Art Degrees Online

Media Arts & Animation — Bachelor of Fine Arts
Location-based entertainment, film and video, architecture, virtual reality, broadcast television, advertising, education, gaming, medical sciences, and forensics are among the industries that benefit from the techniques of traditional and digital animation. The course of studies at The Art Institute develops students’ skills in design, illustration, compositing, 3D computer modeling, and other areas needed to enter the animation field. Students begin the media arts & animation program with a foundation in drawing, color, writing, and character design along with introductory computer applications. Under the guidance of industry-experienced faculty, students begin to learn advanced 2D and 3D animation principles as well as story development, background design, scenic layout, and special effects. In increasingly more advanced courses, students learn and become experienced with program-specific software, such as Macromedia Flash, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, and Autodesk Maya. At the end of the program, students take a sequence of portfolio courses in which they design and execute specialized projects that form a part of their digital portfolios to showcase their conceptual and creative skills and abilities in both traditional and digital 2D and 3D techniques. All students develop a Web site in order to present this portfolio to a wide audience of potential employers upon graduation.

During their studies at The Art Institute, students are encouraged to apply for internships, participate in active student and professional organizations, enter national contests and film festivals, and attend conferences, such as SIGGRAPH, all of which enable them to become familiar with a developing industry and with the people who make the industry such a vibrant one in today’s world of communications and entertainment.

Media arts & animation graduates enter various aspects of the animation industry, specializing in fields such as computer-generated lighting, compositing and rendering, storyboarding, texturing, special effects, motion graphics, and others. In addition, the need for 2D and Flash animators continues to grow in order to support Web-based corporate communications, e-commerce, and marketing.
Total Credit Hours: 192
12 Quarters

The BFA in Photography & Digital Arts prepares students to pursue a variety of career paths in the fields of photography and time- and web-based media, giving them the flexibility to enter many industries, both existing and evolving, that are based in information technology and new digital media.

The Photography & Digital Arts major is a distinctive course of study designed to foster artists who work across multiple disciplines including traditional darkroom photography, digital photography, HD digital video, web/interactive media and 2D/3D animation. Opportunities to learn using both sequential and non-linear narrative strategies in interactive and hierarchical environments allow students to produce work that is critically engaged with the combined phenomena of digital technologies and the photographic image in today’s visual culture.

Intensive studio work allows students to develop a solid foundation of the concepts, tools and techniques associated with photographic, digital and emerging media. Seminars covering the history, theory and criticism of photography and digital arts informs students’ principles and practices. The balance of practice and aesthetic consideration encourages students to combine and even challenge the boundaries of photographic and digital technologies. Through classroom instruction and a required internship, students master the essential conceptual, technical and production skills, that are central to an artist’s ability to create meaningful work that reflects and responds to contemporary life.

Animation Core Requirements (51 credits)
COMU 100 The Christian Role in the Arts Today (3)
CTVU 102 Cinema-Television Equipment Workshop (1)
CTVU 210 Storytelling and Scriptwriting (3)
CTVU 258 Audio Production (3) (3)
CTVU 270 Editing Theory (3) (3)
CTVU 356 Non-linear Video Editing (3) (3)
ANIM 103 Introduction to Digital Art (2) (2)
ANIM 112 Web-Based Graphics and Animation (3) (3)
ANIM 202 Art Studio 1: Life Drawing (3) (3)
ANIM 212 Art Studio 2: Drawing for Animation (3) (3)
ANIM 343 History of Animation (3) (3)
ANIM 303 3-D Animation in Maya (3) (3)
ANIM 310 The Business of Animation (3) (3)
ANIM 313 Character Design, Rigging, and Animation (3) (3)
ANIM 403 Advanced 3D Animation Techniques (3) (3)
ANIM 413 Graphics for Television (3) (3)
ANIM 416 Culminating Project (3) (2)
ANIM 450 Special Effects for Film and Television (3) (3)
Electives (20 credits)
Elective credits can be taken in any discipline (100-400 college-level courses)
Total Degree Hours: 120

The Animation and Interactive Media course covers a wide range of creative principles from computer games, design for TV, web design, motion graphics, 2D and 3D animation and DVD production.

The course has been developed with the support of established new media designers and creative industry professionals. They provide work placements, study visits to their companies and live project briefs. Dedicated real environment studio experience will enhance your career prospects as a professional designer.

If you’re interested in joining a creative industry that’s constantly changing and developing, Animation and Interactive Media will give you a firm foundation. The Animation and Interactive Media course is taught using a range of methods. All programmes have a high practical content, with workshop-based modules, group discussion, live briefs from design firms and negotiated independent projects. There are also team-based projects and presentations, together with lectures, seminars and on-line support.

Students have their own well-equipped design studio with its own Mac, Linux servers with industry standard software, digital and analogue animation equipment, printers, scanners, DVD camcorders, and digital cameras. In addition, the faculty’s Learning Centre has PC and Mac computer facilities which are available 7 days a week. You’ll also have access to other studios i.e. TV, photography, sound and video, when working on collaborative projects.

The Associate of Arts Degree in Animation offers courses in traditional and digital presentation and manipulation of graphic elements necessary for the acquisition of skills in Animation. The program assists students in developing a broad foundation of skills and knowledge in animation addressing such topics as: introduction, intermediate and advanced animation, drawing fundamentals, design and color, digital 3D, illustrative figure drawing, digital cinematography, level and set design, digital post-production, media/broadcast animation and the opportunity for a 3D animation internship and production of an animation portfolio.

Animation, digital 3d animation
Analytical drawing
Technical aspects of animated filmmaking
History of animated film
Character animation
From idea to storyboard
Film aesthetics
Filmmaking
Image
Sound
Montage
Acting and directing for the screen
Writing for film
Production design
History of film to 1959
Studies in film directors
Le cinéma québécois
Experimental film
Women and film
Aspects of national cinemas
Studies in film genres