based on 10 reviews
ID Tech Camps
Stanford University
Palo Alto, CA
94305
(888) 709-8324
info@internaldrive.com
http://www.internaldrive.com
By: Your Neighbor
Date: June, 2008
The camp is good for children who want to have some fun but not learn anything that would be useful in game design, web design, and game modding. My son took 3D game design 1 and game modding 1. He told me that he learned absolutely nothing that would help in real game creation, they used programs that were primitive and would never been seen in a real game creation company. The way you created levels was completely different that what is actually done. There was no use of popular 3D modeling programs such as Maya. The game modding class used an unrealistic editing program to "mod." Real modding entails first acquiring a game map, then using an appropriate modding program to change hex codes, inject metas, etc. Then to hash the file, resign it, and the place the map back into the game. That's real modding.
By: Your Neighbor
Date: June, 2008
My eight-year-old daughter completed the 1-week Adventures in Game Design camp. She loved it! It was a great hands-on introduction to game design. It was age-appropriate, her instructor was great - she got lots of one-on-one time, it's a little pricey but a great summer activity/camp for kids. I'd like to see idTech expand and host more classes in the North Bay (i.e. Napa).
By: Your Neighbor
Date: June, 2008
This camp was great for my daughter. She took a video game creation course at iD Tech Camps last year. At first I was nervous about her attending camp at a University and also a technology camp. She was eager to go but I was not sure she would pick up on the information. After the first day, I knew I was wrong. She came home excited about her project, she was having fun and she really liked her instructor. She also really liked playing Guitar Hero during activity time. I noticed after camp that her confidence level had risen dramatically, especially with things on the computer. I would definitely recommend this camp to anyone looking for a fun educational summer activity. The tuition is not the cheapest but it was worth every penny. She is looking forward to going back this summer
By: Your Neighbor
Date: June, 2008
Totally worth every penny! I was surprised my daughter loved it so much. She loves to play soccer and goes to a camp for it every summer as well. She is cutting it short to go back to iD this year which is saying a lot. The camp is on a university campus which I liked but our daughter really got a kick out of it. She learned to create a video game there in a week. i was impressed on the family day with how much she had learned. She had a game that she could play and has since taken it home and continued to work on it. My main reason I am ok with paying for camp this season (its not cheap but it is worth it) is the staff. They are awesome. From her point of view she thought they were cool and they knew what they were talking about. When we dropped her off we could see that it was well run and the staff seemed to know what they were doing. It was also nice to see her instructor was a girl as well. There were only about 4 other girls there and maybe 30 boys. One thing to think about but about half of the staff was female. Her instructor really did inspire her to keep learning about technology. She is looking to take a course where she creates her own website this year. She hasn’t been this excited about computers ever; it’s really cool to see. I recommend this camp to anyone who has a child that is interested in technology and having fun.
By: Summer Camp Survey 2007
Date: October, 2007
My children have been going for years. Expensive but they enjoy the subject matter. Only one week, which is about all I'm willing to allow for summer for sitting in computer labs.
By: Summer Camp Survey 2007
Date: October, 2007
This was a wonderful camp! My children did the "Website design and flash animation" and it was A+ from start to finish. Very well fun, great food offered in the dining hall and wonderful counselors. We will definitely go back!
By: Summer Camp Survey 2007
Date: September, 2007
Very Expensive. My son liked it but was not overly enthusiastic. He did not get much out of the golf sports part of the program.
By: Summer Camp Survey 2007
Date: September, 2007
Not only do my kids love this camp, so do their friends. While being at a prestigious university like Stanford University, they get to work on fun technology projects. My son created a video game in just one week and now wants to keep working on it. My daughter created a website and may try making money on the side helping people design sites. The instructors are all vivacious and make learning fun. I highly recommend this camp to anyone since it's way more than a tech camp. I think next year my son is going to do the Golf & Tech program.
By: Your Neighbor
Date: July, 2007
My son attended the video game design camp and he REALLY enjoyed creating his own video game from scratch. The counselors were very supportive and helpful and my son felt proud of what he created. In the end we bought a copy of the software he learned to use and he continued working on it at home.
By: bay area parent
Date: April, 2007
I work for iD Tech Camps, and have for 6
seasons. We're by far the largest and most
recommended camp of our kind. The company is family
run and this culture is felt throughout the company
and camp as we really care about the campers and make
sure they're having fun in a safe environment. We
provide hands-on, day and overnight programs for ages
7-17 at 50 prestigious universities nationwide in 22
states. This includes Stanford, UC Berkeley, Santa
Clara and UC Santa Cruz in the Bay Area.
During the week, students choose one course and use
industry-standard products to finish a project, while
learning the technology. They create video games,
design websites with Flash Animations, edit movies
with special effects, build robots, learn programming
and so much more. At Stanford, we even have a Sports
& Tech program where students spend half the day
either making a video game or website and the other
half doing a sport. At UC Santa Cruz we have Surf &
Tech which is the same concept, but surfing.
When students attend our camp, many have lifelong
changes. It sounds trite, but this is what I've
experienced. I'm the VP of Marketing and I hear from
many parents and students. Their self esteem blossoms
as they learn how to articulate their creativity in
new ways. They also have a skill that they bring to
school and use in projects, extra curricular
activities and hobbies, while often times being
mentors for others who don't know these skills. Some
students have started businesses or take a hobby like
video games and turn it into a passion of making
games. The beauty is that they're learning while
they're immersed.
Besides iD Tech Camps, we also offer 2 Teen programs.
One is iD Gaming Academy where teens are immersed in
the world of video game development for 2 weeks.
They learn Maya and other leading products then leave
with a mini game portfolio. This is offered locally
at Stanford and UC Berkeley. The other teen program
is our Documentary & Filmmaking program in Southern
Spain. Students live with a Spanish family for 2 1/2
weeks while taking Spanish classes with students from
all over the world at the University of Cadiz, visit
the sites with our group while they take video using
Canon cameras we lend them, go into our lab and learn
how to make a documentary movie of their trip using
Final Cut Pro (what pros use). It's an unbelievable
experience. I
strongly believe in iD Tech Camps or I wouldn't work
for this company. It's very rewarding working for a
company where we make learning fun while impacting
thousands of kids nationwide each year. We have a
very high returning camper rate, which speaks for
itself.
