Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Computer Animation

The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program in Computer Animation is designed to provide students with the advanced conceptual and technical skills needed to enter the field of computer animation, game art and game design.

Utilizing industry-standard hardware and software such as Maya, Motion Builder, Z-Brush, Motion capture, Renderman and AVID, students at IADT are exposed to a comprehensive course of study that can provide them with opportunities to:

Gain a strong foundation in the principles of animation, storyboarding, drawing, modeling and animation.
Specialize in television, feature films, games and other exciting career fields.
Create projects for competition and portfolio that can help students confidently prepare to enter a competitive job market.
Train on the same equipment used by major motion picture and game studios.

This career-focused Computer Animation degree program explores professional principles and practices in the computer animation and game industry. Students will be instructed in the principles of drawing, character development in both 2D and 3D. Students will have an opportunity to develop characters, animations, amazing worlds and special effects like those used in feature films, television and games.

Your Computer Animation training includes the following courses

Fundamentals of Graphic Design
History and Business of Animation
Animation Drawing Basics
Photoshop for Animators
2D Animation I
2D Animation II
3D I: Modeling
3D-II: Animation
Movement for Animators
Special Topics I
Special Topics II
3D Studio I
Life Drawing
Drawing for Animators III
Ink and Paint
Animation Studies Elective
Advanced Animation Techniques
Textures, Terrain and Fractals
Special Topics III
Special Topics IV
Production Studio I
Self-Promotion
Special Topics V
Special Topics VI
Production Studio II
Externship for Computer Animation
Drawing for Animators I
Drawing for Animators II
Storyboards and Scripts
Studio Techniques I
Studio Techniques II
Studio Techniques III
Studio Techniques IV
Introduction to UNIX

* Curriculum subject to change.

What You Can Learn in the Computer Animation Degree Program

Successful graduates of the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program in Computer Animation will have had the opportunity to:

Analyze films with an emphasis on production techniques, visual elements, character and story.
Understand scale, form, line, color, texture and pattern in conjunction with principles of balance, harmony, rhythm, emphasis/focus, proportion and contrast.
Develop techniques for drawing the human form, expression, perspective and other fundamentals.
Use Adobe Photoshop for creating and altering images used for backgrounds, texture maps, and color maps as they apply to 3D animation programs.
Understand the basics of an Ink and Paint system.
Learn and apply the 12 principles of animation.
Understand methods of object construction and basic animation implemented in Maya.
Learn the principles of good character modeling and animation.
Understand various mathematical methods of producing simulations of natural phenomenon in virtual space.
Some students will complete courses in game design, scripting for games and game engine usage.
Prepare materials and strategies for self-promotion.
Learn basic Mel scripting and Renderman shader development.
Complete storyboards, scripts and group projects.
Work in a professional environment where they assist in daily activities.
Understand techniques of hand drawn animation, pencil tests and character development.
Organize, implement and produce storyboards and scripts for animation.
Complete a group project where a script is conceived, scripted, storyboarded and put to DVD.
Composite computer generated elements with live shot video footage.