Student computers purchased through MCAD, along with school owned equipment, will receive packaged software and updates from the school, and MCAD manages this software through a Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform.
Most of the applications available for use by students, faculty, and staff will be distributed to them automatically on their equipment as long as their device is managed by MCAD's MDM system. The licenses for these pieces of software are generally owned by the school and may not be used by those not associated with the school or after leaving/ending their relationship with MCAD for any reason.
Certain software required for classes and available to students will not be pre-installed or registed on student computers. Some of this software can optionally be installed by students through the self-service kiosk of the MDM, but much of the rest requires that the MCAD user apply for and manage their own license through a third party software manufacuture, such as Autodesk for the use of Maya in 3D Modeling and Animation courses. MCAD maintains help articles on this supplemental software in our KnowledgeBase, and it can be easily searched for over there.
The following is a list of the primary software available to all of our users (whether on their own equipment or ours) with any exceptions noted:
- Adobe Creative Cloud (Adobe CC) suite - Full versions of over 15 professional grade and industry standard applications and tools used in almost every aspect of digital art production.
- Microsoft Office for macOS - Available in labs and on other school owned equipment, as well as MDM managed computers. Not available to student equipment not purchased through MCAD.
- Autodesk Maya - Preinstalled in labs, and available to install on personally owned equipment after applying for a license from Autodesk.
- FormZ - License available to install on personally owned equipment after applying for a license from AutoDesSys.
- Max 8 - Available in labs or as an optional download on MDM managed devices. Not available to students equipment not purchased through MCAD.
- Printer/Scanner/Tablet Display drivers - Preinstalled or optional on MDM managed devices. Available through device manufacturer website or help article on the MCAD KnowledgeBase
- Miscellaneous software application - Mostly free, optional tools including but not limited to:
- Google Chrome
- Firefox
- FileZilla
- VLC Media Player
Additional specialty software is available in labs, and may vary by location. Certain software and lab resources are only available to specific majors. Instructions on how to access specialty software or hardware will be issued to students, faculty, and staff based on need and enrollment status.
Students, faculty, and full-time staff may also install and use the Creative Cloud desktop applications on personally owned or leased computers through our work-at-home agreement with Adobe. Privileged user may activate the software for their exclusive use on up to two (2) computers (provided that these activations are associated with the same Adobe ID) within their direct control. However, user may not launch the software on these devices simultaneously. The work-at-home license does not guarantee full access to all of the additional cloud services or mobile apps. Degree or certificate seeking students may only use the CC software while actively enrolled at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Faculty and full-time staff may only use the CC software while actively employed at the college. If at any point you withdraw or graduate during the academic year or are no longer an employee of the college, the license grants for the products shall automatically expire. The user shall immediately de-install the products and purge them from their computer.