Gnomon

For over 25 years, Gnomon has educated many of the world’s best digital artists on its state-of-the-art campus in Los Angeles, California. Recognized as one of the top U.S. colleges in Forbes' 2023 rankings and called “the MIT of visual effects” by Fast Company magazine, Gnomon offers a variety of educational options to help students reach their goals in the entertainment industry, with certificate and degree programs, and over 100 individual courses. Gnomon is dedicated to empowering aspiring artists with the skills and expertise needed to succeed in today’s competitive creative landscape. 

Gnomon's campus is located in Noth Hollywood, CA, within the very heart of the VFX and video game industry. The classrooms have been designed to cultivate creativity and learning by mimicking the environments of real production studios. The 45,000 square foot facility has nine state-of-the-art computer labs, a green screen stage with a cyclorama, a dedicated sculpture lab, a dedicated drawing studio, lecture spaces, student lounges, a student store, and the Gnomon Gallery. 

While the BFA curriculum is designed to provide students with a 3D generalist education that prepares them to work as digital artists within the VFX, games, and animation industries, Gnomon also offers specialty tracks such as the VFX concentration. In this course of study, students take the Houdini 1 course where they create 3D scenes utilizing a procedural node-based network, including animation, scattering, vegetation, terrain, and oceans, all rendered inside Houdini. Houdini 2 introduces students into dynamics simulation including POPS, RBDs, SOP solvers, fluids, and Pyro. 

Further into the VFX program, Houdini 3 & 4 are offered, which lead students into more advanced concepts including building a custom growth solver with vector math, fuzzy logic, chaos theory, and VEXpressions as well as develop the skills needed to set up and organize an fx-driven production shot through procedural workflows for a sequence-based environment. Other upper-level Houdini classes include Liquid Simulation and VFX Design, which challenge students to push their Houdini skills in more creative directions.