The digital media co-concentration can be combined with any other concentration. The digital media curriculum consists of core courses, courses in a chosen focus area and a senior seminar. The core courses cover digital theory and history with industry standard technology in relation to art, design and special effects. Students can then choose to pursue a focus area that deals with art, communications or computer science. 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
• Computer gaming
• Art direction and media production
Requirements
Core Courses
• Computer Graphics Art and Design (ART 265) (counts as general studies arts) Note: ART 265 is a prerequisite for all digital media courses
• Digital Video I (DIG 201)
• Digital Literacy (DIG 265)
Illustration & Design (DIG 270)
• Visual Programming (DIG 380) (counts as general studies quantitative reasoning)
• Web Design (DIG 315)
• Senior Seminar (DIG 420)
Focus Area -- Two courses required
Art Focus
- Design (ART 103)
- Modern Art & Design Concepts (ART 256)
Communications Focus
- Writing for the Mass Media (COM 222) (Prerequisites are waived for digital media concentrators)
- Writing for Public Relations (COM 327) (Prerequisites are waived for digital media concentrators)
Computer Science Focus
- Game Programming (CSC 383)
- Game Design (DIG 383)
A course cannot count for both a digital media focus area requirement and for a requirement for the student's other co-concentration.
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ART 265
Computer Graphics Art and Design
Computer Graphics is a combined studio/lecture course providing instruction in the use of industry-standard digital media tools. Students learn from the perspective of an artist and designer the essentials of digital still image creation, graphic design and digital animation. This course not only provides students with a strong technical foundation, but it also introduces students to the concepts intrinsic to art and design in the digital age.
DIG 201
Digital Video
This hands-on course introduces students to the concepts and technological knowledge that support the fields of digital video, script writing, lighting and non-linear editing. Students work individually and in groups on a series of short video productions using the Final Cut Pro Suite, an industry standard editing and special effects software package. Cinematic history, aesthetic philosophy and key applications are taught through class demonstrations, exercises and lectures. Digital skills and a personal vocabulary are developed further through class critiques and individual instruction.
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 develop the 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 270
Digital Illustration and Design
This course will cover the use of art and design as creative tools in mass communications and art media. Through creative design projects and discussions/critiques, students will create raster and vector imagery to populate original print-ready designs. Upon completion of the course students will have technical skills (Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator) sufficient to design, illustrate and professionally package press ready projects, as well as understand design, composition and conceptual integration of text and imagery.
DIG 300
Digital Media Production
Digital Media Production provides an intensive hands-on investigation into a wide range of digital production tools. Skills are honed as students develop their creativity within the context of specific software applications. Students create new work for their portfolios with an emphasis on individual objectives and specific areas of interest. In addition to studio work, students examine pertinent readings in digital media and visual communications through papers and classroom discussion. Readings and essays also provide a theoretical framework for effective communication in individualized projects.
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. Prerequisite: DIG 201
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 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 380
Visual Programming
This course targets an audience of individuals within the context of the visual arts who are interested in creating interactive and visual work though writing software but who have little or no prior programming experience. Many people think programming is only for people who are good at math and other technical disciplines. In this course, we will be extending the programming space to engage people who think differently, people with visual and spatial minds. The language used is called processing. This language makes it possible to introduce software concepts in the context of the arts and also to open arts concepts to a more technical group. Satisfies the general studies quantitative reasoning requirement.
DIG 383
Game Design
Students will research a particular game genre, then design, develop, and produce a game that conforms to that genre. After first gaining skills in 3D modeling, texturing, animating, and lighting, students will apply these skills to the creation of 3D game content. The 3D content will include (but is not limited to) at least one character with accompanying animation cycle(s), one level, and one user interface. For the final project, students will utilize a game engine to incorporate all of these elements into a cohesive, functioning electronic game.
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.
