Let me preface this review by pointing out I graduated from BCIT’s digital animation program in October of 2006. The program has changed substantially since I was there.
The following program head that came in (as I graduated) created what some might consider artificial boundaries between classes.
The Program
Due to a perceived lack of coordination between instructors by the students, including me, the following program head that came in (as I graduated) created what some might consider artificial boundaries between classes. Meaning, a class called Production that nobody understands the purpose of. Or Project Portfolio that has a dearth of content. I personally prefer a linear approach to 3D: you get reference material, you model, you texture, you light/rig/animate/etc and then render. I don’t agree with the ‘on Mondays you render, on Tuesdays you texture’ approach that came in after I graduated. It seems, well, forced and awkward. Anyone who works in 3D will tell you that “modeling” is in fact 95% texturing. The skills (model/texture/light/render) blend together and lean on each other. That former head of the program is now gone, and I don’t know who, if anyone, has replaced him.
I went there before all this shuffling, reordering and such. Back then, you had 4 main instructors (2 Maya, 2 Softimage) as well as a supporting cast of instructors for Photoshop, Combustion, Career Prep, 2D, etc.
I chose the BCIT program because I was mulling the VFS programs. Even back then, they were obscenely expensive, but I was prepared to pay the price. Then I talked to an acquaintance who works at EA in Burnaby, who as it turns out, went to both VFS and BCIT, in that order. Jesus. He must have deep pockets. He told me, straight up, skip VFS and take the BCIT program. Right from day 1, he said, BCIT’s program was all about the all-important demo reel that will get you the job. Also, it turns out, it cost less than half what VFS was charging. He was hired by Radical Entertainment before finishing the 1 year program (before later switching to EA). I was sold.
I went in to the 3D Animation program at BCIT with 20+ years of drawing experience (3D is basically drawing something from many sides). Drawing had always been a strength of mine, right up until half-way through a BFA program at a well known Canadian art school. It was there I stopped drawing entirely, nearly failed out, and got into computers… big time.
So make no mistake, I walked in with a huge advantage; being able to visualize is key in a visual industry. I also knew the basics of Photoshop, having used it for about 8 years prior. That said, I knew almost nothing at all about 3D. So little, in fact, that I figured I would learn how to model and maybe texture a bit and that’s about it. I heard 3D was hard, overwhelming and very time consuming and tedious. I was wrong.
I lucked out. With the exception of one instructor (who was fired by BCIT and replaced late in the year), my instructors were awesome.
Bob McAfee, who now teaches at Emily Carr, taught me 80% of what I knew when I graduated. The guy was a super-keen whiz. Countless invaluable tips and tricks that speed up modeling, texturing, etc. He had us modeling, rigging, and animating ourselves, doing walk cycles, picking things up, and lip synching… in the first freaking semester! He had invaluable tutorials for modeling and rigging and laying out UVs (texture coordinates). He was the best instructor I had. Always learning new stuff, always teaching the best new ideas to us. When he left, BCIT lost. HUGE.
Colin Penty is currently a Lead CG Supervisor at EA. A young industry whiz-kid, who would roll up to class in his silver Mercedes convertible sportscar. Colin taught us a lot of the more technical aspects of Maya, including particles, expressions, mel scripting. But the best thing about Colin is every one of his assignments was super FUN. Space Ship. Ruined Church. Sports Car. Exploding planet. This made it a lot easier to give 110% to the assignments, as they were all such a blast to work on. Colin no longer teaches. I know his workload at EA is crazy. When I worked on Skate with him he was leaving at like 11PM at night and there at 9 the next morning. How he found the time to teach is something I will never understand.
Adam Garland was supposed to teach us SoftImage, but my class took so strongly to Maya he ‘gave in’ and, thankfully, taught us Maya as well! This contributed to the strength of our classes demo reels. He taught us all sorts of little tricks and tips, digital matte painting, ambient occlusion and other rendering techniques, and was our best bet as far as troubleshooting and honest critique of our work. He would speed-model an Octopus in about ten minutes which left us with our jaws dropped.
Our other SoftImage instructor, who will go unnamed, was fired or ‘let go’ due to unprofessionalism. He was basically there for the paycheque. He won’t be missed.
One other instructor of note, and not actually an instructor of mine, was Adam Sale. I was frequently in the BCIT labs all night, and there for his morning classes, quite by accident. He knew his stuff, was an excellent instructor, and wish that he had taught me as well. The classes of his I inadvertently attended were great.
I recommend working in retail for 5 years so you can appreciate failure first, so that success means something to you.
The Verdict
Would I recommend BCIT’s animation program to you? No. I don’t know you. Are you straight out of high school? Skip it. Are you a half-wit meatball whose parents are footing the bill? Skip it. I recommend working in retail for 5 years so you can appreciate failure first, so that success means something to you. Honestly. I say that as someone who went to a well-known “Big Four” Canadian art college straight out of high school, many years ago.
But if you are in your mid-twenties or older, are tired of your current career, have strong artistic sensibilities, can draw, and are willing to have no social life for a year, are prepared to stay all night to have the best, most awesome work in the morning, then yes, I would recommend the program. At least the program I attended, which technically no longer exists.
I gave it my all. I worked my ass off. I gave credit to Caffeine in my demo reel credits. When I didn’t ‘get’ something, I did it again and again until I KNEW it. I helped my classmates. The stronger students and I shared books, tutorials. We stayed all night to render our reels in the empty lab and hit Denny’s together at 4am.
The people who stayed all night, the people who worked their asses off, we ALL got jobs. Coincidentally, of everyone else, no one got jobs in 3D.
My first job was at EA, working on a AAA game title. Now, I’m teaching 3D in India, where I met my amazing, beautiful wife. She was a student of mine. We’ll be back in Vancouver in a few years, when the economy recovers.
For me, BCIT was the best $14k I ever spent, and I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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Vancouverguy
Hi guys, im debating if i should go BCIT for digital animation or VFS. since VFS is more expensive, i dont know if there is something that VFS has and BCIT doesnt? does anyone have any idea which one is better and why??