CAMPBELL, CA – June 30, 2010 – iD Tech Camps, North America’s largest youth technology summer camp, has recently dedicated over 3,000 computers to running Stanford University’s Folding@home application.
The software – which allows all users to band together to form one large supercomputer – uses intensive computational methods to help scientists more thoroughly understand “protein folding, misfolding, and related diseases.”
Specifically, proteins are the underlying keys to biology, but before they can begin to work for our bodies, they must fold. While the process is still very much a mystery, it is known that protein folding is linked to a number of diseases – when proteins fold incorrectly, results can include Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and many cancer-related syndromes.
In all of this, the role of the computer is to provide accurate simulations which permit scientists to better understand results – more so than if they were to gather information solely from experiments. While the simulations don’t replace experiments, they are useful because they go above and beyond what can be seen in the lab, opening new avenues to hopefully finding cures and new preventions.
With an average of 50 computers at 60 different summer camp locations, iD Tech Camps powers these 3,000 computers each and every summer, giving kids and teens from all parts of the country the opportunity to take a course in video game design, programming, web design, graphic arts, robotics and more.
“We actually spend a lot of time planning, projecting and staffing to make sure there is never a need for our campers to share computers while working on their projects,” said Pete Ingram-Cauchi, President and CEO of iD Tech Camps. “But, by installing the Folding@home app on our camp computers, as a company, we are very happy to share our computers with Stanford’s scientists.”
Because the Folding@home application runs in the background of the CPU, it utilizes otherwise unused CPU power, virtually working unnoticeably to computer users.
“We thought installing Folding@home would be a very useful way to take advantage of the many computers we use during the summer season,” adds Ingram-Cauchi. “While protein folding is a very complex subject to understand and unravel, every computer contributes at least a small amount towards gaining a better grasp on what it is exactly that causes such diseases and syndromes.”
As iD Tech Camps’ involvement shows, anybody can easily assist with the study of these diseases by simply running the piece of software.
iD Tech Camps is North America’s #1 provider of summer computer camps and technology camps for kids and teens with programs at 60 elite universities in the USA and Canada. Locations include Stanford, Princeton and Harvard. Established in 1999 in Silicon Valley, the company is family-owned and operated. iD Tech Camps offers technology courses including Video Game Design, 3D Game Modding, Maya®, Game Development, Programming in C++ and Java, Programming iPhone® Apps, Robotics, Web Design, Flash® Animation, Graphic Arts, Digital Photography and Video Editing. The summer camps consist of weeklong day camps and sleep away camps, and multi-week teen academies. Courses are appropriate for beginner to advanced learners. The company teaches the latest technologies from Apple®, Adobe®, Microsoft®, Autodesk®, Sony®, Valve® and more.
Reporter Laura Kirtley of WLFI Channel 18 in Indiana, visited iD Tech Camps held at Purdue University on June 24, 2010.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) – The creative juices are flowing on Purdue’s campus as iD Tech Camp gets underway. Campers are learning everything from web design to programming, and even video game animation.
The week-long camp gives kids a hands-on experience with technology and shows them how their hobbies can turn into potential careers.
“I wanted to learn more about technology because that is what I want to do when I grow up and I want to build video games for people who are bored and don’t have anything to do on their computers,” camper Tyra Holland said.
“I love working with the computers, it’s one of my favorite things to do,” camper Christian Amstutz said.
The kids can stay in the dorms on Purdue’s campus as they get immersed in C++, Flash, and Dreamweaver programs. 7th grader Justin Lueck is building his own gaming website. This is second summer at the program. He said he plans to come back year after year.
CAMPBELL, CA (PR Web) June 20, 2010 – For their upcoming 12th season, iD Tech Camps, the largest youth technology summer camp in North America, has partnered with local Massachusetts filmmakers to offer an extensive course in Digital Video Editing and Special Effects.
We’ve all been guilty of playing “arm-chair film critic,” sitting at home or in the theatre wondering how we would change the movie to make it our own. A scene transition here, special effects and a new soundtrack there–even if it’s a wildly successful top quality film, the creative bug in all of us itches to make changes. While years ago it would never have been possible, kids and teens in today’s world now have an outlet to satisfy their creative need.
The course, geared towards students with an interest in filmmaking and film production, features Freedom Park, an award-winning, independent family comedy, which ran for a combined 15 weeks in 9 different Massachusetts theatres. The film features Boston sports greats Louis Tiant, Lyndon Byers, and Jerry Remy, and follows two buddies, who after running into debt trouble with a Vegas crime boss, return to their hometown of Freedom Park, Massachusetts to start a gambling ring on Little League baseball to pay off their debt.
Within the weeklong video editing course–which is offered at various university locations including Harvard, Bentley and Merrimack in Massachusetts–students will use actual footage from Freedom Park to learn to mark and trim clips, add music, sound effects and other special effects with the industry’s top software and tools. Also, at the end of each camp session, finished products will be showcased on YouTube® and each student will take home a copy of FreedomPark on DVD to see how their edited version compares to the actual film.
The film’s Producer Andrea Ajemian and Writer/Co-Director Jon Artigo formed the company Artigo/Ajemian Films, which is based in Worcester, MA. Their teen drama Still Green was released nationally on DVD in the fall of 2009, after winning “Best Ensemble” at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, as well as “Best Narrative Feature” at the New England Film and Video Festival.
Their latest feature film BoyBand: Breakin’ Through in 82’ was shot entirely in Massachusetts in 2008, and is currently playing in select theatres in Massachusetts. The film is about a high school quarterback who quits his football team to turn his heavy metal band into the first ever boyband in 1982.
In addition to starring 11 Hollywood actors including Robert Hoffman (Step Up 2, She’s the Man), Ming Na (Stargate Universe, ER, The Joy Luck Club), Ryan Hansen (Party Down, Veronica Mars), Michael Copon (One Tree Hill, Scorpion King II), and Laura Breckenridge (Gossip Girl), over 30 local actors have roles in BoyBand. Freedom Park Executive Producer Victor J. Melfa, Jr. recently Co-Produced the documentary The Lost Son of Havana, which was produced by the Farrelly Brothers and is the story of Cuban born Red Sox star, Louis “El Tiante”’ Tiant.
iD Tech Camps summer programs in Massachusetts have already started, and will be running through late August. Gaining hands-on experience with actual footage from Freedom Park, this summer season’s batch of inspired students hope to soon be the one’s in the director’s chair.
ABOUT iD TECH CAMPS
iD Tech Camps is North America’s #1 provider of summer computer camps and technology camps for kids and teens with programs at 60 elite universities in the USA and Canada. Locations include Stanford and Harvard. Established in 1999 in Silicon Valley, the company is family-owned and operated. iD Tech Camps offers technology courses including 3D Game Design, Digital Photography, 3D Game Modding, Maya®, Game Development, Programming in C++ and Java, Programming iPhone® Apps, Robotics, Web Design, Flash® Animation, Graphic Arts and Video Editing. The summer camps consist of weeklong day camps and sleep away camps, and multi-week teen academies. Courses are appropriate for beginner to advanced learners. The company teaches the latest technologies from Apple®, Adobe®, Microsoft®, Autodesk®, Sony®, Valve® and more.
Purdue connects with kids at technology summer camp
By Meranda Watling
When Tia Termini arrived at Purdue at the start of this week, the 10-year-old Gary resident had never built a website before.
On Thursday she was polishing off her first website — a collection of links to dog shelters — and by Friday, she was showing it off.
“We went step by step. The hardest thing I had to do was try to get it on the Internet,” Tia said, noting it was hard to remember and execute the several steps it took to move her creation from Photoshop to Firefox.
“I was expecting to learn how to build a website, but I didn’t expect to actually make one.”
Tia was one of about 20 young students visiting Purdue this week as part of the iD Tech Summer camp. In addition to a Web design class, students learned about computer programming and video game design during the weeklong camp.
“These are the kids turned on by technology and computers, so the idea is to get them excited by it now, so when they’re older they can transition to a career path,” said DJ Weymuth, camp director.
That’s exactly how it worked for Drew McTighe, who graduated from Purdue this year with a bachelor’s degree in computer graphic technology. McTighe is one of the camp’s teachers this summer.
“I was a camper a few years ago, and I liked it a ton,” he said. “As soon as I felt I knew enough, I applied to lead a class.”
He was leading the video game design course where students like Jean Luc Vallejo, a 13-year-old from East Chicago, were learning about game design and how to build something.
Jean Luc said he still had a lot to finish of his game on Thursday. He wanted his game, “Crazy Good,” which he said involved the army, to be better. He hopes to be able to come back to the camp next summer to improve it.
“I always thought it would be pretty cool to do game design,” he said. “I’m keeping it simple for now, but I want to build on it.”
Jack Walsh, 11, of Crown Point came to the camp to build on the skills he was already developing. But he’s learned a lot about Web design this week.
He created a site for his friend’s comics to be posted online.
“I made (a site) last year and I liked it,” he said. “I wasn’t really using software, just a website, to make it. So I learned pretty much everything from scratch here.”
CAMPBELL, CA – June 22, 2010 – iD Tech Camps, the largest youth technology summer camp in the world, has been named a “Top Workplace” by the Bay Area News Group in the recent June 20th publication.
Ranked 5th among small businesses, iD Tech Camps was one of over 1,200 Bay Area companies of 50 or more employees to participate in an independent, optional survey performed by Workplace Dynamics. Through the survey, employees were given the opportunity to rate their company across several dimensions, including company leadership, career management, values, work conditions, diversity, compensation and benefits.
“We’ve built our company one idea at a time. One person at a time. It feels really good to be recognized by our employees as a top place to work,” said Pete Ingram-Cauchi, CEO of iD Tech Camps. “And you know what they say…happy staff equals happy campers. Right?” As a small company, iD Tech Camps appears to be on the forefront with its culture and management style. The company offers a matching 401(K) plan, medical, dental and vision coverage, and a myriad of other benefits including flex time and generous paid time off.
Walking around the office, people are dressed in casual attire including sandals, shorts and T-shirts. Music is playing. Mr. Ingram-Cauchi, the CEO, does not have an office – nobody in the company does for that matter. Everyone works in teams and sits out in the open. “It’s a page out of the Michael Bloomberg playbook—but we’ve been doing it since day one. It just feels natural and organic to us. We’re one team—and closed doors are not conducive to a true team atmosphere. Our culture and people define our company.”
Having just gotten underway for their 12th straight summer season, iD Tech Camps operates summer camps for kids and teens ages 7-17 at 60 university locations across the U.S., including Stanford University, Harvard University, UCLA, and Columbia University . While the camps take place for three months out of the year, prepping, planning and organizing occur on a year-round basis.
“The campers’ parents often ask what we do during the months that we are not running our summer technology courses,” Ingram-Cauchi noted. “The truth of the matter is it takes a ton of work to offer amazing summer camps. From revamping the curriculum, securing new locations, to marketing, staffing, staff training, application development, customer service—there is a lot that has to be done to make certain camps will run smoothly—and at the highest level possible.”
Established in 1999, iD Tech Camps employs over 50 full-time staff and over 500 seasonal faculty and summer camp directors. The average full-time employee has been employed at iD Tech Camps for six years. “Retention is really important to us,” said Ingram-Cauchi. “Most of our first employees are still here—they’ve witnessed our company’s expansion from a tiny Silicon Valley studio with a handful of camp locations to what the company has become today.” A significant amount of the company’s long-time employees started on the ground floor—and many of them are now managers, directors and VPs.
A first year employee, Megan Powell, summed it up this way. “Not only do my coworkers give 110%, but they also take pride in their work.” Powell added, “Each individual is recognized and is made to feel special, which is something I can’t say of previous employers. I matter, what I do at work matters, and everyone cares about each other. This really is reflected in the overall dynamic here, and one of the many reasons why I love iD.”
About iD Tech Camps
iD Tech Camps is the world’s #1 provider of summer computer camps and technology camps for kids and teens with programs at 60 elite universities in the USA and Canada. Locations include Stanford, Princeton and Harvard. Established in 1999 in Silicon Valley, the company is family-owned and operated. iD Tech Camps offers technology courses including Video Game Design, 3D Game Modding, Maya®, Game Development, Programming in C++ and Java, Programming iPhone® Apps, Robotics, Web Design, Flash® Animation, Graphic Arts, Digital Photography and Video Editing. The summer camps consist of weeklong day camps and sleep away camps, and multi-week teen academies. Courses are appropriate for beginner to advanced learners. The company teaches the latest technologies from Apple®, Adobe®, Microsoft®, Autodesk®, Sony®, Valve® and more.
Summer is in full swing here at iD Tech Camps, with many of our summer camps for teens and kids already in session. Since the next three months of your freedom will be most likely be filled with some sort of travel, what better way to keep connected to your friends and family by created your own set of postcards? Looks like it’s your lucky day, because in this post, that’s exactly what we’ll be doing.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN & CREATE In this tutorial, we’ll be creating a postcard that will be fully ready to print, either on your home computer or by using an online source (which can be really reasonable and allow your design to look extra professional). This is what your finished project will look similar to:
The link below this paragraph will include all of the stock files that you’ll need to follow along. If you want, feel free to use your own files and just follow the technique instructions that I’ll give you along the way.
Often times I want to find a professional, reasonable place to print my designs and Overnightprints.com is a great source for this. We’re actually going to be using their 4×6 postcard template to get started. This template will show you exactly where to place your artwork so that it prints correctly, should you decide to get your postcards professionally printed. If you decide to print at home, this template will allow you to do that as well.
To get to the file go to this this url: postcard template. Then click on the button that says, “Download Start File”, just below the red text that says 4”x6” Postcard. You’ll want to save this to your computer, since you will be using this file to create your postcard.
When you open up this file, you’re going to see a folder in your layers panel that’s titled “delete these layers”. On your artboard, you’ll have some additional directions for making sure your artwork stays within the printing boundaries and other printing information. Keep this folder so you know where your design should go. You can delete it at the very end.
For now, you can hide this folder by clicking on the eye in the layer panel. We’ll need to reference this folder every so often, so you’ll end up hiding and displaying it with this click.
CREATING THE BACKGROUND
The first design element we’re going to create is the background. While you may not be able to see it in the smaller thumbnail version in the beginning of this post, the background actually has a slight watercolor texture to it that really adds to that retro feel.
To lay a color base for the postcard background, draw a rectangle that covers the entire size of your artboard. Since we’re creating a print design, we’re working in CMYK at 300 dpi (not RGB at 72 dpi, which is for the web). The CMYK color code of this rectangle is: 10, 3, 45, 0.
Now place the watercolor, texture background on top of this. To do this, go up to the top menu bar of Photoshop and click on File>Place.
Navigate to the folder that you downloaded at the beginning of this post that has all of the design elements in it (you’ll need to make sure that you’ve unzipped the zip file or it won’t let you open the folder.) Find the image that’s labeled, grungy_watercolor.jpg and select Place. Resize this image so that it covers up your entire artboard.
Once you’ve resized it, change the Blend Mode to Overlay.
Instead of being bright purple and orange, your background’s colors should now be a lighter blue and yellow.
If you haven’t done so already, create a new group folder and name it, BG Elements. Place the two layers you just created into this folder. If you’ve read any of my other posts, you know I like to keep an organized layers panel, and folders are a great way to do so.
ADDING A GRUNGE BORDER
Next we’re going to add in a subtle white, grunge border. First, let’s create a folder called, White Grunge Border. The next two layers you create will go in here.
Create a new layer called, White Border. Then use the Magic Wand Tool (W) and click anywhere on the artboard. Go up to the top Photoshop menu and select Edit>Stroke.
Change your menu settings to be the following:
This will create a thick white border around your postcard. Now, we want to add just a bit of an uneven grunge border. To do this, we need to use one of the brush sets in that was provided in the beginning of the tutorial. To load a new set of brushes, select your Brush Tool (B) from the Tools Panel.
Then go the Brush Preset Menu just below the top Photoshop Menu. Select the Down Arrow, then select the circle button with the arrow pointing to the right. A new menu will pop up allowing you to select the option that says, “Load Brushes…”.
Navigate to the folder that you downloaded earlier in the tutorial and select asunder20 brushesfile and click, Load. When you look at the brushes in your Brush Preset Menu, there should be a whole new set of brushes available to use.
Create a new layer above the White Border Layer and name it Grunge Border. With the color white selected, use these brushes to create a subtle grunge border on the inside of the straight white border we created earlier. Experiment with different types of brushes in the set to create a random border effect.
CREATING RETRO-LOOKING TEXT
Now it’s on to the colorful, retro text. The font I used is called, Road Movie and can be found on dafont.com if you search for it. If you want to use a different font, by all means…go crazy and use whatever your creative mind desires.
To create the overlap look of the title, we’ll need to create each letter as a separate layer. So using your Text Tool (T) (located in the same area where the Paint Brush is located), click on your artboard and type in a letter “G” and make it about 65 pixels large. (Keep in mind that this may vary depending on which font you use.)
Change your letter “G” CMYK color code to be: 50, 100, 0, 0. This will give is a deep, fushia/purplish hue. Then change the Blend Mode to Darken.
Copy the “G” text layer you just created by hitting Ctrl + J. Using the Move Tool (V), move this copy to the right and change the letter to be an “R”. Keep the Blend Mode at Darken, but change the CMYK color code to be: 100, 0 , 0 , 0. Then adjust the placement of your letter “R” so that it’s overlapping the letter “G” just a bit.
Continue to do this until you’ve spelled out the word, “Greetings” using the CMYK color codes below.
Now let’s add in the very subtle white drop shadow to the title text. An easy way to do this is to create a folder and name it, Title. Then put all of your letter layers into that folder. With the entire TitleFolder selected drag it to the Create New Folder icon in your Layers Panel. This will create a copy of your TitleFolder.
Right click on the copy of your folder and select, “Merge Group”. Now double click on the layer and change the Color Overlay to be white.
Now move your white TitleLayer to be below your original TitleFolder and place it so that it’s slightly to the above and to the right of the original text. Set the Opacity to be 80%.
Lastly, angle the entire title text and white drop shadow and place it towards the top left corner of your postcard.
ADDING IN THE PAPER GRAPHIC
In the tutorial files zip folder that you downloaded, place the paper.psd graphic on your postcard artboard. Place it below your “Greetings” text and to the right a bit. Then use a script font and add in the word “from” in the top left corner of the paper graphic. Change the color of the font to be the orange that you used in the “Greetings” text. If you want to use the same font I used, you can go to dafont.com and search for “Honey Script”.
If you want, you can fill in the paper area with the place you’re going, but I thought it might be fun to keep it blank so that you can print out a bunch of copies and write in with permanent marker the place where you’re at when you decide to write to someone. Or you can always write your name in there too. It’s completely up to you.
CREATING THE LIGHTHOUSE GRAPHIC USING THE THRESHOLD FEATURE
We’re almost done with our graphics for the postcard! The next thing you need to do is open up the file called, “lighthouse.jpg” from the tutorial files folder that you downloaded. Once you have it open, duplicate the locked Background Layer by selecting it and clicking Ctrl + J, then delete the lockedBackground Layer so that you only have your copy in your layers panel.
Next go up to the top, main Photoshop menu and select Image>Adjustments >Levels. Bump up the contrast of image by moving the middle slider to the right a bit.
Now to up the Image>Adjustments>Threshold. Move the slide so that your Threshold Level is at about 141.
Now take the Magic Wand Tool (W) from the Tools Panel and select any area of the image that is white. Since we want to select everything that’s white, after you do this, go up to the top, main Photoshop Menu and go to Select>Similar.
This should select all of the areas in your image that are colored white. Now hit delete so all of the white disappears.
Now to change the color of the black areas, double-click on the layer so that the LayerStyle Menu pops up. Select Color Overlay and make the color to be the CMYK color code: 100, 50,30,010.
Make sure that both your postcard file and the lighthouse image are open on your Photoshop screen. Then in the Layers Panel (not the artboard), click and hold on the lighthouse layer that you just created. Now, drag it over to the postcard file artboard (not the layers panel) that you were working on earlier. This layer should appear on your artboard now.
It’s probably too big for your artboard, so hit, Ctrl + T to transform the size. Resize the image so that fits your artboard.
Also, you’ll want to make sure that this layer is below all of your layers except the BG Elements Folder you created earlier. This way you won’t be covering anything up that you want to be seen on your postcard. Here’s how I’ve organized and named my all of my layers to I can easily move groups and know what I’m clickin on.
GO FORTH & CREATE
For the back of the postcard, I’ve included a Photoshop file in the downloadable folder that includes a postcard back. You can use this file if you want, or create your own.
If you’re looking to print your postcards, you can easily print them on your home printer, two to a sheet. Or you can go to OvernightPrints or UPrinting and upload your design files and they can print out as many as 25 or more. It’s reasonable and makes your postcard look like one that you would buy in a souvenir shop. (Keep in mind iD is in no way affiliated with any printing companies. These are just some that I’ve used in the past.)
That’s it. You’ve now created a retro-looking postcard design for all your travels this summer. Now that you know how to add these elements into your design, you can modify your postcard to include a different image that conveys where you’ll be in the coming months. For example, let’s say you went to a summer camp in Colorado, instead of a lighthouse image you could include an image of the Rocky Mountains.
Tell us where you’re traveling this summer by posting your destination and activities on the iD Facebook page.
Here’s hoping you have a safe, happy and FUN summer. And remember…don’t forget to write! (You can be sure that if you do send us mail, we here at the main office will personally write you back too! For our mailing address go here.)
Inside one of the rooms at CSU’s Academic Village residence hall, 11-year-old Joey Marsden of Fort Collins spent the last week creating a game using characters from the Super Mario Bros. series.
“I started it Monday, and it’s almost completely done,” Joey said.
Joey was among 18 students participating this week in iD Tech Camps, a summer camp being held at Colorado State University and more than 60 other college campuses across the country, said Monty King the camp’s CSU director and an instructor. The camps are tailored to teach students what it takes to design computer games during the course of one week, King said.
“The ultimate goal is to create a game and start understanding the basics of video game design,” King said.
Younger kids are taught game design basics, such as making characters move and setting the scene for the game. Children ages 10 to 15 can design multilevel arcade-style games, similar to Mario Bros. and Tetris, King said.
During the course of the week, Joey has learned to write scripts, or the commands that give computer keys different functions. His game, simply called Bowser, featured the popular video game’s flame-throwing dragon battling another character, the dinosaur Toad.
“The scripts are behind the video game,” he said.
Joey said he has enjoyed his week at camp because of the opportunities to work with computers.
“I wanted to do this camp because I love working with computers,” he said.
Ten-year-old Claire Russell likes computer games and has previous experience with programming because she was on her school’s robotics team. For her, learning how to create a game from scratch was a great way to spend part of the summer, she said.
“My video program is called the mysterious teleporting starfish,” Claire said, as a blue dog walked across her computer screen lined with layers of multiple open windows. “It’s about a detective dog and starfish.”
In addition to learning how to use Scratch, a basic computer design program, and Photoshop, an image creating program, students learn to embed music within the games.
They will present their finished products to their parents today and will have the chance to take them home and share the games with their friends, King said.
Nine-year-old Casey Rough’s video game pitted an army – led by Frankenstein – against a slew of zombies controlled by pop star Justin Bieber. This was his second year participating in the camp. He said this summer, his focus was on learning to use the liquefy tool in Photoshop to morph images.
Casey said he’s an avid computer and video game fan and regularly visits online game sites recommended by his friends.
“Computers are probably man’s greatest creation. You can do practically anything with a computer,” he said.
iD Tech Camps, North America’s largest youth summer technology camp, launches unique game modding class with Half-Life® 2 for summer 2010.
Campbell, CA (PRWEB) June 16, 2010 — iD Tech Camps, the largest youth technology summer camp in North America, has announced a new course offering—Teen students can now learn to modify one of the industry’s most popular video games—Half-Life® 2—at 30 university locations across North America this summer.
Video game modding (modification of) has become another aspect of our society’s desire to customize and personalize. The world’s most prestigious shoe company allows you to build and design your own sneakers at Nike.com, and one of the most well-known candy companies, Mars, Inc. makes it possible for customers to individualize M&M’s with their favorite messages or sayings. Today’s consumer loves to make things their own, and today’s technology supports the ability to do so.
While lesser known to the masses, video game modding allows users to alter code to create new items, levels, characters and even storylines—essentially creating their own version of an existing game. Modding’s increased popularity has pushed educators towards incorporating new courses into their curriculum, just as iD Tech Camps has done with their new course revolving around Half-Life® 2.
The sci-fi first person shooter developed by Valve®, Half-Life® 2, received multiple “Game of the Year” awards upon its release, and has since been named “Game of the Decade” by many notable publications. You would think that developers like Valve would oppose users taking heavily-invested, award-winning games and reworking them without limits—but most are supporting such actions by providing tools and documentation to assist aspiring modders. In fact, some third party, independent modifications of popular PC games have even landed on retail shelves for sale to the general public.
Realizing the game’s heralded success and acceptance among Teens, iD Tech Camps pursued the opportunity to work with Valve to provide such a valuable opportunity for students across the U.S. Using the Hammer engine, students learn to sculpt environments, manipulate lighting, add particle effects, and re-skin their favorite Half-Life 2® characters.
“This is another way for us to use industry leading software to facilitate the learning experience,” says Pete Ingram-Cauchi, President and CEO of iD Tech Camps. “Gamers develop such a connection with the games they play. With each level, enemy and piece of arsenal they use and encounter, they begin to creatively think about what they would do differently if they had created the game,” Ingram-Cauchi continues. “This is what we are fostering at our camps—We give students the tools and instruction to implement those ideas to modify the game and make it their own. Using Valve’s Half-Life 2 was an easy decision because of its positive standing among gamers.”
With the new course, iD and Valve are helping teens develop critical thinking skills to personalize gameplay and build a custom game with unique maps and levels, in hopes of that each Teen satisfies their own custom made aspirations.
About iD Tech Camps
iD Tech Camps is North America’s #1 provider of summer computer camps and technology camps for kids and teens with programs at 60 elite universities in the USA and Canada. Locations include Stanford, Princeton and MIT. Established in 1999 in Silicon Valley, the company is family-owned and operated. iD Tech Camps offers technology courses including Video Game Design, 3D Game Modding, Maya®, Game Development, Programming in C++ and Java, Programming iPhone® Apps, Robotics, Web Design, Flash® Animation, Graphic Arts, Digital Photography and Video Editing. The summer camps consist of weeklong day camps and sleep away camps, and multi-week teen academies. Courses are appropriate for beginner to advanced learners. The company teaches the latest technologies from Apple®, Adobe®, Microsoft®, Autodesk®, Sony®, Valve® and more.
Expertise: Photoshop, Illustrator & Graphic Design, Prairie Dogs, Corn, Driving Tractors, Moonwalking, and Guessing the Quantity of Random Objects in A Jar
