Best Universities for 3D Design degree?

What is the best degree for 3D graphics, animation, game design?

• My brother has taught himself a fair bit of 3D modeling and animation, and it is something he'd love to do later in his life too. He is at high school now and is considering what to study at college - it's really difficult to find a degree that would offer just that - 3D graphics/animation. He is not really interested in programming/computer science, but also doesn't really want to go to an art school since he never took any art classes, and most art degrees require some hand drawing and what not...

• Answer:

  The short answer is the degree ( the fancy and costly paper to be more specific) doesn't matter. :) Since I didn't know at locally where you( or your brother) interested in schools and what field of 3d is he interested in I thought first I share my opinions and views about 3d as a career and hope it helps ( I also name a few schools at the end :)) I started the same way when I was 13 so I can tell you a few tips from my experiences as I'm working in the industry for almost 7 years. COMMITMENT. This is one of the most awesome, creative, challenging and complex careers one could pick for themself. And nowadays there are more and more people thinking the same but at the same they don't take this very seriously and those are the guys that the industry ( if they ever get near a real job ) spits out in no time. So my first point - commitment - is the most valuable tip I can give to someone who wants to be a professional 3d artist your brother has to work very hard, always learning new methods, new technologies, always pushing the limits further, this may sound cheesy but the best artists I met and know ( also coders btw ) didnt go to any related school they were just really really passionate about what they love and took the time  to learn and experience. EXPERIENCE - Yeah I know its a trap cause you dont get a job unless you have a few years of experience but you dont get any unless someone hires you. Well its not , since 3d is a relatively young industry the most companies dont care about this. Also one of the advantages of 3d that you dont need a job to produce something valuable to show to a might be employer in fact sometimes self made works are more impressive than others because of the lack of pressure and guidelines. So if someone has time ( and luckily your brother should have :) ) than you can make a portfolio for yourself related to the field you are interested in ( eg.: games or interior design ) . Besides if someone is truly talented ( trust me at impressive companies they'll know.. ) than nobody cares about papers and former employments. So again self-diligance. SEGMENTATION - There are a lot of sub careers within 3d to name a few important from the top of my head : modeler,animator, texture artist, rigger, lighter etc.. and the sub types of these. This means that eventually your brother has to decide what field of 3d interests the most( the sooner the better ) and at what part of the 3d industry is a goal for him ( movies,games,visualisation for example ). It is really important to focus sooner or later to one or preferrably a few fields. It's good to know a bit about everything and I met some 'generalists' and they are really valuable assets to a team but in most cases a specialist is always better or at least faster(and time is money..) in their own field. TECHNOLOGY - 3d is an ever evolving and developing industry and its essential to know a bit about what and how makes the things tick because it can improve someones workflow a lot, and it's also very interesting for someone who already loves 3d graphics, besides there is good chance you have to work with programmers and they loves when someone knows how to provide the materials to them .This point is the easiest(?) to obtain because if you'll learn and read a lot about the subject then you'll pick up the technology aswell hopefully. My point is that if someone is truly committed than it doesnt matter where he got the knowledge the outcome is the most important part. So now that I rambled about everything except the thing you asked :) Here comes a list of schools I know are great : Us: Ringling CalArts Canada: Sheridan Vancouver Film School Europe: Bournermouth ( English, London ) Supinfocom & Gobelins ( French ) Hope your brother fulfills his dreams and I could help a bit. This is truly the most amazing job to do so go for it! :)