M.F.A. in Game Art

Program Overview

M.F.A. in Game Art

Description

The M.F.A. in Game Art is designed for students who are passionate about art, drawing, illustration, and video games. This master's program provides students with the necessary knowledge and skills to become experts in the field of game art.

Career Opportunities

• Environment Modeler
• Character Animator
• 2D Content Designer
• Technical Artist
• Art Director
• Animator
• Concept Artist
• Graphic Design Generalist
• Texturing
• VFX Artist

Paths to Entry

• Students or university graduates, particularly in Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Visual Communication Design, and other programs related to the creation and design of graphic material.
• Professionals in the videogame sector who want a better understanding of graphic design and/or wish to take steps to secure an expert role in the industry.
• People with no professional experience in the video game sector, self-taught and self-made in regard to games creation.

Where Our Alumni Work

Our students are highly valued by the industry. We have a Professional Development Service that is responsible for facilitating student insertion into the various companies that contact us in search of highly specialized professionals. We have students working in companies like Reflections, Rockstar North, Ubisoft, Novorama, Mediatonic, Tequila, Ericsson, Genera Games, King, Mercury Steam, PlayGiga, Splash Damage, Purple Lamp Studios, Rebellion Developments, Elite 3D, Pendulo Studios, Gameloft, Saber Interactive, Smartick, Black Forest…

Partner Companies

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Study Plan

• Location: U-tad
• Hours: Monday – Thursday
• ECTS: October-October (1,000 hours)
• Language: Spanish
• Modality: In campus
• Center Attached to: Camilo José Cela University

Course 1

• ANIMATION
  • Animation
  • Rigging
• MODELING
  • Modeling in Maya
  • Character Modeling
  • Creating Environments
• FUNDAMENTALS
  • 2D Imaging
  • Concept Art
  • Art Direction
• SPECIALIZATION
  • Interfaces
  • VFX
  • Unreal Engine
• PROJECT
  • Master’s Thesis

Competencies

1. Creating high-end artwork across various media using state-of-the-art tools and a professional video game engine, like Unreal Engine.
2. Presenting a realistic project framework for a proper planning and execution.
3. Understanding and managing the narrative that makes a digital entertainment project possible.
4. Identifying and executing the graphical aspect of a corporation and visually implementing its intellectual properties.
5. Composing and ordering the different elements necessary for the production of the graphic material needed in a video game.
6. Manipulating processes and tools to adapt them to the artistic needs of the project.

Faculty

• Ramón Acedo
  • Director and teacher of the Master’s in Art and Visual Design for Videogames
  • Art Director at Tequila Works

Students' Projects and Awards

• Your Project: your best letter of recommendation
• Intruders Hide & Seek
• BlackStorm
• Disembodied
• Greyfall

Talent Awards

• U-tad is the Spanish educational center with the highest number of PlayStation Awards, with 15 in just seven years.
• The first to achieve this was Rolling BOB , which won the “Innovation Award”. It was the first U-tad game to be released on the PS4 Store. We are currently on our sixth.
• Other published games include Intruders: Hide & Seek (_also available on Steam), _Khara, Inglorious(originally called “Tribute of Rage” in its university days), Rascal Revolt and Windfolk , one of the stars of Sony’s Gamescamp 2020. All of these can be downloaded from the online PS Store (Rolling BOB and also have physical copies available at stores).
• There is no other Spanish university center capable of producing such high-quality projects.

Students' Feedback

• My time at U-tad provided me a fantastic base knowledge fundamental to choosing the role I wanted to play in the video game industry. The courses cover all the existing disciplines for a 3D artist, and the project development framework acts as an introduction for students to an environment similar to the one they will encounter in their later career.
• Cristina Arnaiz Pérez-Villamil Technical Artist at Studio Gobo.
• This master's degree from U-tad provided me with the necessary knowledge to propel me into the world of video games. My education and the experience of creating a video game as a team opened the doors to the industry.
• Victoria Madurga 3D artist Ubisoft (Rainbow Six Siege)

Program Outline

Teaching:

• Teaching Methods:
Practical, hands-on approach with industry-standard tools
• Faculty:
Top industry professionals with extensive experience
• Unique Approaches:
Students work in multidisciplinary teams to create their own studio and develop a video game

Careers:

• Career Paths:
• Environment Modeler
• Character Animator
• 2D Content Designer
• Technical Artist
• Art Director
• Animator
• Concept Artist
• Graphic Design Generalist
• Texturing
• VFX Artist