Bachelor in Digital Arts and Entertainment

DAE is a three-year full-time Bachelor's degree program designed by and developed for creative, ambitious, passionate, and exceptional individuals, ready to push the limits of tomorrow’s interactive or pre-rendered 3D.

Do you often fantasize about 2D or 3D worlds which do not yet exist? Do you consider yourself to be creative, ambitious, resourceful, and above all passionate about games, films, and special effects? Do you wish to experiment and create content with state-of-the-art technology and software? Do you want to become a professional game developer, a game or VFX Artist, a 3D animator, or a Sound Designer for games, or even start your own game company? If so, then Digital Arts & Entertainment is the educational program for you! Before you start your journey at DAE, there are a few things that you should learn about us - and about yourself.

The industry is built on passion, commitment, and hard work. You will need all these 3 qualities if you want to succeed. Our program is more than just a way to acquire a certain set of skills. It’s about allowing yourself to be shaped into an industry professional with the right work attitude and flexibility to be able to keep up with the growing demands of this field. You shouldn’t just study DAE to graduate and get your degree: you should study it in order to get exceedingly good at what you love to do and to express that through your portfolio. This is what’s going to get you a job at your dream company.

Students who choose for DAE become part of an international acclaimed bachelor program that will prepare them for the wondrous and challenging world of game development and movie design. At DAE, you’ll have to make a choice from a menu of 6 study majors. Depending on the major you pick, you will primarily be taught technical or artistic skills. Whichever major you go for, only enter this study program if you are dedicated and committed to putting in the time and effort, and if you have the ‘grit’ this journey will require. If you can commit to that, we are looking forward to welcoming you to DAE.

This program is available in Dutch and English.

Majors

• 3D Animation
• Visual Effects (VFX)
• Game Development
• Interactive Sound Production
• Game Graphics Production
• Independent Game Production

Major -Minor

Passion for your future

Howest is much more than a University of Applied Sciences with its 25 undergraduate and 12 graduate programs.

It is a school with a passion for your future. It is a school where each student stands central and a place where they are personally guided towards the path to a diploma that will provide them with an edge in the labor market.

Studying at DAE

• In an open, inclusive, and international community
• Real-life, team-based, and industry-assessed projects and assignments
• Practically oriented education and training by qualified experts
• International guest lectures by key industry speakers
• State-of-the-art equipment and facilities

Why DAE?

• High-quality university in the heart of Western Europe, with comparatively low tuition fees
• Industry-approved and award-winning curriculum, with alumni in leading companies and studios all over the world
• Unique: technical artist profile. No matter which major you choose, you will have a good grasp of what your colleagues are up to, which makes cooperation easier
• Study in the small, comprehensive, safe, and beautiful historic city of Kortrijk, at the banks of the river Leie, where over 1000 years of history meet with modern architecture and design

What is DAE?

• An internationally-focused, English-taught Bachelor’s Degree in Digital Arts and Entertainment
• Specialization in Game Development, Game Graphics Production, Independent Game Production, 3D Production & VFX, 3D Animation and Sound Design
• A 3-year full-time program, 180 ECTS credits
• At Howest University College in Flanders, Belgium, Europe

The international focus of DAE

• Close proximity to the UK, France, The Netherlands, and Germany
• Discover Europe while you’re here - join our study trips to the UK, USA, and Japan
• Spend a study semester at one of our partner universities in another country
• Go on international, high-profile internships
• Start building your international network by meeting students from all over the world

Technologies used at DAE

Autodesk 3D Studio Max, Autodesk Maya, Unreal UDK, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Pixologic Zbrush, PS3 Dev Kit, Adobe After Effects, Adobe CS4, C++, .NET Framework (C#), Eyeon Fusion, Microsoft Visual Studio Professional, DirectX SDK, Unity, MySql, Lumonix ShaderFX, Nvidia FX Composer, Nvidia PhysX SDK, fmod, Open GL ES, WebGL, Maxscript, HLSL, GLSL.

Studying at Howest: more than just classes

DAE is hard work, but we offer a lot of extra opportunities:

Game Jam and Film Jam

For the 2nd-year students, classes during the first week of the second semester are canceled for the game/film jam, in which teams of 5 create their own game or short film in no more than 3 days!

We also actively encourage and support our students to take part in other game jams and in a wide range of competitions in Belgium and abroad.

Career/internship fair

Each year in October, when our senior students are looking for an internship, we organize a big fair on campus, where dozens of companies from different countries come to The Level to introduce themselves and their internship offers to our students and get the opportunity to interview the candidates.

Industry sessions

Every Tuesday, companies are invited to give presentations to DAE students and staff, to enlighten and inspire us with their passion and expertise. Subjects can vary from artistic or programming projects to level design workshops, from a post-mortem of a newly-released game to a movie breakdown or a TEDx presentation.

Community management and study nights

Every Thursday evening, the campus stays open late for students of all years, to study together and help each other out in an informal setting, with extra focus on the bigger deadlines and assignments that are due around that time.

But also at other times, our dynamic Community Manager organizes activities and events for our students. On top of that, international students and their buddies find a ‘home away from home at The Oasis, our international students’ lounge, where they can organize their own gatherings, movie nights, and events.

Study trips to England, the United States, or Japan

The DAE study trips are one of the highlights of your study career. They give you a chance to visit world-famous companies, take a look behind the scenes, get first-hand invaluable advice from industry professionals, and maybe even secure an internship or job offer.

Companies we have visited in the previous years are Valve, ArenaNet, Bungie, Microsoft Game Studios, Facebook, PopCap, Unity, Pixar, Electronic Arts, MPC, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Splash Damage, Guerrilla Games Cambridge, The Creative Assembly, Boss Alien, Studio Gobo, Jagex, Exient, Natural Motion, and many more!