Digital Media Arts Program/New Program at OLA starting Sept 2001

Individual Course Descriptions

1. Computer Environment

This course will provide an overview of our lab and networking system, including how to navigate the operating system, work in a netted environment, import, export and transfer files from one station to another. Also introduces you to how the hardware and software co-exist together. What software is relevant to the media, also to the computer hardware required to efficiently run multimedia programs: capture boards, ram, video cards, scanners and CD-ROM burning for backup storage of digital materials. 

2. Digital Imagery

In this  two unit course, you will learn various software applications that will teach you how to work with raster images and vector images. By learning the differences between the strengths and usefulness of each, you will produce images for various applications: Web Sites, CD-ROM and Print Media. Drawing within the computer or scanning, of your original material, then manipulation, retouching, working in layers, and applying effects will all be covered. You will also learn various extensions for different applications and how to optimize and slice web images. Upon completion of this class you would have various digital images to be transferred into other software for your productions.

3. Digitized Sound and Video

In this course, you will learn various software applications that will teach you how to work with digital sound and non-linear video editing video. You will learn to capture and digitize video footage, and sounds then edit, add transition filters and special effects to create new digital material, for your multimedia projects.

Apply background-looped music, sounds to buttons and synchronizing sound to your animation and videos will all be learnt. 

4. Interactive Design

Starting with the creative process you will learn about creativity, exploring creatively and sharing your creative energy. Then all the Elements of Graphic Design would be covered and how to adapt them within the rigid confined space of a computer screen. You will learn the steps of digital publishing, from defining the market and user, creating storyboards to flowcharts to prototypes. Learning to create interfaces that are clearly defined for navigation, as well as how to, place text with the use of other media elements will be explored. How interactivity of the screen affects traditional narrative structure in games, educational and business applications for CD-ROM will be covered. 

5. Animation for the Computer Screen

In this 2 unit course you will start with learning the basic principles of classical animation with the development of characters that might be guides in an interactive project, or buttons that might squash and stretch upon a mouse click. You would then learn to test your drawing sequences by shooting it to video. The final polish would then be on the computer: scanning, coloring, applying special effects, and adding  backgrounds. 

From there you would move on to learning to create interactive computer animations with various navigation styles using animation or interactivity, for CD-ROM's, Web Sites and electronic greeting cards. You will learn also how to add sounds and to write various scripts with a scripting language allowing you more control over interactivity in your projects. Upon completion of this class, you will have a few classical animations and digital interactive animations for your digital computer projects.

6. Web Page Development/ Publishing

 You will start this class by exploring the basic concepts of the electronic information super-highway and its resources including basic Internet tools.  Sending e-mail, downloading, searching for information, how to communicate with your Internet provider, publish your pages, configure your e-mail and FTP client and advertise your site on the Web. You will then be introduced to FrontPage as an HTML editor to learn how to use Hypertext Markup Language to format your home pages and link them to the World Wide Web. Learning the fundamentals of tags, heading, body, and images as well as adding text, images and hyperlinks to internal and external media. Add animation and interactivity to a Web site using Java applets and scripts will covered. You would have a complete website designed and published for your portfolio upon completion of this class.

7. Production Coordination

 Group project

Within this class you as a group you will author a CD-ROM of your work. As a team you will design and create a Main Interface, that will link to your own individual content. While working as a team on this projects each student would take on different positions: art direction authoring, animator, editor, and production manager, to see the completion of this project. The individual content for each student may be a prototype for a CD-ROM, or web site displaying digital images in gallery animations and or a digital resume. The students will then burn this CD-ROM, create a cover, and plan an open house to showcase their digital portfolios.