Mediadesign Hochschule

Mediadesign Hochschule (mdh) is a private, state-recognized university of applied sciences operating across Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Munich. Tracing its roots to a media training enterprise established in 1987, the institution achieved official university status in 2004 and received institutional accreditation from the German Council of Science and Humanities. mdh focuses on the intersection of design, technology, and media management, providing specialized education for the digital media, visual effects, and game industries.

The university's educational approach centers on project-based learning and cross-functional team production designed to simulate professional studio environments. Students transition from foundational principles to portfolio-ready output, culminating in major graduation projects and industry showcase presentations.

Creative Pathways

Curricula cover both academic degrees and state-recognized vocational apprenticeships:

• Digital Film Design (B.A.): Focuses on animation, visual storytelling, 3D modeling, and digital compositing. Practical student short films—including productions such as Magnitudo, Faces Of Love, and The Collector—emphasize lighting, rendering, and complex compositing. Look development training incorporates 360-degree HDR environment capture and live-action cinematography with Blackmagic cameras to integrate filmed plates with CGI elements. Software instruction includes Autodesk Maya, Foundry Nuke, Adobe After Effects, Maxon Redshift, Arnold, Katana, and Pixar's RenderMan.
• Game Design (B.Sc.): Centers on game mechanics, visual scripting, interactive design, and level architecture. Students form collaborative teams of artists, programmers, and designers to build and balance playable game prototypes.
• Media Design (B.A.): Offers specializations in UX/UI design and communication design, emphasizing user experience research, interface creation, and interactive media.
• Vocational Training: Provides applied apprenticeship programs for game artists, game programmers, and media designers across digital, print, and audiovisual media pipelines.

Campus Infrastructure

Specialized production facilities support hands-on learning at each campus location:

• Berlin (Charlottenburg): Features an AI laboratory, a dedicated playtesting gamerspace, photography and film production stages, green-screen chroma key studios, and printing workshops.
• Munich (Ramersdorf): Equipped with a 3D graphics laboratory, a dedicated render farm for complex CGI rendering, Rokoko Smartsuit motion capture systems, virtual reality headsets, photogrammetry tools, and high-performance animation workstations.
• Düsseldorf (Medienhafen): Situated in the city's media harbor district, offering photography and film stages, digital labs, and prototyping facilities.

Degree and vocational programs in creative production strictly require in-person attendance to ensure access to studio hardware and collaborative team workflows. Instruction is delivered in small cohorts with direct mentorship from faculty active in the entertainment and media industries.