Questions

Answers

Get a Mac!

Seriously.

Most jobs in digital media (with high-end 3D animation and game development being exceptions) require a thorough knowledge of the Macintosh operating system. Besides, the Mac is easier to use and crashes far less often than a Windows-machine.

All of the digital media software is available for both platforms at the same price.

Yes, there is a slight premium of a couple hundred dollars for an equivalent computer, but that more than pays for itself in the time you'll save working with a Mac. Besides, they're cool-looking.

Look into the new iMac if you want an inexpensive but fast desktop computer or either an iBook or a PowerBook if you want a laptop. Don't forget, as a student you get an educational discount. Browse on over to www.apple.com/ education and click on Purchasing at Apple.

You don't need the absolute fastest processor. They are usually only incrementally faster than the previous two generations and lots more expensive. Start looking at least one step down from the fastest processor. (If the newest Ce-Duo is 2.5Gigahertz, look at 2 Gig.) Then get lots of memory. Even 1 Gig is no longer adequate; get at least 1.5 Gigs of RAM. 2 Gigs if you can.

A faster video display card will also help. Often an upgrade from the basic display card is only $40 or $50 more and will make your (production/homework) life easier.

Get a good monitor. LCD panels are great but also cost up to twice as much as a conventional monitor. If money is tight, get a good flat-screen monitor instead of an LCD. Get at least a 17" or, better, a 19" or 20" monitor with a contrast ratio above 500:1.

Get a larger or faster hard drive. 160 Megabytes is not too large for storing digital media files, particularly if you want to work on digital photos or digital videos. 10,000 rpms are better than 7,500 rpms, but maybe not significantly for you.

Avoid a 5400 rpm hard drive. A DVD burner (a drive that will not only read but also write DVDs) is better than a CD-R drive. Trust me: your digital media files will be large.

And, if you're buying a Mac (and if you're not, why aren't you?) get a good two-button mouse. Despite what Steve Jobs says. The Mighty Mouse is pretty cool.

If you're buying a laptop, try for a 15" screen or larger with a 1280x1024 resolution. A 1024x768 12" screen is really too tiny for heavy production work, although 12" laptops are great for working at your favorite WiFi location.

Nobody will make you take all of these courses, but you will find that, especially in a rapidly-changing field like digital media, that professional instruction is far different from learning on your own. The best books on the market can't supplant the structure of an organized course or the deep and practical information that goes along with just the "book-learning."

You may not be eagerly anticipating the quizzes and the homework, but it is the practice (and the testing) that will help embed the knowledge.

In addition, until you have established a reputation as a digital media designer, it is that proof of a formal education on your resume that potential employers will pay attention to. In fact, the AIGA (the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the professional association for communication design) believes that a four-year degree with a major in graphic design is important for "full preparation for entry and later mobility within the graphic design profession."

They do state that a two-year program like COTC's Digital Media Design Technology curriculum is useful to "prepare students for technical support positions in the field of graphic design and/or...transfer to a design program in a four-year institute."

If you are planning on heading to the coast or have dreams of that corner office in a large design firm, be prepared to spend at least four years studying your craft and more years gaining experience. If you even plan on cutting out on your own, you will go further and faster if you have the background and the practice.

Everything in the Digital Media Design curriculum is there to help you communicate better, and, let's face it, as a digital media designer you are expected to be a successful communicator. Why composition classes? You will be writing for the rest of your life: proposals, project summaries, client-contact-e-mail, even invoices. Every word you put on the page represents the quality of your communication. Math? Hey, it's all math! Plus, math helps you think logically, as do your science courses.

As far as the rest of the design world is concerned, you are in competition with every other designer (including your fellow DMD students: look around you to see who wants to compete with you for that big assignment). The designer who has mastered the broadest range of conceptual and technological skills will be the winner.

Some of the fundamental competencies that all of those DMD courses offer you include the ability to identify design problems, to analyze and generate multiple solutions, to prototype, test, and evaluate outcomes.

It doesn't sound very glamorous when you put it that way, but every class is taught as a design class, meaning you aren't there simply to learn how to rotate a 3-D object, but as an exercise in construction of design elements and composition within the frame. It's all good!

A degree is only the first step to a digital media career. It's not a guarantee. Technical knowledge can only take you so far. Your degree is the first step on the way to where you desire to go. You will learn the essential tools here, but you will also learn to create visual forms in response to communication problems.You'll learn to organize your work; you'll learn to "see."

You'll have a chance to experiment and develop your innate talents and skills, and you'll learn something about the world in which you will work, including the deep and colorful history of design.

Degree in hand, then, it's up to you. You could start your own business - other graduates have. You could find work at businesses in many communities, or you could continue your education now that you've learned what you really want to do with your life.

The degree is, after all, not the end of your education as a digital media designer, but the very beginning.

Have you seen the price of gasoline lately? Doctor Digital even remembers when a cup of coffee was only a quarter and was only one kind: strong and bitter. But seriously, this isn't high school anymore. No one can make you do anything. But while some courses expect you to do homework assignments right out of the book, other courses assume the textbook is an extension of the in-class lectures.

You may be missing a good deal of information by not reading the textbook. And it will be on the exam

Some Digital Media Design classes do not require a textbook, though. We realize that books can add up to a tidy sum during any one quarter. Where a class requires you to purchase supplies - as the drawing and photography classes do - a textbook won't be as valuable as the materials you will need to create your projects. Still, you may have handouts or outside readings to study. Don't assume you can learn everything you need to know by warming a chair in the classroom.

You don't need to own a computer and digital media software to be successful in school, but it helps. The simplest of computers can be used to send and receive e-mail or surf the Web, but there is no shortcut for digital design software.

You should, at the very least, consider buying a copy of Photoshop; it is used for almost every career area and in nearly every digital media class. Depending upon what you intend to do after graduation - or how much time you will be able to work on projects while on campus - you may want to purchase other software so you can work on projects at home. (If so, then also look at the question about "which computer?")

Fortunately, as a student, you can purchase fully featured professional software at academic prices. Web sites like journeyed.com, gradware.com, or creativeengine.com offer packages from all the major developers at substantial discounts. All you need is a student ID and proof of enrollment

Short of cash? Many of the major software manufacturers offer 30-day free trials (available by download or on CDs attached to media magazines). Use these for any class where you are unsure of how much you will ever use a particular package. Plan ahead, though. You can only use a "free trial" for one 30-day period. That software will not run for a second.

Digital media files are large. Even the smallest of projects is often larger than will fit on a floppy disk. Which is a good thing, as floppy disks are a major carrier of computer viruses. In fact, the digital media lab has no floppy disk access to the computers.

All of the computers do have DVD burners, so you can cut CD-Rs or DVD-Rs to move files. The Macintosh computers will read CDs you burn on a PC and will burn CDs that a PC can read. You can also use flash memory cards in the USB 2.0 ports.