clock

MAT-120 Schedule (FALL)

Chronological Timeline

Jump a to class session to see what we are doing:

8/20 … 8/27 … 9/3 … 9/10  … 9/17 … 9/24 … 10/1… 10/8 … 10/15… 10/22 …10/29… 11/5 … 11/12 … 11/19 … 11/26 … 12/3 … 12/10 FINAL

WEEK 01 -(8/20)

IN-CLASS

  1. Roster (15 min)
  2. Syllabus (30 min)
  3. Introductions (60 min)
  4. –BREAK (15)–
  5. Assignment Introduction
  6. Write Stream of Consciousness prose (15)

ONLINE HOUR

  • Read the Project-1 outline thoroughly.
  • You can start thinking about how you might want to make a second version of your free-association writing for more focus or coherence.

HOMEWORK

  • Get Multimedia: Making It Work textbook (optional, recommended only). NOTE: Any reading assignments on this schedule are optional and from this book!
  • Read pp.19-56 (Text)
  • Read pp.71-99 (Images)

↑ Back to Top

WEEK 02 -(8/27)

IN-CLASS

Lecture:

  1. Swap your writing sample with someone to share, and discuss with your partner ways you could envision his or her writing in a video clip.
  2. Raster Images (23MB):
    • bit depth,
    • channels (0-255) and relationship to bit depth,
    • aliasing,
    • compression,
    • artifacts,
    • screen image formats vs. print and where they overlap
    • additive v. subtractive color (screen v. print)
  3. Vector Images:
    • Brief discussion on how they differ

BREAK 

  1. Demo 1:
    • Ways of grabbing images, understanding their resolutions, and how they display on the screen
    • Open images in Photoshop to explain resolution, histogram, levels, color and contrast correction tools, sharpening filters, and other important basics. You can use this file to play around.
    • Creative Commons and copyright discussion.

ONLINE HOUR

  • Collect at minimum of 10 images to turn in
    • Check out the Free Media Resources page. Educational stuff is a t the top of the page, and resource links are that the bottom.
  • WATCH DEMOS:

HOMEWORK

  • Upload all of the images you collected to server before start of next class, along with a text file that lists all attributions (sources, credits) for the images.
  • Read Ch.4 of Multimedia: Making It Work (Audio)
  • Bring headphones to next class.

↑ Back to Top

WEEK 03 -(9/3)

IN-CLASS

ONLINE HOUR

  • Find audio files (minimum 9  additional) that you think could work well in your piece. Remember the you can layer and overlap sound. You don’t have to know exactly how to use all of them right now, but think of them as materials that you might gather to make a painting. You’d want all of your paints there in case you needed as little bit of a specific color, even if it isn’t used much
  • Review and test different ways you can transfer/share files you capture on your phone to computers.

HOMEWORK

  • Record/capture the reading of your prose piece into an audio file. Check the run time and figure out if you need to edit it down to meet the max time requirements of 120 seconds. Conversely, figure out if you need to gives dramatic pauses to stretch it to meet the minimum time (50 seconds). Even if you choose not to use this in your final piece, it is a required part of your collection materials.
  • Upload all of these files to the server in your “project1/audio/” folder, along with the text files with attributions to all resources.
  • Read Chapters 5 and 6 of Multimedia: Making It Work (Animation, Video)
  • Bring Headphones to next class.

↑ Back to Top

WEEK 04 -(9/10)

IN-CLASS

  • BRING HEADPHONES TO CLASS.
  • Video lecture:
    1. Persistence of Vision
    2. Frame Rate
    3. Cel Animation (persistent keyframes) v. Tweening (event change keyframes with in-between computational translation)
    4. Analog (PAL, NTSC, VGA cables) v. Digital (HDTV, HDMI, DVI, Firewire)
    5. Digital Video Containers (file formats) .ogg, .mov, .flv, .mp4, .wmv, .webm, .rm
    6. Codecs (compression coders/decoders) H.264, QT, etc.
  • Demo Starting a new project in Premiere Pro, the interface, and basics of importing media.

ONLINE HOUR

  • Watch the tutorial that shows you how to get started with importing your video and audio files into Premier. Bring ALL resource files to next class on flash storage device for in-class work, along with headset.

HOMEWORK

  • Find a minimum of five videos (or better yet: shoot them!) that you can use in your first project. Download them and create an attributions file. Upload those files to the server in your “project1/video/” folder before next class.
  • Read Chapter 7 (Making Multimedia)

↑ Back to Top

WEEK 05 -(9/17)

IN-CLASS

  • Full demo using Premier basics:
    1. Setting up folder structure correctly (IMPORTANT)
    2. Importing media
    3. dropping media instances into the timeline
    4. navigating the timeline
    5. show “Workspace” options and the layout of different windows
    6. Show how to rename layers
    7. Explain Keyframing
    8. Show how to apply opacity changes and filter effects using keyframes
    9. Show audio changes with keyframes
    10. Show how to make titles and place text
  • Work on compositing your files in Premier.
  • IN-CLASS QUIZ NEXT WEEK!

ONLINE HOUR

  • Review Demo using Premier basics tutorial as needed.
    • Videos 1-4 cover editing demo project within Premiere Pro (much of this covered in class)
    • WATCH Video 5, which covers add movie titles (credit roll, text, etc.). NOTE: The titles in this video are now accessed under “File > New > Legacy Title”, but all else is the same.
    • WATCH Video 6, which covers specifics about motion, scaling, and positioning.
  • Work on bringing your video assets into Premier an start compositing.

HOMEWORK

  • Continue working on compositing your files in Premiere.
  • As you begin compositing, you might find that you need additional footage or audio. If you need additional assets, find them and/or capture them to bring into Premier.
  • Create a first draft of your work, RENDER IT AS .mp4, and bring to next class for an in-progress peer review/critique.
  • SHOW UP FOR CLASS NEXT WEEK FOR A QUIZ!!!!!!

↑ Back to Top

WEEK 06 -(9/24)

IN-CLASS

  1. QUIZ (mandatory attendance)
  2. Demos as necessary.
  3. Instructor review of student work (you MUST bring your digital materials to class!)
  4. In-class work on your projects.

ONLINE HOUR

  • Review any online tutorials you’ve been assigned so far, as necessary.

HOMEWORK

Complete your own clip based on feedback. Be sure to add attributions to the end of your clip in the form of a credit role/crawl/screen. RENDER IT as an mp4. Upload to server for backup. Bring work to next class on thumb drive.

↑ Back to Top

WEEK 07 -(10/1)

IN-CLASS

  • *Mandatory attendance even if you are behind!!!!
  • *In-progress peer review/critique break-out groups. (groups of 5 in the order of the words on the list)
  • In-class work on your projects. 
  • Projects are due next class for a class critique! Attendance is mandatory next class even if you haven’t completed the project by then.

ONLINE HOUR

  • Complete your first project, upload the complete project folder to the server, and upload the rendered mp4 to your Youtube or Vimeo account. Post the link to your online streaming video to the Project-1 discussion board in Canvas by start of next class.

HOMEWORK

  1. See online hour above. Finish that.

↑ Back to Top

WEEK 08 -(10/8)

IN-CLASS

    • DUE / CRITIQUE: At the start of class, we will have a critique of your individual final clips.
    • Introduce next assignment if time.
Considerations moving forward with Project-2:

Media/movie asset management: collect a good sampling of stills, video, and audio files to use in Project-2. Collect more than you think you need. You will need to likely edit some footage down in Premiere Pro, edit still graphics in Photoshop, or create vector line art in Illustrator to import into After Effects. Remember that it’s easier to do most video editing in Premiere, and don’t rely on a million imported layers from PSD or AI files in After Effects. It will bog you down.

Typography study to collect a minimum of five type samples from which to decide. Google fonts are a good choice because you can easily install them on any computer for free.

Imagery collection and texture study to find patterns and textures that could be used in the interface design. This could be anywhere from textural images of rust to a uniform repeating pattern. Be sure that your images are of a high resolution.

Develop still artwork, line art, and any vectorized text in Photoshop or Illustrator, mapping out the animated behavior, flow, and transition of every element on the screen. These notes need to all be written down in a clear fashion.

ONLINE HOUR

  • Get started on After Effects tutorials for Project-2.

HOMEWORK

  1. Decide on your topic, start collect assets to use, and do the Introduction-to-AfterEffects demos before next class.

↑ Back to Top

WEEK 09 -(10/15)

IN-CLASS

  • After Effects demos and in-class work
  • Instructor review of student ideas and materials

ONLINE HOUR

  • Work on project and review tutorials as necessary.

HOMEWORK

  1. Work on projects.

↑ Back to Top

WEEK 10 -(10/22)

IN-CLASS

  • Work on projects

ONLINE HOUR

  • Work on project and review tutorials as necessary.

HOMEWORK

Work on projects.

↑ Back to Top

WEEK 11 -(10/29)

IN-CLASS

  • Work on projects.

ONLINE HOUR

  • Work on projects.

HOMEWORK

  • Work on projects.

↑ Back to Top

WEEK 12 – (11/5)

IN-CLASS

  1. Final day for in-class Project-2 work.
  2. Introduce final project
  3. Discuss loglines and making pitches (next project)

ONLINE HOUR

HOMEWORK

!!!Complete Project-2

  • Explore your Final Project topic in greater depth by doing research. Take notes and begin writing a more solid outline of the project based on your findings. Your research will help shape and inspire your project’s direction.
  • Consider whether or not you will want to interview people for this project, and if so, find out if they will be willing participants before putting all of your eggs in one basket.
  • Create the “logline” for your project to give your pitch. “A logline is a one (or occasionally two) sentence description that boils the script down to its essential dramatic narrative in as succinct a manner as possible.” Read more about writing loglines on Raindance.com. It can also be described as “… truly an art form of its own. It’s the one or two sentence summary of your film that not only conveys your premise, but also gives the reader emotional insight into the story as a whole.” – Indiewire. For a very good article on loglines, check out this article on scriptologist.com.

↑ Back to Top

WEEK 13 -(11/12)

IN-CLASS

  1. DUE: Project-2 uploaded to server before start of class.
  2. We will take time in class to look at everyone’s completed work.
  3. You will make a pitch to the class and turn in your written proposals. Students will give feedback on your ideas.
  4. Pitch your ideas to break-out peer groups and get feedback.
  5. Turn in your written proposals.
  6. Discuss storyboarding and storyboard assignment. Review the Digital Storytelling site that gives good examples of how to develop storyboards.
  7. Decide on what you want to do and start working on storyboards in class.
  8. Work on story boards in class: start collecting/shooting materials (images, audio, video) to use.

ONLINE HOUR

HOMEWORK

Work on storyboards: start collecting and shooting materials (images, audio, video) to use

Storyboards DUE next class.

↑ Back to Top

WEEK 14 -(11/19)

IN-CLASS

  • Storyboard presentations.
  • Show different types of gear students have access to and discuss when to use what where.
  • Discuss different audio mic input types
  • Gear setup demo (tripods, mics [lavs, shotguns, remote lav], basic light kits).

ONLINE HOUR

  • To Be Announced

HOMEWORK

Start developing rough draft

↑ Back to Top

WEEK 15 -(11/26)

IN-CLASS

  • Equipment demonstration and checkout. Learn to use/do the following:
    • tripod setup
    • check and set all camera resolution settings to match each other
    • test audio and mics
    • discuss and demonstrate lavs, shotguns, and audio recorders
    • demonstrate and explain different audio input types (XLR, TRS, TRRS, 1/8″, 1/4″, mono, stereo, etc.)
    • explain how to clip mics, advise about tape
    • explain audio syncing with multiple audio sources
    • lighting setup and demo
    • camera demo
  • Continue developing work.

ONLINE HOUR

  • To Be Announced

HOMEWORK

Complete a rough draft ready for review next week.

↑ Back to Top

WEEK 16 -(12/3)

IN-CLASS

Get peer review feedback from draft and work toward completing assignment. Work in class on project.

ONLINE HOUR

  • Complete final assignment.

HOMEWORK

Complete assignment.

↑ Back to Top

FINAL CRIT – 12/10 (6pm-7:50pm)

NOTE: THE START TIME IS EARLIER THAN OUR NORMAL CLASS MEETING!

Have everything for your final up on the server before class, as well as ON A THUMB DRIVE TO TURN GIVE INSTRUCTOR IN CLASS.

↑ Back to Top

Digital Art, Design, and Communication Education