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What Is Minor Production?
If you’re new to how the Academy prepares for group projects, you’re in the right place. This is one of the many things that sets us apart from most colleges, and it’s something we especially take pride in. For many of the students, this will be their first foray into video game production. Roles on…
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Can I Get Into the Video Game Industry Without a Degree?
For someone seeking a career in the game industry, this is a common question. If you are standing at Point A, your current level of experience, and are looking towards Point B, your future job in the game industry, you are likely asking, “What’s the best way to get there?” You are going to need…
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Seattle Graduation Ceremony
To celebrate our new grads, Nathan Camp (2015 AIE alumnus, Industrial Light & Magic) visited all the way from California to give a speech. Once an aspiring actor, Nathan was able to his passion for film at AIE Seattle, under the tutelage of Vic Bonilla, the instructor for 3D Animation & VFX for Film program.…
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AIE Student Placement Specialist Honored in Game Advocacy’s 50 Over 50 List
Cami Smith, our specialist in Industry Relations and Student Placement, has been honored in Game Advocacy’s 50 Over 50 list. Originally created by the former IGDA executive director, Kate Edwards, the 50 Over 50 list takes a stand on ageism in the video game industry. “For this initial, experimental project, a Google form was created…
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Why Mentors Are So Important
You’re at a point in your life where you know exactly what you would like to do as a career. You’re probably wondering: What comes next? Whether you have chosen AIE as your college, having a mentor at your side along the way is crucial to your career development. Identifying a mentor(s) in the early…
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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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iFEST: When Gaming & Learning Collide
Once again, the city of Seattle was fired up for iFEST (Indie Game Festival), which was held at the Seattle Center Armory and hosted by The Academy of Interactive Entertainment. AIE has partnered up with over 40 indie game studios allowing them to exhibit a booth to promote their games in the busy Seattle Center…
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Seattle Graduation Ceremony 2019 Information
Come celebrate passion and dedication with us! Our Graduation Ceremony introduces the next generation of Game Developers, 3D Artists, Animators, and VFX Artists. Please join us at the SIFF Cinema Uptown to celebrate their outstanding achievements. Date: Tuesday, July 23rd, 2019 Time: 1pm-3pm Place: SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109…
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10 Games in 3 Days: Year 1’s Alphabet Game Jam
10 games in 3 days? How is that even possible?! In a game jam, anything is possible! When you are well-equipped with the top-tier tools and a studio environment with a creative team, you’d be surprised how easy it is to churn out 10 games in 3 days. About the Alphabet Jam This is the…
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Diversity Collective+ Speed Mentoring & Roundtable Event
Promotional imagery created by Ashley Rivas. Our sponsored hosts for the third-ever DC+ event was none other than our friends at Amazon. We are so grateful for their support and contributions to help continue Seattle’s goal of diversity and industrious innovation. Our gracious hosts provided the perfect space for the occasion – in their clean…
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Global Game Jam Next 2019
About Global Game Jam Next The Academy of Interactive Entertainment and the Pacific Science Center will be partnering up once again for Global Game Jam Next 2019! Global Game Jam Next will be kicking off July 29th at the Academy of Interactive Entertainment. Located on the 4th floor of Seattle Center, the video game and…
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iFEST: Behind the Scenes of Demoing
Written by Anthony RitcheyEdited by Lizz Rizzo, Josh Curry, and Steven Hitchcock Input by William Pheloung, Allyson Woods, and Tim CullingsPhotography by Emilio Cerrillo, Daniel Craig Beebe, and others, all credited in-line. Photos by www.emiliocerrillophotography.com Photo by EmilioA dinosaur sitting at our booth.After we demoed our game at SIX [Seattle Indies Expo] during the PAX…
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Video Game Math: Polar and Spherical Notation
What is Polar and Spherical Notation? These systems are alternate ways of describing a position in space. This allows us a different way of calculating positions. Polar and Spherical Coordinates In a “normal” Cartesian coordinate system, you have coordinates in an (x, y) pattern (or (x, y, z) for 3D) – along with an arbitrary…
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Video Game Math: Matrices
What are matrices? Matrices is plural for a matrix – which is a collection of numbers represented in a grid, very similar to a table or spreadsheet. They look a little like this. By itself, that collection of numbers is mostly meaningless, but if you use them to assign values – such as the coordinates…
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Video Game Math: Collision Detection
What is collision detection? Collision detection is one of the most important pieces of math for a programmer to understand. Why? Games are all about collision. Virtually everything you do in a game depends on collision. Whether it’s a bullet hitting a target, Mario landing on a platform or coming in contact with a pickup,…
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