The digital media combined area of concentration is a group of eight courses that can be combined with any other concentration. The Digital media curriculum consists of five foundation courses, two courses in a chosen track and a senior seminar. The foundation courses cover digital theory and history with industry standard technology in relation to art, design and special effects. Students can then choose to pursue 3D animation, digital video or interactive media as their track. The digital media capstone is a senior seminar where students develop a portfolio of professional-quality projects demonstrating their creative and technical potential to employers, clients, curators, collectors and graduate schools.
Throughout each course, students are assigned creative exercises, readings and projects designed to develop production skills and challenge intellectual and aesthetic assumptions.
Digital media enables students to become leaders in their given vocation, to empower them with state-of- the-art technical knowledge and foster an individual's creative vision.
Digital media prepares students to successfully pursue careers in the expanding field of digital production and art direction. Students are trained for a number of careers that include, but are not limited to the following:
• 3D animation, digital character development and virtual cinematography
• Digital video and special effects
• Interactive media and CD-ROM construction
• Digital fine art, design and installation
• Web site development
• Online instructional technologies
• Art direction and media production
Requirements:
• Computer Graphics (ART 265) (counts as general studies arts)
• Digital Video I (DIG 201)
• Digital Literacy (DIG 265)
• Digital Media Production (DIG 300)
• Web Design (DIG 315)
• Senior Seminar (DIG 420)
• Two Digital Media courses
top
ART 265
Computer Graphics
This studio provides instruction in the use of industry-standard digital imaging, interactive media and movement-based graphics. From the perspective of a digital designer, students learn the essentials of cd-rom and web construction. Emphasis is placed on developing the critical skills necessary to accurately assess how visual messages communicate, influence and form our digital landscape. Students are taught software applications, appropriate history and technical vocabulary using class lecture and studio projects. They are expected to consider these concerns while formulating their work. In-class critiques and individual instruction are used to refine student
work.
DIG 201
Digital Video
This course introduces students to the concepts and technological knowledge that support the field of digital video, script writing, lighting and non-linear editing. Students are taught cinematic history, aesthetic philosophy and key applications through class lecture and studio projects. They are expected to consider these concerns while formulating their work. In-class critiques and individual instruction are used to refine student work.
DIG 230
3D Animation and Special Effects
This studio provides instruction in the use of industry-standard digital animation, special effects and conceptualization applications. Students learn from the perspective of a digital media designer/producer/director the essentials of creating virtual environments, characters and special effects. Emphasis is placed on the foundations of modeling and animating in the 3D virtual environment, preparing each designer to tackle more advanced modeling and animation methods known by professional artists. In conjunction with becoming familiar with the foundations of Maya, students developthe critical skills necessary to accurately assess the impact that digital tools have on the ways in which visual messages communicate, influence and inform our cultural and intellectual contemporary landscape.
DIG 265
Digital Literacy
This course introduces students to the concepts and technological news driving digital media. Students investigate the new aesthetic tradition inherent in digital culture, gaming, instant messaging, artificial intelligence, computer graphics, digital design and the Internet. Digital history, aesthetic philosophy, and key applications are examined through class lecture and studio projects. Students are expected to consider these concerns while formulating their work. In-class critiques and individual instruction are used to refine student work.
DIG 300
Digital Media Production
This studio provides an intensive hands-on introduction to a wide range of digital production tools. Skills will be honed so students develop their creativity within the context of specific interactive software applications. The user-driven computer experience, the art of interface design, navigation structures, and various approaches to time-based visual representation form the foundations of student projects. Students focus on multimedia production using industry standard Macromedia Director. Intensive lessons on scores, timelines and behaviors, 2-D animation, digital video, sound design and dynamic text prepare students to tackle the language of Director - Lingo. The course includes instruction in simple programming methods and logic structures. It also introduces Property lists, Object-Oriented Programming and Imaging Lingo in 2-D and 3-D.
DIG 301
Digital Video II
Digital Video II is an opportunity for serious video students to hone their skills as an editor, director and cinematographer through the development of ambitious projects. Sound and cinematography are integrated into the concepts inherent in their productions. The screen functions as an immersive, temporal canvas where students in Digital Video II develop their green screening techniques and integrate special effects software into their productions. The primary software in Digital Video II includes the advanced application of Final Cut Pro with After Effects and Motion. Students are expected to write, storyboard, edit and shoot their productions. Outcomes of the course consist of work to be included in student portfolios for graduate school and potential employment, as well as the ability to critically think about their work in relationship to other artists and in relationship to their own objectives as an artist and filmmaker in the digital age.
DIG 315
Web Design
This class integrates Macromedia Flash MX with other applications resulting in web-based design and animation for online distribution. This course aids students in the development of their work within a professional standard emphasizing the concept of form and function. Students are taught appropriate history, aesthetic philosophy and key applications through class lecture and studio projects. They are expected to consider these concerns while formulating their work. In-class critiques and individual instruction are used to refine student work.
DIG 330
3D Animation II
This studio course is a combination of hands on exercises and in-class research designed for ambitious animators already familiar with working in the three-dimensional realm in AliasWavefront Maya and/or other 3D applications. This course introduces new methods of creating and manipulating both polygonal and nurb shapes developed by 3D artists who have researched for years to find the best methods of achieving effects and models. Students will also learn the native language of Maya, MEL, by hands-on use for specific special effects. By exploring such methods, students are able to choose and acquire their own techniques, and gain control of the 3D world at the professional level.
Prerequisite: DIG 230
DIG 420
Senior Seminar
This course is meant as a rite of passage from an undergraduate student to a professional working in the field or a scholar and artist pursuing graduate studies. The faculty works closely with students in the creation of a portfolio showcasing each student's work while demonstrating aesthetic and critical thinking. Writing assignments, resume´ construction and art and design coursework augment the senior seminar experience. Students must utilize all their talents, creative thinking, and honed craft when creating work for group critiques.
Additional Courses
A series of additional courses will be available from time to time. These courses are designed to expand the subject of digital media and to explore the inherently interdisciplinary nature of the subject. Examples include:
• 2-D Animation
• Research Methods
• Advance Applications
• Avatars, Robots and Aesthetic Programming
• Digital Art and Installation
• Advanced Digital Media Production
• Advanced 2D and Animation
• Digital Sound Production
• Web Design II
• Interactive Spaces
• Animating Cyberspace
• Derrida v. Diablo: Gaming Concepts and Theory
