Credits: 3.
An in-depth examination of the technological and cultural underpinnings that continue to shape current electronic media including video games, the internet, computer animated movies and virtual reality. (WR)
Credits: 1-3; Prereq: consent of instructor.
Special topics course to address contemporary digital arts and sciences issues. This flexible pedagogic mechanism provides DAS a dimension of vitality that compliments theory-based offerings with an up-to-the-minute examination of emergent cultural and technological events and developments.
Credits: 3; Prereq: DIG 3313C and DAS major, or consent of instructor.
Practical and design techniques for the implementation of three-dimensional digital animations. Basic principles of 3D vector transformations, virtual camera calibration, modeling and 3D rendering. Work on interaction event handling, graphical interface design and key-framing using both industry-standard tools and also open-source tools to perform a frame-by-frame study of traditional and contemporary motion picture animation.
Credits: 3; Prereq: DAS major or consent of instructor.
Practical principles and techniques of 2D software environments for animation. Includes keyframe-based techniques for web and other interactive environments, and vector-valued image processing, representation and major file formats, user-driven interactive animations and algorithm-driven digital animation for game design.
Credits: 3; Prereq: DAS major or consent of instructor.
Develops a framework for integrating participation and storytelling as the foundation of interactivity. Explores how story is incorporated into contemporary interactive platforms such as games and other digital media, including virtual worlds, video blogs and social networks.
DIG 3506 Interdisciplinary Design Methods for Digital Arts and Sciences
Credits: 3; Prereq: DAS major or consent of instructor.
Comprehensive overview of industry- and academy-standard design methods and processes. Interdisciplinary design practices from process-focused fields like interaction design, human-centered design, design research and computer-supported collaborative work. Construction and delivery of needs analyses, audience analyses, and design documents, and iterative design practices including rapid prototyping, user-testing, real-time research, conceptual design and agile development. Students will use one of these design frameworks to take a DAS design prototype from conceptualization to user-testing.
Credits: 3; Prereq: DAS major or consent of instructor.
An interdisciplinary design and production studio environment exploring linear narrative techniques found in both traditional and emergent media forms. Collaborative teams will create a major digital media artifact incorporating diverse and effective narrative devices and techniques to persuasively tell a complex story.
Credits: 3; Prereq: DIG 3525C or consent of instructor.
Working within an interdisciplinary digital arta and sciences (DAS) design and production studio environment, students will focus on network and internet-based technologies, delivery systems and content generation. Students will participate in the creation of two major collaborative group projects or one major semester-long project.
Credits: 3; Prereq: DAS major or consent of instructor.
Fundamentals and core practices of traditional game design. Course includes theories and organizing frameworks of game design and the “how to” of the technical and organizational process of creating a game. Students build technical skills in conceptualization, visualization, prototyping and user-testing of digital games. While game design is primary, the skills and knowledge acquired will apply to design-centric activities and constructs in the digital arts and sciences.
DIG 4255C Audio Design for Digital Production
Credits: 3; Prereq: junior-level DAS major or consent of instructor.
Professional techniques for the creation of audio content for variety of applications in the digital arts and sciences. Software tools for conversion, storing, processing and retrieval of sound in a variety of digital formats. Fundamentals of loop-based audio design, sampling and work with a industry standard software with linear and interactive digital media.
DIG 4306C Advanced Digital Animation Techniques
Credits: 3; Prereq: DIG 3305C and DAS major, or consent of instructor.
Practical principles and techniques of 3D software environments for animation. Includes triangular mesh design and editing, splines (NURBS), shading techniques and lighting, different camera projection models, rendering techniques, and efficient use of GPU for photo realistic real-time 3D animation.
Credits: 3; Prereq: DIG 3526C or consent of instructor.
Conceptual design and production of content and technologies for mobile and ubiquitous digital delivery systems. Emphasis on rapid prototyping, agile design, interdisciplinary collaboration and project management in a relatively short development cycle.
Credits: 3; Prereq: DIG 4527C or consent of instructor.
As the capstone academic experience resulting from work within the interdisciplinary DAS environment, students will choose their own semester-long project that solves a problem or presents a new technical or cultural capability via enhanced human-computer interaction.
Credits: 3; Prereq: DIG 3713C and DAS major, or consent of instructor.
Elaborates on the game design concepts, processes and technical practices introduced in Game Design Practices 1. Students learn how to use their understanding of game design fundamentals to craft effective digital games. Course is built around the detailed examination of conceptual techniques in game design and their use in DAS design practice; a comparative introduction of different frameworks for game design; and introduction to the technical components of 2D and 3D game design.
Credits: 3; Prereq: junior-level DAS major or consent of instructor.
A coordinated undergraduate seminar working with faculty from the digital arts and sciences program on collaborative interdisciplinary research projects. Centers on a collaborative interdisciplinary end-of-class project in which students present their research projects and experiences from that semester.
Credits: 1 to 4; can be repeated with change in content up to 6 credits. Prereq: consent of faculty member supervising the study.
Independent study of special or individual DIG projects and issues, under faculty supervision.