Anyone here study/ied at QANTM?

Just wondering how their courses match up to other places, Diploma of Graphic Design in particular?

And anyone landed in a decent job after studying there?

Im looking at my tafe/uni options for next year, focussing on Graphic Design mainly, but I really don't know what I want to do.

Edit: Also the course is like $10,000 for 1 year (1 year accelerated course), however a Diploma of Graphic Design at tafe is like $950 per year (2 year course).. so i'm just wondering what makes QANTM's course so much more expensive if they are both diplomas for the same thing?

think threedee studies there

khel & myself.

was a s***hole when i visited, but apparently it's improved now

i wanted to go there, but alas i am poor and could not afford the 15k fee

Just because they're both diplomas are for the same thing, doesn't mean the Tafe is necessarily anywhere near the quality of the Qantm one. Your best bet would be to find out exactly what units compose each diploma and what you'll actually be learning. I'm thinking you'd probably learn a lot more in the Qantm one, because as I understand it, their diploma courses are basically the practical side of their degree courses. As they put it, the degree courses teach you how to do something, but also teach you the "why" behind everything. The diploma courses just teach you how to do it. So for example you might learn how to use Adobe Premiere in the diploma, but you wont learn the details about codecs, bit-rates, the differences between analog and digital signals, the different video formats, etc like we did in the degree, you'll just know how to use Premiere. You also do 3 semesters a year at Qantm instead of 2.

I go to Qantm, but I'm doing a degree, and its in Game Development anyway so I dont know what the graphic design side is like. My experience so far has been awesome though, learning a lot and the courses are put together really well. I've heard a lot of bad stories from people who've been in the past but it seems Qantm has definately picked its act up now.

Edit: Oh yeah, and apparently they're working on getting HECS for their courses. Dont know if diplomas are covered under HECS or not though.

last edited by Khel at 18:47:52 22/Aug/05

Hey Jem you interested in some design work?

A_W give some more details as to what u want in your thread, i might have a look at it.. but its pretty vague as to what u want

Scoobs - It's (thread) only to get contact. Can i email you? you can always edit out your address after we're connected. We can continue further indepth discussions in private then.

Khel - you aiming to be a game dev and get hired somewhere big?

Mail sent. 8)

im only amature a_w, you probably wouldnt want me doin ya stuff

Just wondering how their courses match up to other places, Diploma of Graphic Design in particular?

From talking to Khel, their design work seems to be at around the same level as most Universities and their technical training is better than UQ's Multimedia degree.

And anyone landed in a decent job after studying there?

Design based degrees can't make decent designers out of everyboyd. Instead it teaches people with great potential to become decent designers. Hence, most of the people who land on their feet have some sort of design skill before hand. Uni just focuses it, and teaches some underlying theorys that help make sense.

Im looking at my tafe/uni options for next year, focussing on Graphic Design mainly, but I really don't know what I want to do.

TAFEs teach people how to use tools, but most of them do a really s*** job of teaching people how to be designers. Universities do a pretty s*** job of teaching people tools, but often do a good job of teaching people core design skills.

If you want to be a Designer, I would recomend that you at least start a Degree in something that you think is interesting and check it out. Then if you need to learn tool sets you can always do short courses at TAFE.

Khel - you aiming to be a game dev and get hired somewhere big?

Thats the plan! Well, sort of, the plan is just to be a game dev because its by far the most challenging and interesting facet of programming for me and I've never had much more than a hobby level understanding of it all. As for getting hired somewhere big, thats not really my driving motivation, my driving motivation is to just get a job doing what I love doing. If I happen to earn good money out of it, thats a bonus, but I've worked at programming jobs in the past on s*** pay doing work nowhere near as interesting as this, so money really isn't that much of a defining factor for me.

you're not really selling yourself there khel.

to anyone who wants to hire me, i will work for peanuts. and probably some beer in a paper bag.

It wasn't beer in that paper bag, it was southern comfort!

I think I'm safe in saying though that even a low-paying game dev job would still pay significantly more than my last job, so either way I'll be in front.

I don't think Khel's going to be the type to drop out. He's a f***ing machine when it comes to work and is an excellent group leader.
I'm Doing a Bachelors in Interative Entertainment majoring in animation and its bloody awesome. I swear, its worth every cent you pay for it, and it'll be even better when they can get this fee help thing in.

Employment wise, I'm under the impression that they have a pretty good thing going with the Brisbane based games companies. We get taught and tutored by Ex-Krome and Auran staff, aswell as some hardcores who have travelled the world and are just wells of information (louis = god).

If you want to get into games, I'd highly recommend qantm. I have no idea about Graphic design though.

Heh, yeah, Louis is a legend. He almost makes me wish I was doing animation. Almost.

/slight derailment

Jem, If you want to do game developement and can't really affort QANTM's fee, the alternavtive could be just go to UQ or QUT.

QUT in particular, next year, they will offer a special IT Major on Game Development:

http://www.fit.qut.edu.au/courses/undergrad/IT22.jsp

And info on Game dev:

http://www.fit.qut.edu.au/courses/undergrad/major%20descriptions.jsp#GT

GAMES TECHNOLOGY
The Games Technology Major provides a relevant theoretical and practical knowledge for employment, and related careers, in the games and simulation industries. As PC and games consoles have become more affordable to families and individuals, interest and access to games continues to increase, resulting in a growing and maturing industry. Consequently, there is an increased need for graduates with appropriate skills in games development.

The aim of this Major is to give a balanced and thorough education in the technical aspects of computer games development. Graduates will be provided with skills appropriate to games engine and tools development within large games programming production houses. Graduates will also be highly competent programmers, able to apply their skills to any IT software engineering roles.

It is recommended that Games Technology be undertaken concurrently with the Software Architecture Major.

Naturally you cannot do game dev without doing hardcore Software Engineering/Math/Physics type subjects as well. Not that I'll be doing this but it's interesting to see that they're finally offering something a bit more interesting :).

Also if the sight of math and physics makes you sick, then game dev is probably not for you.

QANTM is a privately funded tertiary institution isn't it? That would explain the fees.

Yeah, they're privately funded, they're owned by SAE now.