Desgraff - Jeux vidéo, arts, animations et programmation spécialisée

05/04/2026

Ce qui s’est vraiment passé avec l’Institut Desgraff (version simple)

Desgraff était une école privée d’arts numériques (jeux vidéo, animation, effets spéciaux) au Québec (Sherbrooke et Longueuil). Elle a fonctionné pendant plus de 12 ans (depuis environ 2007), proposant des formations intensives d’un an. De nombreux étudiants ont terminé leurs études, trouvé du travail dans des studios (y compris dans de grands studios AAA), et l’école aidait avec le placement volontairement, offrait du support gratuit après le diplôme, et mettait régulièrement à jour ses cours. Elle a également passé un audit du gouvernement et n’était pas en défaut.

Le problème principal ayant conduit à sa fermeture :

Un malentendu avec un petit groupe d’étudiants (notamment une cohorte de 2015-2016). À cette époque, l’industrie des jeux vidéo évoluait rapidement : un logiciel appelé Substance Painter est devenu très important en mi 2016 vers la fin de leur formation. Les étudiants de ce groupe avaient commencé leur formation avant ce changement majeur, et leur programme ne pouvait pas include ce logiciel (les plans de cours étant fixés au début pour respecter les engagements contractuels). (L'école n'était pas en tord)

Au lieu de communiquer directement avec l’école pour obtenir une assistance ou des mises à jour gratuites (telles que tutoriels, etc., que l’école offrait volontairement), certains individus ont lancé une campagne visant à ternir la réputation de Desgraff, dans le cadre d’un recours collectif.

Ils ont contacté une émission de télévision, qui a diffusé un reportage à caractère sensationnel et négatif. Il a été évoqué que les cours étaient « désuets », que de fausses promesses de placement avaient été faites, etc. — selon Desgraff, ces affirmations étaient fausses ou déformées (ils disposent de preuves telles que des logs de mises à jour, des courriels, des partenariats, etc.). Un étudiant impliqué a la TV s’est exprimé dans un groupe Facebook dédié au recours collectif, en disant : « Personnellement, qu’il déclare faillite serait un si beau cadeau. ». Aussi, un faux taux de placement, inséré par un membre de ce groupe, travaillant sur le site Web de Desgraff, a été utilisé dans l’émission TV comme « preuve » d’un taux de placement!

Les conséquences :

Une chute importante des inscriptions (perte de confiance chez les futurs étudiants).
Certains partenaires ont pris leurs distances.
L’école a subi des pertes financières importantes et a dû fermer en août 2019.
Les employés ont perdu leur emploi, les étudiants ont perdu du support, et certains ont également subi des pertes financières.

L’école affirme qu’elle a été victime d’une injustice : une minorité de personnes, motivées par des ambitions personnelles ou professionnelles, aurait nui à l’image de l’école, impactant négativement des centaines d’étudiants et de finissants satisfaits. Le directeur a également reçu des menaces. Bien que l’école ait offert un support volontaire et des mises à jour gratuites après la formation, certaines personnes ont privilégié la confrontation publique.

Points positifs mis en avant par l’école :

Reconnaissances officielles et partenariats avec l’industrie.
Placement réussi de ses finissants dans de bonnes entreprises.
Mises à jour régulières des cours (preuves disponibles sur leur site).
Attention personnalisée envers les étudiants (petite école privée).
Support volontaire après la fin des études, avec reprises de modules gratuites.

En résumé : c’était une école qui a aidé beaucoup de monde pendant plus de 12 ans. Deux petites écoles Desgraff sérieuses ont réalisé un travail de qualité. Cependant, un malentendu, un reportage médiatique malveillant et une campagne négative ont conduit à sa fermeture.

Malgré tout, pendant les années d'opération avons tous partagé des moments extraordinaires ensemble, et cette expérience a été enrichissante.

Assisterons-nous un jour à un reboot de l’Institut Desgraff ? Peut-être que non, à cause de l’impact récent de l’IA qui a profondément changé l’industrie du VFX et du jeu vidéo, réduisant ainsi les besoins en formation. Mais qui sait… Peut-être quelque chose de rafraîchi et d’actuel dans un futur lointain ! 🤠✌️🏝️🏡

Source: www.desgraff.com

03/06/2026

Story: www.desgraff.com 🤗

11/01/2025

Flashback! It was a incredible experience at www.desgraff.com.👨‍🎓 I saw so much talented people and cool games and animations projects. It was a honor to share theses years with you all and see so many graduates find work afterwards🏆😎👍

10/08/2025

Cool project!!

Use my link https://drinkag1.com/bobbyivar to subscribe and save $20 off your first subscription of AG1Full gameplay video here: https://youtu.be/xy3X_txfYWI...

10/08/2025

Flashback: The root cause of the misunderstanding that led to Institut Desgraff’s closure is:

🔍 What Actually Happened

* During an academic cycle, Desgraff implemented a major software update, shifting to new tools and platforms for teaching digital arts and game development. Furthermore, the courses are centralized, and teachers continuously update them every workday over the past 12 years.
Numerous Desgraff graduates found work in studios, independently verifying that the TV show was erroneous about the school quality. This is strong evidence of the quality of the training, as industry studios had hired many of the students for years.

* The main reason for this misconception is that Substance Painter became the industry standard after more than half of the class's training program was completed, which started in September 2015. The software's founder confirmed that it became an industry standard in mid-2016. The starting point for this rumor was a comment made by an employee from a major AAA game studio in Quebec City, stating that the course was outdated because the software was missing from the program. However, this update was implemented mid-training, aligning with industry standards. Despite this, a group of students who had heard the rumor from the AAA studio employee complained that they had not received training on Substance Painter, which was not part of the original program.

* Because the deployment in schools was managed through a centralized version control system—including planning for student contracts, teachers' training, and testing to make sure the courses aren't blocked by a version bug—some instructors and students may not have fully understood the scope or timing of the changes in a school system. They thought, "Why don't they just install it and use it like I do it at home?

🧠 Misinterpretation

* Starting point: A student perceived a delay due to a false accusation from a AAA studio employee about Substance Painter on June 2th 2016, who mistook the situation as evidence of outdated or inadequate training. They then seized any story they could to spin it negatively against the school to build a class action law suit and damage the school reputation.

* A former teacher, possibly lacking access to deployment details or misunderstanding them, or intentionally fabricating false allegations to rally students against the school and prompt a class action lawsuit, echoed these concerns to students and, more widely, on TV. By making a false claim that the school had not updated any courses for three years, the teacher amplified the perception of mismanagement. However, evidence on desgraff.com recordings and course server logs reveals that the school had, in fact, been continuously updating courses on a daily basis for 12 years.

* These concerns were then featured in a TV report, which presented the situation as a systemic issue much bigger than reality, in order to win a case, rather than a one-off misunderstanding that could have been easily resolved through communication. Notably, the student who called the TV show had previously congratulated the quality of the training at Desgraff on two separate occasions, as documented in other news articles and corroborated by court documents, which validates Desgraff's claims that the TV show was erroneous and misleading.

📉 Consequences

The TV report caused several consequences:

The class action lawsuit and a future sensational TV show caused placement partners to withdraw, fearing legal or reputational risk.

Then the class action lawsuit supporters used that the studios backed out to further damage Desgraff's reputation, and to recruit more angry students based on half-truths or lies like saying that recruting partners was all false after they scared them away! (So they can reach 10 to 70 very negative testimonials for court) by: Making claims about Desgraff's hiring partner's being false, which was featured on the TV show! Using the TV show to spread misinformation and amplify their claims.

Despite Desgraff's history of successful graduates and industry ties, the school ultimately closed due to one main reason: A sharp decline in enrollment because of a sensational and erroneous TV show, which led to economic pressure that started with a simple missunderstanding. Evidence of the school's partnerships, communications, and claims is available on desgraff.com.

Desgraff later clarified that these issues were isolated and technical in nature, not indicative of the school's overall quality. This incident highlights a classic case of how a small, misunderstood operational hiccup can quickly escalate into a full-blown crisis! What's particularly sad is that the reputations and training of a large number of people were unfairly impacted and devalued as a result of misinformation.

10/07/2025

Good day, everyone! 🤗🤗😎 We will be posting from time to time.

If you've ever wondered why we didn't spend time defending ourselves in the media after Institut Desgraff closed, it's because we were in survival mode, coping with bankruptcy for years after closure due to an organized smear campaign and fake news. But these attacks were unacceptable. Desgraff schools closed in August 2019.

Look at the dates in the video when Law 181 against fake news was abandoned. If they can't report accurate news legally, they should at least do so morally.

The public should know that these attacks mostly consisted of false allegations. The misunderstanding started with an allegation from an employer at a AAA studio on June 2, 2016, complaining that our training did not include Substance Painter, which caused doubt in the class in Sherbrooke. Furthermore, Desgraff played a significant and passionate role in shaping the game industry, with many professionals and new studios spinning off over the years.

Ask yourself: who benefits today from that smear campaign? 🤔
Why were they so close to a handful of negative students and pushing this narrative?
When will they realize they went too far, and that we need to fix this mess?

Why the same reporter previously got sued for 13 millions for slander doing the same has it was done to Desgraff?

Nevertheless, we are incredibly grateful to all the students and teachers who supported us all the way to the end. Wow, you guys have heart and common sense — true heroes in this story. Kudos!

Maybe in the near future, we can all start fresh and build together. Open to suggestions. For now, we continue voluntary support for our former students, offering encouragement and tips.

To be continued. Cheers!

08/23/2024

12/01/2023

Quels sont vos 3 jeux vidéo préférés de tout les temps? 🤔👌

07/08/2021

👇 On s'ennuie de nos anciens étudiants! Merci pour votre support👌

Depuis 2007, formation de qualité, mises à jour et partenaires de placement pendant 12 ans. Finissants ce placent dans l'industrie.

08/12/2019

Malheureusement, l'école doit cesser son fonctionnement à compter du lundi 12 août pour des raisons économiques causé par de fausses accusations par certains qui ont fait fermer l'école. Nous remercions tous les enseignants qui ont mis tous leurs talents et leur motivation dans cette aventure. Tous nous aimons notre école et avons tous fais des grands sacrifices pour la garder ouverte. Nous avons eu de la fierté à former tous ces jeunes artistes et programmeurs à qui on souhaite le meilleur et qu'ils continuent à se perfectionner. Nous vous remercions de bien respecter ce deuil et merci d'avoir choisi Desgraff.