'll be learning computer science and I'll be learning 3d/vfx online. and if it doesn't work out in the 3d/vfx industry I'll have a degree that's worth something. Be smart read up on the industry you want to work in and dont let the flashy senior demo reels fool you, because the Alumni themselves have told that they've had to learn a lot on their own. and SVA IS FOR PROFIT, they are stingy with financial aid. I think they let in some bad artist this year so they can meet their debts. Cant emphasize enough, there are some bad artist here wasting their money.