Chicago’s first digital media arts college introduces two-year immersive courses in 3D game development, visual effects and animation with SOFTIMAGE|XSI 3D software

Click here to read article on SoftImage.com. 

Montréal, Québec – October 15, 2007 –Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc., today announced that the new education institution, Flashpoint, The Academy of Media Arts and Sciences, is offering SOFTIMAGE®|XSI® training as part of its digital arts curriculum. Flashpoint Academy, the first digital arts college to open inside Chicago’s prestigious “Loop” in 40 years, provides a hands-on, collaborative approach for students embarking on a career in digital media arts, where 3D training is an essential course requirement for a large portion of the students. 

“Our primary objective at Flashpoint Academy is to train students to harness their artistic ability, and to learn to observe the world around them, in order to become better animators, visual effects artists and story tellers using 3D tools like SOFTIMAGE|XSI software,” said Perry Harovas, Chair, Visual Effects and Animation Department at Flashpoint Academy. “With the growing demand for skilled 3D artists—now is an excellent time for anyone to come to Flashpoint Academy and embark on a career they will love, and one that will challenge and reward them every day,” added Harovas.

Flashpoint Academy has over 100 students enrolled for its first term, nearly half of whom will receive training on SOFTIMAGE|XSI software. Students will be exposed to multiple disciplines of 3D—from modeling, rendering, character design and animation for the game industry—to visual effects, pre-visualization, and 3D lighting techniques for film students.

The college is additionally a BETA test site for Softimage, reviewing and testing new technology that Softimage constantly innovates. Flashpoint Academy hopes to provide a fresh talent pool of professionally trained animators, programmers and technical directors for film, visual effects, and game development companies such as EA Chicago, currently developing game titles using a SOFTIMAGE|XSI-based game development workflow.

SOFTIMAGE|XSI is professional 3D modeling, rendering and animation software used by 3D artists and technical directors working on cutting-edge games and films. XSI software was used in the making of games like Half Life 2, Fable 2, and Lost Planet, as well as films like the Academy Award-winning Happy Feet, Charlotte’s Web, and the highly stylized 300—a film adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 12:10 pm and is filed under Animation & Visual Effects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.