Creative Arts & Technology Courses

The function of getting your work ready to be seen at festivals by enthusiasts and/or industry professionals, with the intention of getting your "foot in the door", is the basis of this course. We will address the most important factors for introducing yourself to the industry by preparing a diverse, high quality demo reel, featuring quality animation that shows you have a strong and clear understanding of animation principles. Whether your path is 2D, 3D or a more experimental Stop Motion, in a large commercial studio, an independent animator, or within the festival circuit, this course will investigate the current resources, and prepare you to take the best steps for that direction.

The study of drawing the human anatomy, especially with concerns in articulating expressive gesture poses for motion, requires much practice. This course will elevate a students’ understanding of complex mechanics in the human figure, while continuing to emphasize the importance of sound construction in drawing. It is designed for experienced students, who are interested in additional attention on capturing the observed effects of light and movement on the human form.

This is the culmination course for collaborative game development methodologies. It is also the first half of the Capstone experience and incorporates several new preproduction tasks. Students will enter into a developer/publisher relationship with their faculty advisor and go through to the necessary steps to get their projects green lighted. Then they will utilize all of their skills to create a working game prototype that is ready for detail and polish.

This is an advanced expanded media pre-production class, designed to prepare students to conceptualize and write the proposal for their senior capstone project. Before students can advance to CAT 420 Capstone, an approved proposal, including the treatment, script, storyboard, installation plan and production schedule must be completed. Students must achieve advanced production skills in CAT 366 or CAT 368 before advancing to CAT 409.

Working in a critical and collaborative environment students develop and complete a semester-long recording project of professional caliber. As a culmination of the DAE series, CAT 410 emphasizes project management, problem solving, originality and technical precision. Students direct the flow of the course which is tailored to meet the specific needs of their projects. Group critique, student-to-student feedback and collaboration are essential elements of the course. CAT 410 is a hands-on studio production course which serves as a bridge to a creative and professional working dynamic.

A final, major independent project undertaken by senior CAT majors under the supervision of departmental faculty. The intention is to create a work that will in some shape become part of the student’s portfolio, to be used to market themselves after graduation from the program. Projects take many forms, depending on the student’s talents and area of specialization: e.g., production of a videotape or audio tape; design and construction of a book; gallery exhibition of a significant number of works; performance of a solo show. The student must not only complete the project, but also publicize and market it in true entrepreneurial fashion. This course is required of departmental majors and all projects must be approved by a meeting of the departmental faculty. May be repeated for credit for total of 2 semesters.

For students with a double major in CAT, a second capstone may be required.

This course has the same goals and requirements as Internship I, but the intention is to place the student in a situation at a higher technical level and with even more professional responsibiluity.

This course is a continuation of CAT 372 3D Animation, with further explanation and detailed understanding of the advanced functioning within industry standard 3D software. The emphasis will be on constructing intricate 3D models and complex animated scenes. The student will be required to produce, from start to finish, an original collaborated short animation utilizing technical and experimental effects learned throughout the semester.