Key Courses

BFA:

Digital Imaging and Painting
Students use 2D and 3D photo/painting tools to gain an understanding of scanning for texture, mapping techniques, image manipulation, and the printing and mounting of files for presentation in this course.
 
Modeling I
This course deals with issues in advanced NURBS patch modeling and advanced UV layout for polygonal modeling. The further exploration of polygonal modeling methods and tools is performed with implications for Subdivision Surface modeling. Issues in level of detail are discussed with models created in high, medium, and low versions for rendering and animation proxies. Human figure and facial modeling is stressed in this course. Rigging of characters is accomplished with skeletal structures and animation controls set-up.
 
Character Animation
This is an upper level course stressing how character animation influences the character’s personality. Students become knowledgeable in multifaceted issues of human movement. The expression of emotion, timing, and the subtlety of character is explored. Lip-synching and dialogue animation are presented.
 
Character Rigging and Animation Setup
This course provides an in-depth analysis and exploration of character rigging and animation setup. Students will learn how to obtain proper deformations of the 3D geometry and will create Graphic User Interfaces through the use of Mel Scripting.
 
Digital Lighting and Texturing
This course explores the theory of computer lighting and texture mapping using various methods in CGI. Students develop a strong knowledge of photo-realistic lighting and texturing for computer generated artificial objects through structured exercises. Advanced shader networks are created in this course.
 
Advanced Animation and Concept Development
A higher level course with the focus on principles of production, this course examines various levels of the production pipeline. Students develop strategies for solving problems which arise in the production process. Students are placed in production teams and have weekly team meetings working on closely monitored projects with narrow guidelines. The Fur module of Maya Unlimited is also explored.
 
Digital Compositing and Visual Effects
The course focus is on understanding the production pipeline and the digital compositing role in that process. This course incorporates a strong emphasis on the creation of visual effects in the world of filmmaking. This class also marks the Second Annual Portfolio Review for students.
 
Advanced Applications in Animation
An advanced level course for students with previous experience in intermediate modeling and animation techniques, this course’s focus will be on the creation and manipulation of motion capture clips and incorporating the artist’s interpretation and application.
 
Advanced Visual Effects
This course features advanced scripting utilizing MEL (Maya Embedded Language) primarily for use with particles, dynamics, and expressions. This course contains a lab component.
 
Computer Animation Thesis
This course is designed to prepare seniors as animation professionals. Emphasis is on development and implementation of student’s senior demo reel concepts. The course centers on a senior project that results in a rendered animation with sound. Course will center on meeting production deadlines, as well as reviews and critiques of senior works-in-progress.
 
MFA:
 
Video Editing & Audio for Electronic Media
This course provides a solid technical and aesthetic foundation in video post-production for CG students. It concentrates on the issues of shot succession, timing, action, and sound/image relations as an aid to general postproduction skills and revisualization of computer animation. The course covers the essential elements of linear and non-linear systems, as well as general ecology of production and post-production in a rapidly changing field. Students learn to incorporate audio into various electronic media such as CD-ROM, World-Wide-Web, computer animation, and digital video. Technical issues covered include: the physical properties of sound, methods and tools of sound recording, music and audio terminology, and the use of analog and electronic musical instruments. Aesthetic issues are also considered. The class acquaints students with concepts of layers in 2D and 3D space, tracking basic terminologies, functionalities of digital editing software’s components, and processes of editing, compositing, and tracking. From this foundation, students move on to experimenting with different perspectives, creating and editing expressions, editing masks, defining parent-child relationships between layers, and animating lights and cameras. Toward the end of the course, students apply the skills acquired from the class to creating 2D, 3D and CG effects and building up their own sophisticated spaces. This course contains a lab component.
 
Advanced 3D Modeling
The course builds a fundamental understanding of 3D computer modeling, texture mapping, lighting, and rendering technology for developing animation works. Class activities place emphasis on application of modeling tools including 3D Curves, Patches, Meshes, Sub-division Surfaces, Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines, and Polygonal Tools. Students acquire a solid grasp of fundamental modeling techniques while guided through completing an animation project employing principal elements of 3D modeling, texture mapping, and lighting art and design
 
Character Animation
This course covers three major technical areas:
1. Advanced Modeling – Character modeling techniques with Maya
2. Advanced Character Deformers and Rigging with Maya
3. Advanced Animation Direction with Maya
 
All of the above three are core components of Maya. The course acquaints students with the advanced features of Maya modeling and animation. Through stepby- step instructor-led tutorials, students are directed to master essential advanced Maya modeling and animation skills through hands-on experiments. The class combines lectures with tutorials to demonstrate the mechanism of advanced Maya character modeling (Nurbs, polygon, subdiv) and advanced Deformers, Rigging, and animation including Character Setup Features, Skeletons, Constraints, Character Sets, Animating Character Sets and more…

Students are directed to put the concept to work immediately in class activities, and then apply them to their projects. Term grades are based more on the animation level achieved in the project than on testing for knowledge of concepts.
 
Maya Special F/X for Film & Video
The class combines lectures with tutorials to demonstrate the mechanism of Maya Dynamics Particle System, Paint Effects, Maya Cloth and Maya Fur. Students explore beyond 3D paint effects into advanced dynamic particle effects to produce complex images. The class experiments also include dynamic animation using the particle system to create realistic motion. The class directs students to employ Maya Cloth and Maya Fur to create realistic animated cloth and fur within the Maya environment. Through participating in class activities, students gain the ability to model garments for any animated 3D figures and to create self-shadowing fur and short hair on multi-surface NURBS models.

Students also learn to create many other types of cloth animation, including sheets, bedding, drapery, flags, and fabrics of all kinds. Students complete the course with film, video and commercial projects that apply major animation techniques learned during the course.
 
CG Programming Workshop
This course introduces students to Maya MEL (MEL stands for Maya Embedded Language). The course helps students attain a head start in the use of MEL commands and scripts. Once students grasp the essentials of MEL, this course continues to guide them to maximize their control of the commands, macros, scripts, and custom interface elements that can be created with MEL. Furthermore, students can use MEL commands to bypass Maya’s user interface, quickly create shortcuts, and access advanced features. With workshop experiments, students learn to enter exact values for attributes, circumvent any restrictions to precision that the interface imposes, customize it for specific scenes, and also to customize default settings to suit a particular project.
 
Advanced Special Effects Animation Production
This course provides a solid technical and aesthetic foundation for animation video production and post-production with Maya. It concentrates on the issues of shot succession, timing, action, and sound/image relations as an aid to general post-production skills and revisualization of computer Special Effects animation. The course will cover the essential elements of linear and non-linear systems, as well as the general ecology of production and post-production in this rapidly changing field. Students should preferably have some experience with video editing systems before entering the class. With a focus on advanced animation production, the course examines the use of Maya’s digital technologies in the creation of 3D animation end products: full screen video, TV commercials, and movies with Special Effects.

The class covers the process of computerized animation design and production through all phases of the production cycle: from layout, lighting, editing, and composition to digital file video recording, etc. Other advanced features introduced include the development of environment effects, special F/X, use of Maya and After Effects between media, and the fine-tuning of final compositions.
 
Thesis I
Master Thesis I and Master Thesis II combined is the summation of graduate studies in computer animation. Master Thesis I focuses on the initial phase of the thesis project – modeling and basic animation. The class guides students through the first phases of thesis animation production to develop a state-of-the-art production and accompanying paper in a graduate thesis project that reflects the student’s mastering of high-level animation techniques with Maya and other software. The course helps students solve technical problems they encounter during their thesis project development. A formal written proposal is required, involving research, writing of an original script, production planning, and detailing of technical issues. Successful completion of the course involves a positive full faculty review and a graduate committee review measured against defined benchmarks for the MFA program.
 
Motion Capture
As motion capture is leaving behind all controversies and becoming an increasingly practical tool for the generation of animation, this innovative course introduces students to this unique method of creating a 3D representation of a live performance, in contrast to the more conventional animation approaches that entail ‘by hand’ creations through a process known as key-framing. The course offers students hands-on experience with software tools for working with motion-captured data such as Kaydara Filmbox. Students are guided to utilize the tool as the means to edit and blend takes from multiple capture sessions and then mix and match them with key-framed animation techniques. Students gain the capability of exercising great control of style and quality of the final animation output for images.
 
Thesis II
Thesis I and II combined are the summation of graduate studies in computer animation. Thesis II focuses on the second phase of thesis project building – advanced animation production and special effects. Students must have successfully completed Thesis I before taking this course or take it concurrently. This course covers various post-production issues including video/film editing, final product presentation, and thesis defense strategies. The class constitutes a resource rich support to students as they work their way through the final phases of thesis animation production, post-production editing, and composition.

Individual meetings with the professor and class demonstrations of projects in progress ensure that every final product constitutes a state-of-the-art animation piece that reflects the student’s mastering of cutting-edge animation, editing, and composition techniques with Maya live, After Effects, AdobePremiere5, and other software. Students learn the optimal way to deliver and defend the final project in the professional arena.

Industry Connections:

• Digital Domain
• Blue Sky
• Rhythm and Hues
• Dreamworks
• Evolve CG
• Sony Image Works
• Disney Online