Columbia College Hollywood’s New VFX B.F.A. Program Is First in U.S. to Integrate Top Industry Technology

Columbia College Hollywood, which is ranked as the #8 Best College for Film and Photography in America by Niche, has just unveiled its new B.F.A. program in Visual Effects.  The program, which was just introduced in the fall ‘18 semester, is the first in the country to integrate four of the VFX industry’s most widely used technologies into its curriculum.

“To get hired as a VFX professional, it’s important to have expertise with the tools that are used by the top production houses and studios,” says Peter Gend, Interim Dean at Columbia College Hollywood. “CCH’s new VFX B.F.A. degree prepares our students by combining those in-demand skills with a robust liberal arts curriculum that’s taught by our world class faculty.”

The technologies that Columbia College Hollywood has introduced into its VFX B.F.A. program are:

• Perception Neuron motion capture system – Columbia College Hollywood’s VFX B.F.A. students are working with Perception Neuron’s motion capture suits, which can be used indoors, outdoors, on location, and aren’t tied to the studio environment.  “While other schools may have motion capture available for their VFX students, they most likely aren’t integrating them into both their cinema as well as their VFX departments,” says Gend.

• MakerBot and Formlabs rapid 3D prototyping – Students are using MakerBot brand printers for fused filament printing and Formlabs printers for resin-based stereolithogprahy printing.  “Our VFX B.F.A. students use the printers for character design courses and product design in order to learn toy design, puppet construction, digitally designed makeup prosthetics, and more,” says Gend.

• Houdini 3D animation software – Houdini is heavily integrated into Columbia College Hollywood’s VFX B.F.A. curriculum.  “Houdini is used by the largest VFX houses across the globe and is taught at very few schools,” says Gend.  “Our students are gaining tremendous experience with Houdini, and this will open many job possibilities for them.”

Gend believes that graduates of Columbia College Hollywood’s VFX B.F.A. program will have a significant competitive advantage in the marketplace.

“By gaining mastery of the latest VFX technology tools and solutions, our grads will be able to seek out job opportunities that many of their peers from other schools aren’t qualified to pursue,” says Gend.  “They’ll have the insights, knowledge, and employment-ready capabilities that today’s top VFX companies are looking for.”

About Columbia College Hollywood

Founded in 1952, Columbia College Hollywood is a nonprofit, regionally accredited liberal arts college with a focus on creative media.

Columbia College Hollywood educates students in the art and science of communications and the diverse media of contemporary storytelling within an exploration of the liberal arts.

Columbia College Hollywood is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) to offer Bachelor of Fine Arts and Associate of Fine Arts degree programs in Cinema with an emphasis in acting, cinematography, directing, editing and visual effects, new media, producing, sound, and writing.