I'm currently in my senior (final) year of my computer engineering degree, and have two opportunities to apply in front of me, one is Autodesk and the other is Ubisoft.

Both of these companies have offices in my city and I have friends from my batch who are already pursuing internships there. One of them recommended me to join Autodesk, I'm not sure about the reasons behind his recommendations but I guess it's because of the flexible timings and better pay compared to Ubisoft (though I heard Ubisoft also has flexible timings).

Long story short, I want to get into the games industry as a rendering engineer/graphics programmer. I know that Autodesk is all about computer graphics and Ubisoft also works on their own game engines, that's why I'm very confused as to which internship I should go for.

One thing to note: I am planning to pursue MS in Computer Science in the US with emphasis in computer graphics courses (I'm currently living in India) after I graduate. Keeping that in mind I'd like to gain relevant experience in order to increase my chances of getting admission in a decent university, and ultimately getting a job in the game industry as a graphics programmer and/or get a normal programming job until I make a proper portfolio after which I can join the game industry.

I'm looking for suggestions for which company I should go for an internship? Considering the fact that the experience I'll gain from either should help me in the future in terms of computer graphics?

Jam

Hmm.. well, the rendering technique in a modelling tool differs from what is used in game engines. Althought how high are the chances, that you really get close to the actually rendering coding in both companies (maybe it will be developed in an other studio in an other city/country).

Therefor, if you like to code games, would like to work in a game company, then doing your intership in a game studio looks more promising, even if you are not getting your hand on computer graphics.

You need to apply for both. They both have hundreds of applicants. Apply for both and wait until you have firm offers before you start weighing up the pros and cons of which one to take. Don't sell yourself short by applying for only one.

You need to apply for both. They both have hundreds of applicants. Apply for both and wait until you have firm offers before you start weighing up the pros and cons of which one to take. Don't sell yourself short by applying for only one.

I'll be applying for both, just not now. I'm going to apply in september this year, after my current work at GSoC ends. So I still have time to think about which one I should go for in case I do get into both.

An intern isn't going to get anywhere near core graphics code. You will be working on bugs/requests that junior programmers can't be bothered with. Apply for both and take whichever one accepts you. Since you want to make games I'd learn towards Ubisoft as that would be a nice check box on your resume. But no game company is going to reject your resume because you interned at Autodesk.

One way to make a big decision: a decision grid.

Great suggestion, but I recommend to put the weights in there explicitly (separate column) so that you can tinker with them (they tend to be subjective after all).

Since you said Autodesk and Ubisoft, I'm assuming your city is Montreal. From memory, I believe Autodesk's office in Montreal is part of their gamesware division. I'd double check that, but if so I'd say either would be helpful towards your end goal.

Edit: Just reread OP and saw that you're living in India. As a more general suggestion, programming is programming and take whichever one offers you a spot. Both companies have solid reputations.

Since you said Autodesk and Ubisoft, I'm assuming your city is Montreal. From memory, I believe Autodesk's office in Montreal is part of their gamesware division. I'd double check that, but if so I'd say either would be helpful towards your end goal.

Edit: Just reread OP and saw that you're living in India. As a more general suggestion, programming is programming and take whichever one offers you a spot. Both companies have solid reputations.

What if I got an offer for both? Even though I haven't applied yet, my friends who had applied for both had gotten accepted relatively easily, since it's just an internship and in India I guess the bar for entry isn't too high here I guess.

I understand that it's an internship and all, but in terms of the company itself, the decision seems pretty tough. I will try out the decision grid approach as a start, but I'm still looking for opinions on this from others in order to strengthen my decision.

If you get into both, you are going to have gone through multiple phases of interviews. And remember you are interviewing them as well. So get your questions ready. Find out the work, find out the tools and ask everything. That will really help you in finding out the best fit for yourself.