This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of Photoshop. Topics covered will include understanding the tools of Photoshop, modifying images, exploring color techniques, as well as studying and recreating various textures through different painting techniques. Students will learn how to use layers, layer via copy, layer opacity, layer styles, layer mask, and layer blending modes to create depth and transparency. Students will understand image size, pixel depth and resolution. Focus on selection techniques including Lasso, Color range, Quick mask mode, Magic wand, Mask logic and the Pen tool.

This course will be an introduction to digital compositing principles and presentation skills using compositing software. Previous student demo-reels will be reviewed as a tool for understanding the sequence of compositing and editing steps required for creating a successful demo-reel. Using combustion students will explore the program interface and understand main compositing tools in the application. Concepts such as creating a composite branch, layering images and animation will be introduced and practiced. Presentation skills such as importing different images to combustion and creating a simple digital storyboard, creating and animating titles, understanding QuickTime compression and rendering the final result as a QuickTime movie will also be covered and practiced. Students will create a digital storyboard for a fictional demo-reel in addition to creating titles and credits for a fictional demo-reel.

In Project/Portfolio students will improve their traditional drawing and design skills in the first half of the term. Students will work with traditional mediums and learn how to develop concepts and Ideas and create drawings with composition and linear perspective. In the second half of the term students will be collecting artworks from their digital and traditional classes and create a digital portfolio for critique and assessment.

Modeling clean animate-able meshes is an essential skill in the 3D Industry. 3D Design 1 will focus on instilling proper modeling workflow including concept development and reference gathering. Through lectures, in class demonstrations and assignments, students will learn tools and techniques to model non organic objects and environments. Design 1 begins with a thorough introduction to Maya?s interface. Students will then continue to learn about NURBS mesh types and the tools needed to create clean well layed out NURBS surfaces. Polygon modeling will be introduced and all tools will be covered in depth. Focus will then shift to modeling non organic environments (closed and open) with the final few weeks dedicated to creating a larger environment for the main term assignment. In modeling, repetition and practice is essential, therefore Design 1 contains a heavy workload of assignments.

This course explores the fundamentals of animation using cutting edge 3D software. Students will cover a mixture of topics such as posing, timing, key-framing, interpolation, transformations and rendering. Through assignments and exercises, the students will build experience, setting the stage for more advanced topics and exercises in the second semester.

In the first term of production students will explore the roles, responsibilities and tasks in the creation of 3D graphics. Students will work with production tools and focus on the skills and positions to create finished works. The first half of the term will focus on digital concepts, story and design, There will also be a focus on UV unwrapping, 2D imaging and texturing, Students will spend time weighting and rigging models for animation. The last half of the semester students will focus on camera work and editing, lighting and rendering.

This course will cover fundamental concepts involved in traditional 2D animation. Students will be developing their animation skills in timing and acting while learning the principles of animation. During the course students will learn the studio procedures for the creation of a professional piece of animation. Each assignment will focus on the core skills needed to be successful in the traditional and digital animation industry. In the second half of the term students will learn basic storyboarding and character design techniques necessary to create a short film.

In this course students will continue to build upon the principles of texturing from level 1, using specific techniques to create skin and clothing. Realistic texturing scenes will be explored in more depth with an emphasis placed on details. Students will use photographic reference images to enhance the believability of their work. Prerequisites: MDIA 1181

Compositing 2 will continue to build on what was covered in compositing 1 with a focus on more advanced visual effects and motion graphics. Students will mask and rotoscope several video clip selections in combustion. During the term, time will be spent animating selections, adding effect operators and animating effect operators. Using the tracking and stabilizing tools students will work with 1 and 4 points tracking and 1 and 2 points stabilizing. Students will key in Combustion and capture live video recorded on video. CG elements will be composited with other CG elements and composited against a life background. Time will be spent working with the colour corrector to blend these CG and live elements correctly. Prerequisites: MDIA 1182

In this course students will produce materials and employ techniques to enhance their effectiveness in the work place. Emphasis will be placed on resume/portfolio preparation, interview/networking techniques, public speaking and presentation skills. Students will hone their skills to industry standards in a workshop setting that encourages self-evaluation, constructive feedback and teamwork.

In Project/Portfolio for Animation 2, students will improve their traditional drawing and design skills in the first half of the term. Students will work on a series of projects, designed to showcase how a story idea (Script), can be carried through the design process and into storyboarding and finally translated into previs. In the second half of the term students will be collecting artworks from their digital and traditional classes and create a create a digital portfolio for critique and assessment. This course emphasizes the importance of team work. Students will be able to organize their work efficiently to get their assets assembled before making their portfolio presentations. Students will be encouraged to problem solve while receiving and taking critique of their work. Based on feedback given by classmates students will revise their portfolio. Students will be working in a team, and will be encouraged to give and receive constructive feedback for improving presentations and portfolios.

Building on the foundations of Design 1, we will focus on modeling the human head using a variety of techniques. Students will come to understand the typology of the human head, its underlying structure and how these play a role in modeling the head. Modeling the body will also be taught with focus on the hands and feet. The creation of hair will be discussed and a variety of methods for different hair styles will be demonstrated. The ZBUSH software package will be introduced and how it interacts with Maya. Students will be taught what is known as the ?ZBRUSH Pass?, importing their models into ZBRUSH and adding a displacement map. Higher Poly smoothing methods will be discussed, allowing the students to move to a more polished finished product. Another major theme in this term is the ability to present one?s ideas in a clear format. Throughout the term, student will learn to focus their ideas and present them on paper through a well designed, well referenced character concept. This term will culminate in the modeling of that character, the end result of which will be placed on the students demo reel. Prerequisites: MDIA 1630

This course continues to build on the core principles of animation the student has taken in MDIA 1640. Animation exercises covering weight lifts, dialogue, full body acting, and 2 character interactions allow the student to develop further acting skills. The course delves deeper into the creative and technical world of character setup. Methods and techniques for creating highly interactive spines, simulation of a forearm?s ulna and radius skin deformation will be explored. Students will create control splines to manage deformations in a highly intuitive manner. Foot Roll effects, breathing controls and tails will all be covered in the character setup component. By the end of the term students will submit 3 possible final animation proposals. Prerequisites: MDIA 1640

In the second term of production students will work with lighting and surfacing in greater depth. Students will practice lighting scenes with final gathering, global illumination, and ambient occlusion. Time will be spent on how to split up scenes into separately rendered passes, and then composite renders into final footage. Students will work on their final demo reel concepts and there will be a peer review of student work. There will be an emphasis on efficiency and the creation of a reasonable workload for the student to create a demo reel. In the last half of the semester we will study particle, rigid-body and soft-body simulations. The semester will conclude with a peer review class of the work done throughout the semester. Prerequisites: MDIA 1660

In this advanced course students will continue to build upon their skills in texturing their models and environments. Time will be spent refining Scenes, objects and characters in preparation for their final demo reels. Prerequisites: MDIA 2181

Compositing 3 will have a focus on editing and technical aspects of outputting for a final demo reel. Students will be introduced to expression in combustion for looping animation or creating camera shakes. Time will be spent creating and manipulating particles in combustion and working with advanced distortion techniques using particles and displacements. Using the edit operator students will create workflow for editing a demo reel, output technical aspects, creating Gamma and output tests for authoring a simple DVD. Students will build a DVD interface and colour correct their final demo reel. The final weeks of the term students will have editing workshops, and prepare work for the final output process. Prerequisites: MDIA 2182

The focus of Audio for animation lies in working with ProTools LE. Time will be spent importing, editing and producing basic audio pieces for projects. The work created in this course can be used in multimedia, media projects and demo reels. Students will also be exposed to basic audio connections and cables and learn basic concepts about digital audio. By using practical projects the students will experience the process of audio production and post-production.

This course emphasizes the importance of team work. Students will be taught to organize their work and get their assets together before making their portfolio presentations to the class. Students will be encouraged to problem solve while receiving and taking critique of their work. Based on feedback given by classmates students will revise their portfolio. Students will present their projects to faculty and industry for critique and feedback. In the final 4 weeks of Project/Portfolio the students will discuss their final presentation for their industry night

Vehicle modeling will be the main theme at the start of Term 3. The students will learn all the essential tools and methods needed to create low and high-resolution vehicles. Focus will then shift to the creation of models for inclusion in the student's demo reel. The students will create a shot list and production schedule which will resemble a real life work environment where the slippage of delivery dates will mean that some content will have to be cut from the final product (demo reel.)This is the final term so students will be expected to use all the knowledge and experience they have gained throughout the program to assemble very high quality demo reel material. The last segment of the term will be made up of mostly LAB time designed to maximize the student/ instructor interaction. As this time is the most valuable and essential in the outcome of the demo reel, students are encouraged to make an extra effort to attend all classes during this time. Coincidentally, attendance is worth 20% of the term mark. Prerequisites: MDIA 2630

Third Term is primarily a demo reel term where the instructor takes on the role of a technical and creative director and helps each student with his or her final demo reel. The first four weeks of the third semester comprise a group project dealing with animation FX. Students will work together to create a storm using particle effects, cloth, rigid body simulations, practical animated effects, volumetric effects. Each group will create one master scene file incorporating all elements of the storm. Each student in each group will then be responsible for animating a character of their choosing through this environment. At the end of week 13, each student will be responsible for handing to the instructor a DivX AVI at 720 * 540 comprising their work on their demo reel. Prerequisites: MDIA 2640

The focus of the third term production class is the creation of a demo reel. Students will assemble an animatic and use it as the framework for their final demo. The animatic will be reviewed through the term. The final term will give the students an opportunity to practice everything learned over the first two production terms. The goal of the final production term is a 1-2 minute demo reel showcasing their specific talents. Students should focus on their strengths and interests such as modelling and texturing or animation. Students will also create an animated logo for the beginning of their demo reel. Prerequisites: MDIA 2660