FAQs

Do I need to bring or buy my own computer?

You don’t need to purchase a computer to come here as the digital media labs are open 24/7 during the semester for student use. But many students do buy their own computers. Most have at least some sort of portable storage (i.e., a thumb drive, or a portable hard drive with a USB connection), just so they can take everything with them and also for backup.

Just about everything here is Windows-based, though a lot of our software will also run on a Mac.

Here is our current computer specs:

Alienware Aurora R15 210-BFRK

NVIDIA(R) GeForce RTX(TM) 3080 Ti, 12GB GDDR6X 490-BICL

13thGen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9 13900KF(24-Core, 68MB Total Cache, 3.0GHz to 5.8GHz P-Core w/Intel Thermal Velocity Boost) 338-CGVO

2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage) 400-BOOE

32GB Dual Channel DDR5 (2x 16GB) at 4800MT

Dell Multimedia Keyboard-KB216 Black (English) 580-AILI

Dell Wired Mouse BLK 570-AATH

US Power Cord 470-AEJY

Windows 11 Pro, English 619-APTO

Dark Side of the Moon 320-BCXT

Intel(R) Killer Wi-Fi 6E (6 where 6E unavailable) AX 1675, 2×2, 802.11ax, MU-MIMO, Bluetooth 5.2 555-BGST

Most assignments get delivered electronically, so you probably wouldn’t require an external drive. We have scanners and printers in the labs, and lots of other cameras and camcorders for check out.

So it’s up to you. You can trade off time in the labs with the cost of a machine. There is a community in the labs that work with and help each other. You can bring a laptop into the labs as well as there is wireless in the whole building.

How long before I start animating, or making a game, or shooting video?

You start all that in your first semester and go from there. In the first year, you’ll take a course in animation, visual effects, game creation, and 2D artwork. There’s a Mid-Point review in your second year to look over your work you create in these classes to assess your potential to successfully complete the program. So there is a lot to accomplish in your 1st year!

Can I tour the Digital Media Center to see the facilities?

Of course. Just sent an e-mail to digm.info@etsu.edu and we’ll arrange to talk to you when you are in town. It’s good to combine this with a campus tour of East Tennessee State University so you get the full picture of what it’ll be like to go to school here!

Where do your students go when they graduate?

Everywhere, and they do all kinds of different stuff. Many of students are in the studios working on games and movies, broadcast animators, matte painters, etc. And a lot of you-never-thought-of-that stuff like digital media specialist at the Peace Corps, interactive designer for E-Bay, making 3D virtual stores for Proctor and Gamble, etc. See for yourself in the digital media alumni group on Facebook: http://goo.gl/7wQmRm It’s a long list.

What kind of computers and software do you have in the lab?

Here are our current computer specs (as of Fall 2023):
Alienware Aurora R15 210-BFRK