Oregon3D Inc., The Academy for Digital Arts & Sciences, will be holding a two-day open house scheduled for July 20 and 21, 2004. Technology presentations will focus on game development and design/visualization applications.

Oregon3D's Game Development Day: July 20, 3:00 to 7:00 pm
Presenters from Turbo Squid, RTzen, Right Hemisphere and other guest speakers will explore the tools and techniques used to create today's top-selling videogames.

The Hollywood Post Alliance is presenting the 2004 Summer School Program, a tutorial on post-production. The program will run from July 23 - 24, 2004. The workshop will kick off on July 23 with drinks and hors d’oeuvres at 6:00 pm followed by as case study on SPIDER-MAN 2 at 7:00 pm.

Alias announced its full lineup of new Maya Learning Tools to accompany Maya 6, the latest version of its 3D animation and special effects software. Maya Learning Tools are books and DVDs that offer self-paced learning for 3D professionals, students and enthusiasts. Alias will release dozens of DVDs and books in the coming months for a variety of learning levels, many in time for SIGGRAPH (Aug.

Gnomon School of Visual Effects' Maya Fast Track program for summer 2004 begins July 5 and runs through Sept. 10. This intensive, nine-week program is designed primarily for individuals already familiar with 3D and who want to get production-ready on Maya as quickly as possible. Consisting of nine one-week classes, the Maya Fast Track program is based on industry-approved Gnomon courses.

The Fast Track includes three hours of lab time after class, five days a week.

The Art Institute of Phoenix (TAIP) is now offering a new bachelor's degree program in Visual & Game Programming designed to prepare upcoming technical artists for the videogame and animation industries.

Students receive intensive training in the foundations of art and design before entering into the more technical areas of programming for 3D animation. Students learn the essential skills to effectively solve technical problems and effectively bridge between the technical programmer and the creative artist.

Gnomon School of Visual Effects now has open registration for the summer term (June 28-Sept. 12). Meanwhile, the curriculum for digital courses (including image-based techniques and character skinning) will now reflect new tools and techniques. Erick Miller, lead technical director of Digital Domain, will be the new character skinning instructor, while Kyle Jefferson of DreamWorks will again teach previsualization and animatics.

Professor Ron Morse, as part of the Asian studies program, will start a new course on anime and manga at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, reports THE LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL.

"Most people stop reading comic books when they're six years old," said Morse. "It's more than childish stuff. It's a serious sociological critique."

The class was spurred by the growing influx of anime in the U.S. Morse comments that serious issues such as drug addiction, prostitution and murder make anime worth studying at a university level.

Computer Master Institute of Technology (CMIT) has announced that, along with its e-Business and New Media Studies Diploma graduates, CMIT's first all female class of Advanced Digital Animation students have completed their studies.

Bobby "Boom" Beck and Carlos Baena of Pixar Animation Studios and Shawn Kelly of Industrial Light & Magic have launched the new online animation school, AnimationMentor.com. The interactive school is a place where students will learn from guest professionals in the feature film industry. AnimationMentor.com hopes to become an international education hub that is more affordable than traditional art schools. Classes are scheduled to begin in fall 2004, and students can join at any time until seats are full. Enrollment will begin in September 2004.

The new Center for Digital Imaging Arts (CDIA) at Boston University is enrolling students of all ages and experience levels for a variety of certificate programs and workshops in digital filmmaking, photography, 3D animation, game design and visual effects.

Students may sign up for intensive training through a nine-month certificate program or basic skills through a foundation certificate or workshop series. Courses range from Beginning Photography for the Digital Age to Digital Film Boot Camp and all levels of Photoshop, editing, lighting and real-world assignments.