Game and Video Design School Programs

Game Art & Design Bachelor of Science Degree in Game Art & Design
The multi-billion dollar game design industry promises to continue thriving, and today's gamers expect more from their interactive fun than ever before. This fuels a growing demand for artists who specialize in game art and design.

Choose A Computer Game Design School Below

The Art Institute of Pittsburgh - Online Division

You'll learn how to:

The courses have been designed with extensive input from game-industry professionals and focus on the artistic side of games - not on computer programming.

You will concentrate on the specifics needed as a professional game artist:

With an average class size of 12 to 15 students, you won't get lost in the crowd. Courses at The The Art Institute of Pittsburgh - Online Division emphasize interaction with your facilitator and your classmates to build and online learning community that enhances your learning process.
It's time to get serious and start playing games for real!

Choose a Design School specializing in Design and animation and graphic design For Game Design Related Industries

te Degree in Digital Media Communications
This program explores everything from design sensibilities in the studio to new media projects on the computer. Learn 2- and 3-dimensional design fundamentals, computer graphics, Web design, programming and electronic commerce.

Fundamentals of Design
Drawing
Perspective
Introduction to Game Development
Life Drawing
Digital Image Manipulation
Scriptwriting for Games and Multimedia
Color Theory
Computer Literacy
Advanced Life Drawing/Gesture
Computer 3D Modeling and Animation I
Digital Ink and Paint
2D Animation
Illustration
Character and Object Animation
Digital Storytelling
Digital Image Manipulation II
Computer 3D Modeling/ Animation II
Digital Audio and Video
Advanced Illustration
Computer Modeling and Animation III
3D Character Animation
Storyboard Rendering for Animation
Advanced 2D Animation
Game Design and Game Play
Mapping for Digital Media
Project Management
Animation Layout and Scene Design
3D Camera and Lighting Techniques
Interface Design
Advanced Character Animation
Designing Interior Spaces and Worlds Elective
Level Design
Portfolio Preparation
Game Production Team
Professional Development
Interactive Game Prototyping

Game Developer Jobs

Programmer The whole world revolves around the programmer. The programmer is the one who takes the unrealistic expectations of everybody else and finds a way to make them work. If the producer wants to change the user interface at the last minute, it's the programmer who stays up all night making the change. If the artist can't figure out how SVGA palettes work, it's the programmer who writes a color-reducing and palette-matching utility. Without the programmer, there would be no computer games.

Artist Artists are very important too. In most current games, the artists play an even more critical role than the programmers. These days, many artists prefer to be called "animators".

Musician They create the music can make sound effects too.

Producer The producer oversees game development and makes sure all the elements of the development are in place. A producer may, for example, acquire resources for programmers and artists, may hand out money, and may give orders. Sometimes a programmer or an artist may play the role of producer, which often works well.

Designer Sometimes the producer is the designer, and sometimes the programmer is the designer. The artist is usually the designer, being that he has the creative talent.

If you are a programmer and you need design help, look to an experienced designer with a track record in the type of game you want to develop. There are people who actually excel at designing levels, puzzles, likeable characters and entertaining story lines. Tom Hall, formerly of id Software, comes to mind as a successful and well-loved game designer. Really good designers like Tom are rare.

Play Tester Play testers sometimes also act as beta testers. Technically speaking, the beta tester tests for bugs and the play tester tests for playability. But since most games are under-funded and behind schedule, both functions are generally ignored more often than they should be. If you want to break into game development, and you live in the Silicon Valley area, you may be able to get a job as a play tester.

Publisher This is the person behind the whole project, who takes the risk, and invests the money.  They get paid very well if everyone does their part well.