Graduate Admissions
Technology for New Graduate Students
To assist new students prepare for the start of the term, we have compiled technology recommendations for each program. The information provided will help students looking to purchase technology in advance of the start of classes. Please note that some of these programs have recommended (optional to purchase) and required technology listed.
To learn more about our computer labs and free/discounted software, go to the Computer Labs webpage on Inside.ArtCenter.edu.
All specs listed are “recommended” unless otherwise noted as “required,” which means that students can complete assignments using the on-campus computer labs if they do not have the specified technology.
Purchasing
We recommend that you purchase your technology at the ArtCenter Student Store to take advantage of educational discounts.
MFA Art
Hardware (Recommended):
- Laptop
Software (Recommended):
- Adobe Creative Cloud - Free/Discounted to Students
If you have any questions, please contact: Gal Amiram - gal.amiram@artcenter.edu
MDes Brand Design and Strategy
Hardware (Strongly Recommended):
- Laptop or Desktop with camera and mic
Software (Strongly Recommended):
- Adobe CC Suite (required) - Free/Discounted to Students
- Microsoft Suite (required) - Office 365 Free/Discounted to Students
- Google Suite (recommended)
- Keynote (recommended)
- Miro (required) - free
- Slack (required) - free
- Figma (optional) - free
- Zoom (required for online) - free
If you have any questions, please contact: Gerardo Herrera - gerardo.herrera@Artcenter.edu
MFA Film
Hardware (Recommended):
- MacBook Air M2 or MacBook Pro M-series
Software:
- Required - Final Draft (discounted)
- Recommended - DaVinci Resolve (there is a free tier) - Free/Discounted to Students with Mac
- Recommended - Adobe Creative Cloud - Free/Discounted to Students
- Required for Editing track students: Avid Media Composer (free) - Free/Discounted to Students with Mac
Peripheral (Recommended):
- USB-C external SSD Drive, 1 TB minimum for transporting and backup up data files
If you have any questions, please contact: Aaron Lindquist - aaron.lindquist@artcenter.edu
MFA Graphic Design
Hardware (Strongly Recommended):
- Apple MacBook Pro 16”
- M1 or M2 Max Processor or equivalent
- 32GB of Unified Memory (Minimum)
- 2TB SSD Storage (Minimum)
- A good desktop monitor 4K or above like LG for Apple Display or Apple Studio Display OR equivalent
Software (Strongly Recommended):
1st term
- Adobe Creative Suite: Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign - Free/Discounted to Students
- Apple: Keynote, Pages, Numbers - Free/Discounted to Students with Mac
2nd term-8th term
- Motion:
- Adobe Premiere - Free/Discounted to Students
- After Effects
- Audition - Free/Discounted to Students
- Lightroom Classic - Free/Discounted to Students
- Media Encoder - Free/Discounted to Students
- Maxon C4D, Redshift, Red Giant Complete — Maxon C4D Free/Discounted to Students
- Packaging:
- Adobe Dimension
- Maxon C4D - Free/Discounted to Students
- SolidWorks - Free/Discounted to Students with Windows
- Visual Interaction/Transmedia:
- Adobe XD - Free/Discounted to Students with Mac
- Figma
- Sketch
Most of these programs have educational discounts. These are also on the computers in the computer labs for students working on campus.
Obviously, new software pops up all the time. The syllabus for every course will list the requirements.
Peripherals (Strongly Recommended):
- 1–2 TB external hard drive for storage and backup
- Mouse
- Wacom tablet
- Google (or other cloud service) for secondary backup (hard drives die)
If you have any questions, please contact: Isabel Zaragoza- isabel.zaragoza@artcenter.edu
MS Industrial Design
Hardware (Recommended):
- Laptop
- Recommended (minimum) technology for 2023
- PC Laptop
- Processor: Intel Core i7 3.3GHz (or faster), Xeon or equivalent AMD
- Screen: 15 inch, UHD (3840x2160) resolution, Matte/non-glare surface
- Operating System: Windows 10 or later Hard Drive: Solid State Drive (SSD) 1TB + Memory/RAM: 32GB Graphics card: NVIDIA Quadro P2200 minimum or NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000
- OR
- Apple Laptop
- MacBook Pro 16.2” (2023) M2 Pro (10-core CPU) or M2 Max (12-core CPU)
- 32GB RAM
- 1TB SSD Storage
- Some Industrial Design classes use software that only runs on a Windows PC (e.g. SolidWorks.) These classes are taught in computer labs and with desktop computers that are available to students to use on campus. Some choose to utilize a Windows based PC laptop so that they can work with PC specific applications on and off campus. Some students choose to utilize Mac laptop computers running OSX as their main computer and complete their PC specific work on the college’s computer lab resources.
Software (Recommended):
Peripherals (Recommended):
- Display Monitor
- 27” or Larger 4K Monitor (3840x2160)
- External Storage Device
- 1TB or larger capacity 7200 RPM or Solid-state Drive (SSD) Connects via USB
If you have any questions, please contact:
Andy Ogden - andy.ogden@artcenter.edu
Gwen Hourihan - gwen.hourihan@artcenter.edu
MDes Interaction Design
Hardware (Recommended):
- Suitable Mac or PC laptop or desktop machine to be online and to do work in major
Software (Recommended):
- No required software for program.
- Adobe Suite - Free/Discounted to Students
- Slide and word processing software (Google Drive is free)
- Figma and Miro (free)
Peripherals (Recommended):
- Good webcam for the online course
- Good file saving habits that include local machine, external hard drive and cloud.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Kevin Wingate - kevin.wingate@artcenter.edu
Lindy Leong - lindy.leong@artcenter.edu
Maggie Hendrie - maggie.hendrie@artcenter.edu
MFA Media Design Practices
Hardware (Required):
- Mac or PC laptop
Software (Required):
- No required software for program.
- Adobe Suite - Free/Discounted to Students
- Slide and word processing software (Google Drive is free)
- Figma
- Miro (free)
Peripherals (Recommended):
- Good file saving habits that include local machine, external hard drive and cloud.
Additional Comments:
- We share a PDF for computing needs in MDP during the Summer prior to start of Fall term. Students will share their specs and we can make sure they have a plan and understand options to lessen the cost.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Kevin Wingate - kevin.wingate@artcenter.edu
Lindy Leong - lindy.leong@artcenter.edu
Maggie Hendrie - maggie.hendrie@artcenter.edu
MS Spatial Experience Design + MS Furniture, Lighting, and Fixtures
Hardware (Recommended):
In a time like this, it is very important to have a powerful computer to run all of your essential software. Generally speaking, Windows PCs are recommended for running heavy renderings tasks, like Unreal Engine and Twinmotion, since Unreal is optimized for NVIDIA graphics cards which are not available on Mac. At the same time, Macintosh computers tend to display typefaces more beautifully. If your main usage includes any of these programs: Unreal Engine, Solidworks, and Twinmotion, we recommend Windows PC.
Recommended specs:
- CPU: Intel i7 and higher
- Graphics Card: Nvidia RTX3070 and higher
- RAM: 32GB Recommended / 16GB Minimum
- Storage: 1TB SSD
- Windows Laptop Options:
- There are a lot of windows laptop manufacturers. These 2 listed below have proven to be of high build quality, but there are others - do your research!
- Windows Desktop options:
- There are many options and manufacturers of windows based desktop computers.
- A desktop computer will always have an advantage in every way except for portability. They are generally cheaper, or cost the same with more power. They are also easier to upgrade should the need arise. (it will)
- Some of the top manufactures would include Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc.
- One other excellent option available to windows computers is having one built specifically for you based on your needs. There are several online custom pc building companies:
- There are also local companies that you can visit and have a custom PC built. This option is my personal choice, as it generally does not cost any more than a store-bought machine, and it has the added advantage that if something were to go wrong, I can bring it to them and have it fixed generally much faster than having to pack and ship the computer back to the manufacturer. Going online and searching for custom PC builder is a great way to find a local builder. One that I have had great experience with is: Alice Computer Works (626) 451-0288 located in San Marino https://www.originpc.com/gaming/desktops/neuron/
Please note: At this point, the new M1 Processor is not supported by Unreal Engine and Twinmotion. We do NOT recommend you buy a new Apple computer. We will keep you posted on future changes.
Rhino will run on traditional Intel Processors. Unreal Engine and Twinmotion will run on higher-end Macs with Radeon Pro Graphics card with 8GB of graphics RAM.
Software (Recommended):
- Rhino 7
- Unreal Engine - Free/Discounted to Students with Windows
- Keyshot - Free/Discounted to Students
- Twinmotion - Free/Discounted to Students with Windows
- Adobe Creative Suite - Free/Discounted to Students
- Solidworks - Free/Discounted to Students with Windows
- MODO - Free/Discounted to Students
- Blender - Free/Discounted to Students with Windows
Additional Comments:
- Budget options:
- $1500-2000 range buys open-box or refurbished
- ebay.com
If you have any questions, please contact: Amber Alzate - amber.alzate@artcenter.edu
Financial Aid Recipients
A reasonable allowance for the purchase or rental of a computer required for your program may be added to your estimated cost of attendance upon request. This would increase the amount of student loans you may wish to borrow. If you need to borrow additional student loan funds to cover the cost of a computer required for your program, please contact the Financial Aid Office by email at financialaid@artcenter.edu or at 626-396-2215.