PlaneShift
Fan Area => The Hydlaa Plaza => Topic started by: Valfaran on March 09, 2003, 01:02:02 am
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I\'m in the 8th grade, and looking forward to high school next year. People are starting to ask the age-old question, \"What do you want to be when you grow up?\" Well, for a while, I\'ve been completely stumped. Then, I started to think about the things I enjoy doing. As is easily assumed, I am fascinated with(*cough*addicted to*cough*) computers. As of now, I am looking at a career track that involves computer graphics and design, and possibly game design. I am quite intrigued by 3D modeling, as well.
Thus comes the question, \"Which school?\" If anyone could offer some suggestions as to colleges and/or universities that have good reputations for the above-mentioned fields, I would be extremely grateful. Knowing which schools are possibilities will help me in choosing my classes in high school, as I am in band and want to take a foreign language (which therefore eats up my electives, so I can\'t take the programming class I want). Once I turn 16, I can enroll in summer courses at the local junior college (but that\'s if I don\'t have to take social studies in the summer). Wow...my head hurts just typing it all.
Any help would be appreciated.
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Fullsail is good, offers degrees in Computer Science etc. Uses Maya and Photoshop mainly, but I think they offer 3dsmax. http://www.fullsail.com
To graduate from highschool you must fullfil the required courses that they want, and I think for most schools 1-2 credits of technology are needed. With the extra credits you should stick them into computer courses on graphics design and/or web design. My guess is tech schools like that, or any art type program.
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I should have thought about that when I started Highschool, im in the 10th grade, and dont know where I am going in life, I am taking advanced classes i.e. Chemistry, Trig, etc.
I woulda loved to have been into computers when i started highschool!
Good luck Val.
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Volden, I hope you don\'t think 10th grade is too late! lol. I didn\'t know I wanted to be a programmer at all until I got into college. I got my BA last year and I\'ve just recently decided to give gaming a shot, more as an on the side hobby for now, just to see if it goes somewhere. Anyway, the point is, it doesn\'t matter where you are. You always have time to make a course correction.
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I droped chemistry and algebra 2
to take bussiness calc and computer gfx.
now i\'m feeling kinda scared cause i\'m getting ready to take my S.A.T.\'s. My gpa\'s low cause i failed all last years class\'s (dont ask how). but I figure if I do good at this test I can makeup for my gpa. man I\'m a screw up. I got nearly straight A\'s my freshman year now i\'m in the crapper
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mmm Chemistry is evil, I was going to take it next year, but I dropped biology so I can\'t anymore. But I have trig soon :| and then pre calc and calc, fun shit huh
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If you want to do 3d graphics, learn to love math now.
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why?
In my gfx class we barely use any complex math at all.
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What is meant by \"complex\"? A good knowledge of linear algebra, trig and geometry is a must. But it really isn\'t complex. The trig is a bit tricky for me at times. Lots of theorms to memorize... but nothing too complex.
And for the love of all that is good, don\'t divide by zero.
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why do you need theorems and what not?
I am in 3d modeling in high school and we use next to no math.
by complex math i meant like calculate the angle of x type stuff, (and even that gets easy when you get used to it).
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Originally posted by Valfaran
Thus comes the question, \"Which school?\" If anyone could offer some suggestions as to colleges and/or universities that have good reputations for the above-mentioned fields, I would be extremely grateful. Knowing which schools are possibilities will help me in choosing my classes in high school, as I am in band and want to take a foreign language (which therefore eats up my electives, so I can\'t take the programming class I want). Once I turn 16, I can enroll in summer courses at the local junior college (but that\'s if I don\'t have to take social studies in the summer). Wow...my head hurts just typing it all.
In highschool, I would concentrate on getting as much experience in anything \"computer oriented\" as possible. A good jump on math and physics classes would help too. When going onto the college side of things you have several options. If you want to be a serious 3D modeler/dev I would suggest a CompSci degree with some \"Environmental Design\" like minor (mostly 3D modeling in architecture). That would give you a good programming and \"art\" background. You should also plan on grad school if you want a nice salary. Texas A&M has a premier program called the \"Viz Lab\", where the students are hired up by Pixar, Dreamworks, Lucas Arts, EA, etc. I\'m sure there are quite a few other good ones (I think I heard UCLA\'s is good), but they are all fairly demanding (long days and nights).
If you want to get into the engine side of things, look into a CS degree you can target (is flexible in the course requirements) or a specialized degree like the \"Guild Hall (http://guildhall.smu.edu/) \" at SMU. Contributing to OSS projects (*cough* PS *cough*) helps to pad your resume.
Originally posted by cmhitman
why do you need theorems and what not?
I am in 3d modeling in high school and we use next to no math.
by complex math i meant like calculate the angle of x type stuff, (and even that gets easy when you get used to it).
That depends on what you are doing. If you are just pounding out models, then math is not dealt with on a regular basis. Most 3D programs now-a-days are so \"art\" oriented that you see no math. If you are more \"professional\" and deal with the engineering side too (manually making animations, coding shaders, do engine dev, etc.), then you MUST know your math. You can not do any serious 3D coding without a heavy background in trig and matrix math. More complex math is also used in many everyday situations. As an example, I am doing some GameCube demos for work and subsequently, I am flipping through some effects I could do. ATI has a nice example of realistic waves in grass built into a vertex shader. It is a combination of 4 sine waves with different frequencies and amplitudes. Of course, you write shaders in a short \"assembly\" like segments, so you can\'t just use the \"sin()\" function. Instead, you have to approximate it using a Taylor series. That is not something you are not going to casually know, nor is it something you would think of if you only take one calculus class.
Lastly, this is all graphics talk. If you are really interested in game dev, take a look at the other sides (AI, SW Engineering, sound, physics, etc.). Good programming goes a long way.
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Basically the sole purpose of high school is to get into a good college... Don\'t really focus on computer classes (unless you have a lot of free space) until college, you will have plenty of time there. Just pound down all the classes that you are required to freshman year of college, so you can test out and get to the fun stuff right away in college and maybe even graduate early.
And, by the way, there is a lot of math and science in technology. Math ranges from matricies to more complex vectors and things like that; however, it depends, if you use GUI apps for everything and do no engine work, then you may not need a lot of math.
Check out game programming as a career... It is one of the most admired in the computer industry. It incorporates everything: physics, art, math, science, architecture, social sciences, and a lot more. And it is ofcoarse a fun job ;) You have a lot of freedom, but you work under deadline pressure often. And, the field is very very competitive...
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Here\'s another question: I want to get started in 3D modeling, and I have never done it before. What are some (inexpensive :P) programs I can purchase to help me as a beginner?
(As I am relating the highlights of this to my mom, she simply rolls her eyes and says, \"Great. Just what you need. Another reason to sit glued to the computer all the time!\" What can I say? I\'m fascinated! :rolleyes: )
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Milkshape 3d, Wings 3d, Blender, Gmax, and Maya Personal Learning Edition are all excellent free programs. There are plenty more, I just can\'t think of them :) .
BTW, Milkshape 3d is free for 30 days, then you must register for like 25$ .
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Well I just got accepted to a college where I will be gearing my studies towards Game Design/Programming. This is what I did. I didn\'t start until Freshman year when I took a Pascal class at school. Pascal\'s a good language to start off on. I took two years of that and then took a C++ class Junior year. Also I went to the bookstore and bought books on different subjects. I have quite a lot of computer language books. They\'re expensive but if you are serious about going into they are worth the money. Also there are plenty of websites out that can help you get started. Fullsail is a good school from what I\'ve seen but only if your willing to pay over $30,000 to get a two year degree.
3D modelling I took up on my own. I downloaded a version of Blender, went through the tutorials and then just kinda played around with it.
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FYI, there was another thread a little while back about 3D Modelling programs (http://www.planeshift3d.com/forum/thread.php?threadid=2545&boardid=13&styleid=2) .
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I am in an intro to computer programming class. It\'s all C++. I had a homework assignment to make a text based rpg. I spent 40 hours one weekend (Friday included) working on it. I got 25/20 points on that homework assignment. Most people had tops 50 lines of code and mine numbered over 40,000. Hehehe. I was proud of it. It\'s not really that great though. I hate this keyboard. It\'s the kind that\'s split in the middle and slanted out. I keep looking down at the keys....
Hmmm....
I don\'t remember why I started typing this. Oh well.
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i\'m in the same situation (8th grade, ready to going to high school) except i dont\' know what i want to be, i\'ve tested into high school, and it\'s very computer oriented already. some classes you\'re going to want to hit are math, science, and compsci. also, for 3d imaging, you might want to check out gmax. anyway, i\'ll probably post a bit more later but i\'m too tired right now (and cranky, i had a really long post before all set up and everything but it was all wiped out somehow......damned preview button)
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http://www.digipen.edu/ is also a pretty good college that you might be interested in, its not quite as popular as Full Sail is though.
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i know a couple of computer/engineering oriented colleges are Caltech (which is REALLY hard to get into) and MIT. uhhhhh.....for 3d imaging, you will want to learn a bit of about adobe photoshop (any version, preferably 7) too. even though it\'s not exactly 3d (it\'s more of image creating/editing) it can make some pretty great effects and can do a LOT for 3d images too, as well as being able to make skins.
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If what your really interested in 3d design the school of Gnomon would be great for you.
check out http://www.gnomon3d.com, check out the school, thats the most serious of it all, it is pretty expensive though.
although its not a colledge you wont get better know how on 3d design anywhere else.
and high school computer classes arnt going to help you at all, and if for sure you want to do 3d work dont waste your time on c++ classes, and id learn maya, its the future
dont waste your time buying a 3d program to learn it, use the money to buy some tutorials or books, download maya off kazaa, it comes with some nice built in tutorials, ive nevetr tried to download 3dsmax but it should work.
math? you never use the type of math that you learn in high school in 3d programs, the 3d programs have their own language its a different kind of math, that you get better at judging over time, dont bother with math classes.
any1 can learn the program, you need the right kind of mind to do good artisticly in it.
have fun see u out there
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kinshadow sounds like he knows what hes talking about i believe him now
i dont know about creating my own shaders and other stuff he talks about
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Those schools teach you how to design the chips that go into the computers that designers use to make pretty pictures of those chips. They are NOT artistic and graphic design schools.
My advice is quit reading message boards and other kids\' advice about your schooling and ask your guidance counselor or (*gasp!*) parents.
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those are gonna be the kids that get real dead end jobs and wont realize it, if you want to learn somthing that will get you hired go to a gnomon class, i dont know about those colledges, i dont know how good their classes are so i wont judge them
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Venge, she already said her parents aren\'t really interested in helping out right now cuz they think she\'s too young and don\'t think she\'s serious. and i don\'t think most 8th graders HAVE guidance counselors at school (i don\'t at least). bbum, 3dsmax (which by the way is an EXCELLENT program for 3d modeling) can be dled off kazaa. my friend has done it.
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not too many parents know much about 3d modelling or schools for it, what about your parents venge?
just trying to make a point that a gaming community might know more about 3d modelling than parents do, unless of course your parents are in the business.
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I just started high school, and I know what I want to be, I think I will go into the division of mechanical engineering where you model machinery and test it on the computer before they make a real protoype. Or game making, I am good at ideas, and at code-monkey type jobs. I suck at graphics though, at least 2d, I can model in blender competently.