Schedule of Classes

Process of design for projects relating to animation, game design and development, and user experience design. Focus on technical instruction, design aesthetics, and production using a wide variety of software and delivery methods.

Tools and aesthetics of media production: word processing, photography, audio production, videography. Visual literacy. The desktop computer interface. Desktop publishing, presentation software, multimedia documents. Internet navigation and page production. Credit by examination available.

Process of narrative structure development. Writing, pre-visualization, presentation, and production of animation, game design, and user interface projects.

Game industry terminology, culture, and history. Current employee roles and responsibilities in the game industry, including programmers, artists, marketing, and sales. Required skills and knowledge for these roles. Game development and distribution models. Publisher/developer relationships.

Presentations by faculty, alumni, and other professionals in the field allow students to make connections serving their academic and professional pursuits. Students will also engage in additional career development activities including portfolio creation, resum authoring, career research, networking, and engagement in public festivals and presentations of their works. Repeatable for up to a maximum of 8 credit hours. Crosslisted with IM 426.

Art and techniques of hand-drawn animation. Immersion in a variety of techniques exploring founding principles of animation, storytelling, drawing, and design.

An introduction to the creation of artwork for video games. Topics include user interface design, the creation of two- and three-dimensional art for game engines, and level design, and the creation of art pipelines.

Study of the historical, cultural, economic, political, and social forces that helped shape the evolution of animation as an art form. Written and oral discussions focused on the attitudes and influences of race, gender, technology, culture, and the conflict between art and industry.

Fundamental principles and practices of user interface design and data visualization. Emphasis on the design of 2D graphical user interfaces and the development of applications that use them.

Introduction to the tools, techniques, and methodologies used in developing user experiences. Topics include market research and analysis, user personas, mental models, information architecture and wireframes, prototyping, and usability testing.

Quality assurance in games. Testing process including the importance of testing and test plan development and implementation.

Fundamental principles and practices of professional video cameras, microphones, and lights for multimedia production. Interviewing procedures plus aesthetics and visuals. Non-linear editing.

Gameplay, storytelling, challenges, interface and information design, and world interaction. Construction of experiences, including rule design, play mechanics, game balancing, social game interaction, and the integration of interactive media. Playtesting and game design documentation.

Fundamental principles of three-dimensional computer animaLon and modeling. Creation of basic models using polygonal modeling, texturing, lighting, and rendering for various animaLon projects.

Examines scholarly concepts, theories, and practices about human communication, mass media, and computational digital technologies. Develops conceptual foundations derived from the cultural and commercial dimensions of media histories, technological innovation, professional practice, and contemporary/everyday phenomena. Provides increased and improved technical vocabularies and develops students' critical examinations of taken-for-granted media phenomena. Posits informed speculations concerning the future of media with particular attention to the roles of citizens, consumers, and producers. Applies intensive writing skills combining reading, study, and discussion with analysis and thinking via diverse written assignments.

Advanced and experimental interaction design strategies as applied to web & mobile/responsive application development.

Studio course focused on further developing core skills of UX design, information and visual/communications design, and advanced wireframing techniques.

A studio course exploring typography and visual layout principles of interactive website design. Survey of theory, history, and methods of web design solutions. Discussion of transitional strategies in response to developing technologies. Cross-listed as ART 365.

Criticism, analysis, and history of electronic and non-electronic games. Articulation of game aesthetics. History of computers and digital games and toys, construction and critique of significant and influential games, and game criticism and journalism.

Advanced game design, including exploration of serious games, accessibility, audio, multiplayer mode, and creating for diverse demographics.

Course is repeatable for up to a maximum of 8 credit hours. Crosslisted with IM 226.

This is the first half of a two-course sequence. Students spend the semester in the pre-production phase of an animation & game design thesis project and conduct research for an accompanying thesis paper.

Advanced pre-production techniques used in the creation of an original animated short. Narrative structure development, research, concepting, time management, and technique development.

Topics course, with varying subjects, examining contemporary issues and problems in new media theory and the interactive media environment. Current topic/title in current schedule of classes. May be repeated three times under different topics.

Advanced techniques and technologies for programming computer game engines, multi-user games, virtual environments, and virtual reality simulations. Cross listed with IM 556, CIS 456, CIS 556.

Theoretical and practical sound design. Music composition, field sound recording, studio tracking, aesthetic analysis of music, electronic sound generation. Digital game technologies, 3D sound processing and generative audio structures. Mixing in non-linear environments and final mastering. Cross-listed with IM558, CIS458, CIS558.

Game development, including advanced game design, software development, and game production concepts. Integration of audio, visual, storytelling, programming, and design. Project build within multi-disciplinary teams. Cross-listed with IM 559, CIS 459, CIS 559.

Individual scholarly research or advanced creative production investigating aspects of interactive media. May be repeated under different topics for a maximum of six hours. Requires application available from department chair or faculty.