Introduction to Visual Communication

This course describes the role and application of computers in the graphic production processes used to communicate ideas and messages to users of different cultures and abilities. It explores the nature of graphic artwork and how various media types can have a different effect on different end-user groups. Discussing issues such as human perception, color theory and typography, this course prepares the student for later courses that build on the theoretical aspects introduced here in order to encourage professional, high-impact graphics, animations and other media.

Introduction to Web Design

This course examines the role of a website in various fields such as advertising, retail, education, news and media. It introduces the language of websites, HTML, and discusses page layout and style elements and formatting using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). The incorporation of graphics into web pages (static and animated bitmapped and vector formats as well as video), making interactive web pages, performance issues in web graphics and usability issues in web sites are considered to ensure that students can produce well-founded web pages and websites.

Storyboarding for Film and Animation

To enable students to gain an understanding of the role of pre-production in the creation of time-dependent scenes.

The course will also provide the students with an opportunity to practically realize a storyboard utilizing film language and shot description.

Introduction to Digital Images

This course explains the concept of a bitmapped image – resolution, bit depth, color channels. It covers also file formats, operations on bitmapped images and applying simple effects to bitmapped images

2D Vector Graphics

This course explains the concept of vector graphics, 2D vector graphic primitives, vector graphic attributes, operations on vector objects, creating complex objects by combining simple geometric primitives, and rasterizing vector graphics for display at multiple resolutions.

2D Animation 

This course explains the concepts of 2D animation – layout and compositing. It also covers cartoon animation, keyframes, tweening and timelines & events within an animation.

3D Modeling 

This course explains the 3D workspace, wireframe modeling and rendering. It also describes 3D graphic primitives, combining 3D primitives to form solid models, the camera in a 3D scene and simple shading concepts.

Digital Image Editing and Manipulation

This course describes the concept of digital image manipulation or photo retouching and describes the main uses of this technique. Covering image editing techniques such as selection and masking specific areas of an image for protection, the course also looks at the major problem causes of photographic images & their correction. A number of advanced manipulation techniques are discussed and students are given the opportunity to see first-hand examples of image problems and correct these in practical sessions.

Digital Video Editing

This course explains the digital video workflow – capture, scene identification, editing and final assembly. It also explains the benefits of digital video over analogue video, digital video formats, non-linear editing & edit decision lists and digital effects for video (transitions, wipes, fades, subtitles and text).

3D Animation

This course explains the 3D animation process – assembly, position and synchronization. It also covers manipulating the camera position over time, timelines for 3D scenes, simple scripting of 3D objects within a timeline and exporting a final movie as digital video.

The Human Form and Character Animation

This course explains the human form – anatomy, skeleton and muscle structure. It also explains the animation of human joins, forward an inverse kinematics in animation and the motion capture (MoCap) process & applying MoCap data to 3D models.

Principles of Texture, Materials and Lighting

This course explains how to create textures from 2D raster and vector images, apply texture maps to 3D models – coloring a scene, create realistic material textures – bump mapping & displacement mapping, apply lighting in a 3D scene and apply shading – Gouraud, Phong, Ray-tracing & Radiosity.

Special Effects for Film

This course explains the role and purpose of special effects, visual effects and the digital workflow – pre and post-production considerations. It also explains the effects for specific applications – motion blur; lens effects; color and lighting effects. It also covers Overlays and chroma keying – recording action against a blue or green screen for the purpose of superimposing additional footage later on

Desktop Publishing    

This course describes the main issues and technologies related to the use of appropriate graphic images within the context of printed media. It covers the role of printed media in various fields, the components of printed media, page layout considerations for printed media, desktop publishing technology, print media for specific markets, and the print process.

The Role of Sound in Animation

This course explains the types of audio in film footage, synchronization issues (time codes), working with audio people, audio technologies (mono, stereo and surround sound) and spatial audio. It also looks at applying some of simple audio processing effects to clean up audio clips for use within video footage

Internship

Internship is a core requirement and the Capstone course of the Associate of Science Degree in Computer Graphics and Animation program. This course is a supervised work experience in the field of Computer Graphics and Animation. A minimum of 240 hours of work experience over one semester is required. It offers important benefits to the graduating student, including the opportunity to earn credits while exploring a career in Computer Graphics and Animation and a chance to apply concepts learned in the Associate of Science Degree Program to real problems faced by firms. The course is taken near the end of the program of study and it is important that most content areas have been introduced and covered before taking this capstone course.

The student is responsible for securing an appropriate internship at a specialized firm in Media, Printing, Publishing, Advertising, TV and Radio stations, exhibition organizers and similar firms; help can be sought from his/her faculty advisor and college’s career office. The student's work will be monitored by an assigned faculty member with the student providing a formal written report at the end of the project and the employment supervisor giving an evaluation of the student’s work experience. Internship is an ongoing seminar between the student, the faculty advisor and the employment supervisor. It involves professional experience, periodic meetings with the faculty advisor, and submission of the Internship Evaluation Form and the formal written Internship Report.

The College has signed a number of MOUs with reputable organizations and work firms to provide its students with opportunities to take internship at these firms. The College will continue to have more MOUs signed in the future.

Students' Relations Officers will work closely with the students searching for Internship opportunities and will provide counseling services about available opportunities for internship training and the procedure for application.

Advertising & Promotion

This course examines the role of advertising and promotion in marketing, the legal and social environment in which it operates and the process by which it is created and managed. The Course presents advertising and sales promotion objectives, functions, strategies, communications, segmentation and positioning. Topics discuss ethical viewpoints, marketing and consumer behavior, advertising strategy, research, creative strategies, media selection and evaluation, and advertising utilizing the web.