AIE News
3D Animation
AIE Students Win Best Animated Short Film at Seattle Film Festival
A team of students from the Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE) has taken home the prestigious Best Animated Short Film award at the Seattle Film Festival for their film, Spare Parts. The team, known collectively as Bonque Studios, was comprised of students from the animation and visual effects for film class of 2023. Spare Parts…
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AIE Secures $750k for Virtual Production Filmmaking from Louisiana’s Entertainment Development Fund
AIE Lafayette, a non-profit specialist educator for film, games and visual effects, with support from the Louisiana Entertainment Development Fund, will develop a filmmaking program which incorporates the latest in virtual production technology and create a virtual production studio for use by students and industry. The Louisiana Entertainment Development Fund has awarded AIE Lafayette $750,000…
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Accelerate your career in Game Art with our Spring Intake!
Want to fast-track your career in Game Art and Animation? The Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE) is thrilled to announce a new Spring 2024 intake for its highly acclaimed Game Art and Animation program. What sets this intake apart? It’s online, it’s accelerated, and it’s designed for passionate individuals ready to learn the practical skills…
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AIE Alumni Industry Insight: Tina Tsou
After being a graphic designer for several years, Tina Tsou had a change of heart and decided that she really wanted to work in the film industry. To shift her path into animation from graphic design, she attended the Academy of Interactive Entertainment to achieve her industry dreams, and graduated from the 3D Animation &…
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AIE Alumni Spotlight: Andy Burt
Andy Burt was honored as a Valedictorian for the graduating 3D Animation & VFX for Film class of 2019. Valedictorians are recognized for their dedication to one’s study, and you can always count on their eagerness to exceed the status quo. They lead by example, and as a result, they prove themselves to be exemplary…
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What Are the Most Sought-After Skills in the VFX Industry
The VFX (visual effects) industry looks for more than an animation education and a decent portfolio. Technical skills learned at school must be added to softer, business-world skills and then combined into a stellar application, portfolio and that showcases individual creativity. We’re going to look at what some of those technical skills are, but before…
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A Tour Inside Valve Headquarters
Our students had the opportunity to get an inside look at the legendary Valve Corp Headquarters, the studio that has brought us the Half-Life series, and the distribution platform, Steam. Kelly Cline and Mike Belzer, who were our guides for our group throughout the tour, showed Valve’s state of the art motion-capture room, sound design…
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Artcade Shows How to Really Have Fun During a Storm
The Academy of Interactive Entertainment in Lafayette once again hosted Artcade! The fifth annual Artcade event took place on May 11th with a wide array of local game developers, artists, and film exhibitors. However, this year the event location was not at the Lafayette Science Museum where it’s been previously held. This year, Artcade was…
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AIE Behind the Scenes: VFX Film Shoot
Film day for the VFX crew was set at the Book-It Repertory Theatre. From 7am to 5pm, the 3D Animation & VFX for Film crew was busy on set! Lighting equipment, dolly and camera equipment was provided by David Burns, a Seattle director of photography and long-time co-worker of Vic Bonilla, 3D Animation & VFX…
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VFX Alumni Animates Mobile Augmented Reality Game
AIE USA is excited to announce that AIE Lafayette alumni Kristina Zavala (3D Animation & VFX for Film 2018 graduate) and Dana Nicholle (3D Animation & VFX for Film 2018 graduate) have joined the team at Blipd, an iOS developer in Sterling, Virginia. Kristine Zavala 2018 Alumna Dana Nicholle 2018 Alumna Both Kristina and Dana graduated…
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Jobs for Creative Introverts
A lot of people consider jobs for introverts to be ironic, but it’s more of a stigma than most people realize. At the Academy of Interactive Entertainment, an overwhelming majority of our students and those interested in studying on our campus, consider themselves to be introverts. Our staff and instructors understand and recognize that both…
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Game Art & Animation 1st Year Assessment: Character Pipeline
Erika Amos (Game Art & Animation) Kylie Walker (Game Art & Animation) The Game Art & Animation students are now is their team assessment, which features a Good vs Evil Character Pipeline. In this creative battle, students are split into team formation to produce a group of models that are ready for production, complete with…
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Cacophony and Ink: VFX Final Film Score Arrangement
“There’s a witch that has this magical ink. She brings things to life out of the canvas, then she leaves, then the apprentice comes out. He tries to do it himself, but it’s just cacophony and ink.” – Alyssa Sperling (2nd Year VFX) Video game and film composer, Douglas Yassen (Iron Heart Music Studios) visited…
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VFX Alumna Recruited by The Love Foundation
3D Animation & VFX for Film alumna Tyler “Dione” Arnold was recently recruited by The Love Foundation, a philanthropic arm of the nation of Belize’s privately-owned multimedia company. The Love Foundation also advises and administrates donor and charitable funds. They have successfully donated over $2 million in promotions to non-governmental organizations, helping them achieve their…
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Big Fish Games at AIE
The art team at prestigious mobile studio, Big Fish Games, visited our Seattle campus today. The veteran artists reviewed portfolios of our students specializing in several forms of art and animation. “You all are doing a 2-year program? That’s awesome – I did exactly that too, years ago.” – John Nangle (3D Modeling, Unity, Game…
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5 Things Every Game Developer Needs to Know
Turning something that was once just your hobby into your day-to-day job no longer allows that thing to be your hobby. My advice? Get away from the screen and go outside! We’re lucky to live in a place like Seattle where there are tons of parks nearby. As a daily ritual, we all take a…
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AIE Alumni Launches Collidalot on Nintendo Switch
From college project, to launching on Nintendo Switch. We are immensely proud of our AIE Alumni Andrew Ward (Game Programming), Connor Adam (Game Programming), Matthew VanCompernolle (Game Programming) and Tim Tsai (Game Art & Animation) for launching their debut game on Nintendo Switch! All second-year students from all programs form into groups to create their major…
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Tips from Our Alumni
If you plan on starting your educational journey at AIE in 2019/2020, here are some awesome tips from our alumni. Leadership and being a team player are not mutually exclusive “What I have discovered that gives you an edge in this industry, is learning the pipeline and how your role affects other team members. If…
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Mentorship at AIE
“The mentorship at AIE was enlightening. I got to see what the second years were working on and understand how they problem solved the very things I struggled with. I learned the importance of community, and being able to share your discoveries and grow as a team. It’s something I’ve taken with me into the…
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Cat Jeong Accepted in December RAW Showcase – Dec 20th 2018
We are super proud of Cat Jeong (3D Animation & VFX for Film) showcasing her work in this year’s Holiday RAWk, presented by RAW Seattle! The event will be held on December 20th, and you can buy tickets $22 in advance, and $30 at the door. Space is very limited and you can find out…
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How to Succeed in 3D Animation and VFX for Film
If you’ve been wondering on how to succeed in 3D Animation & VFX for Film, this is your chance to discover if you have those traits often found in the VFX artists who help create award-winning films and are employed by the industry’s top studios. Grit For some people, passion is like an unquenchable thirst.…
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3 Unconventional Tricks for Storyboard Artists
We are immensely thankful to have expert storyboard artist, Victor Fuste, share with us what his top 3 Unconventional Tricks for Storyboard Artists are. Victor has taught as an Artistic Development Trainer for DreamWorks Animation for several years, and a plethora of creative studios in the animation industry. If your dream is become a storyboard…
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3 Reasons Why You Should Cross-Train
Cross-training in game development is not only more respected than you may think, but it is expected among an array of concentrations. While specializing in a certain software or mastering a technique or aspect of your expertise is what you should strive for, there are 3 great reasons why you should cross-train to solidify your…
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Intro Courses in Game Development and Film
Are the Intro Courses right for me? Intro Courses are a great way for anyone who may be interested in getting their feet wet in a certain program in a small classroom setting, or if someone is particularly interested in what a career in video games or film might be like. Whether you are in…
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