Posts Tagged ‘Common Software for Digital Entertainment Courses’

Engines and SDKs used in DET @ACU

0 Commentsby   |  01.27.12  |  3D Models, Animation, Corona SDK, DET, Film, Game Development, Unity3D

Regularly we are asked which engines are used to teach game development as part of the Digital Entertainment major and minor.

While we use a host of products to create the content for the games (Photoshop, Gimp, Illustrator, Flash, Premier Pro, etc) we primarily use two engines for our classes:

For 2D/mobile projects the SDK of choice is Corona by Corona Labs.  We have found it easy to learn but powerful enough to handle the most intricate of projects.

 

 

For 3D projects we use Unity3D.  Again, easy to learn, wonderful pricing structure for the indie developer, and powerful enough to make the most intricate multi-player games, Unity was a natural choice for the DET program.

 

 

Digital Entertainment Technology
Software used in Major/Minor
Spring/Fall 2012

 In most situations you are able to select the software that you find most comfortable to use (or can afford).  There are times when we use several pieces of software from one category during a course so that students are able to become familiar with the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Modeling

Google Sketch-up (free)       PC/Mac
*3DS Max  (student edition is free http://students.autodesk.com)       PC
Maya (student edition is free http://students.autodesk.com)                PC/Mac
MudBox (student edition is free http://students.autodesk.com)          PC/Mac

 Texturing

*Adobe Photoshop    PC/Mac
*
Adobe Flash                        PC/Mac
GIMP (free)               PC/Mac


Engines

*Corona SDK (unlimited trial is free http://www.CoronaLabs.com)        PC/Mac
*Unity3D (basic version is free http://www.unity3d.com)               PC/Mac
*UDK – Unreal Developers Kit (free http://www.udk.com)                    PC

Sound

Adobe Soundbooth  PC/Mac
Audacity  (free)         PC/Mac
Sony Acid Pro                        PC
GarageBand               Mac

 

Film

*Adobe Premier Pro       PC/Mac
*Final Cut                            Mac

 

Compiler

*Visual Studio            PC
*Eclipse IDE               PC/Mac
GCC (free)                  PC/Mac
*Java Developers Kit (JDK) free    PC/Mac
*Apple xCode                         Mac
Python IDLE  (free) PC/Mac

 

  • *- Industry standard
  • Bold – required software in one or more DET courses.