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School profile
With over 1,000 students across its Game Development, Game Art & 3D Animation and Animation & Visual Effects programmes at 13 locations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, SAE Institute is one of the largest talent incubators for the games industry in the German-speaking region. In addition to its games development programmes, the institute teaches a wide range of other disciplines, including audio engineering, content creation, film production and music production.
For more than 50 years, SAE Institute has been preparing talented individuals for careers in the media industry through hands-on, practice-oriented education. What began in 1976 with a single campus in Australia has grown into a global network. Today, with 49 schools in 20 countries, SAE Institute is one of the world’s leading providers of creative education. Practice-based teaching, state-of-the-art facilities and a strong international community make studying at SAE Institute unique.
In the GSA region, SAE Institute is represented by schools in Berlin, Bochum, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Vienna, Geneva and Zurich. Students can complete a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in as little as two years.
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Our offers
We offer hands-on training in our three subject areas: Game Art & 3D Animation, Game Development and Animation & Visual Effects, with a range of qualification options. Whether you are looking for a vocational qualification, a Bachelor’s degree or a Master’s degree, full-time or part-time – choose the model that best suits your interests and personal circumstances.
As a vocational route, you can earn our SAE Diploma in just 18 months. A Bachelor’s degree can be completed in as little as 24 months – internationally recognised and validated by the UK’s University of Hertfordshire. After that, a range of Master’s programmes is open to you. We also offer professional development courses, such as the Game Design Certificate. The SAE Diploma and Bachelor’s programmes start every year in March and September.
During your studies, you will gain in-depth specialist knowledge, from technical and craft-based skills to professional production workflows. Thanks to our intensive, highly practical teaching, you will create your first game projects within just a few weeks and gradually build an impressive portfolio.
Excerpts from our curricula:
Game Art & 3D Animation
- 2D Fundamentals: Design principles and visual composition, colour theory, analogue and digital drawing, digital image editing
- 3D Fundamentals: Introduction to 3D, low- and high-poly modelling, texturing and texture baking
- Digital Sculpting & PBR Texturing: Digital sculpting, physically based rendering, fundamentals of real-time rendering, specifications
- Game Art Animation & Rendering: Rigging fundamentals, animation principles, lighting theory, real-time rendering
- Industry Workflows: 3D asset creation, environment art, level design, character art, visual scripting
Game Development
- Game Programming Basics: Programming fundamentals, structured and object-oriented programming, algorithms, number systems
- Game Development Basics: Game design fundamentals, game engine fundamentals, game mechanics
- Structured Game Development: Data structures, code and performance optimisation, engine tool extension
- Game Dynamics: Statistics, heuristics, AI fundamentals, needs-based concepts, composition algorithms
- Industry Workflows: Graphics and shader programming, Unreal Engine, online multiplayer programming, game audio
Animation & Visual Effects
- VFX Fundamentals: The VFX industry, visual composition, camera and lighting, film analysis, digital image editing, layer-based compositing, node-based compositing
- 3D Fundamentals: Principles of 3D, 3D modelling (low-poly/subdivision), topology, UV mapping, texturing, texture baking/render to texture
- 3D Rendering & Compositing: 3D camera, 3D lighting, VFX set supervision, colour management, tracking, match moving, look development, PBR pipeline
- Animation: Principles of animation, storyboarding, animatics and previs, rigging and skinning, 3D animation, motion graphics
- Industry Workflows: Project planning, digital sculpting, green screen, physics simulation, procedural workflows
Interested? Then get to know us!
You are also welcome to contact the campus of your choice in Berlin, Bochum, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Vienna, Geneva or Zurich.
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