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The goal of this course is to introduce students to concepts, techniques and tools they can use to communicate ideas and narrative through visual media in both 2D and 3D. Students will learn skills such as sketching, storyboarding, and visual framing, and examine existing practices in print (e.g. comics, graphic novels), film (e.g. storyboards) and games (e.g. concept art) to help them ideate, prototype, develop and communicate visually. A key theme of the course is an introduction to visual culture, including representation and objects as taonga. Students will learn how to create art in styles ranging from caricature to photorealistic, understanding how these different styles focus and emphasise different things depending on what must be communicated. In addition to 2D art, students will also learn how to create visual assets in 3D, including both translating existing artworks from 2D and developing new artwork in 3D from scratch. Students will learn the differences between creating 3D artworks for fixed camera mediums (e.g. film) and dynamic camera mediums (e.g. games).
This course aims to help students build skills and confidence in creating art assets for game and film productions, and other forms of visual storytelling. In lectures, students will learn about a broad range of topics surrounding the history, context, and processes of creating and communication through 2D and 3D art forms for different forms of visual storytelling. In the workshops, students will be trained in how to use industry standard techniques and tools to create their own 2D and 3D art works.The following topics are covered through lectures, workshops and activities:• The history of film and animation • Aesthetics• Comics, manga and video game art styles.• Role of concept art in preproduction. • Masking and sequential art. • Icons, ideograms, and symbolism. • The triangle of realism, abstraction and iconography. • Spatial design, lighting and contrast. • Environment art, spatial design and map creation. • Digital asset pipelines and standard formats for sprites, textures, materials, models. • Hands-on practice sketching ideas and developing them into production-ready assets. • Understanding of visual culture, representation and objects as taonga.• Sketching, storyboarding, and visual framing• Ideation, prototyping, development and communication through visual media• How to create art in styles ranging from caricature to photorealistic, and how these different styles focus and emphasise different things• Translating existing artworks from 2D to 3D and developing new artwork in 3D• The differences between creating 3D artworks for fixed camera mediums (e.g. film) and dynamic camera mediums (e.g. games).
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:1. Communicate ideas through sketching, storyboarding and visual framing.2. Create 2D art using a range of styles, ranging from caricature to photorealistic.3. Make informed decisions about the most appropriate art styles and formats for ideation, prototyping, development, and communication, and explain their reasoning.4. Create 3D art suitable for both fixed camera mediums and dynamic camera mediums.5. Explain the considerations required for producing 3D art for real-time and non real-time rendering.6. Use industry standard art creation tools such as Photoshop and Maya.
This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:
Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award
Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.
Employable, innovative and enterprising
Students will develop key skills and attributes sought by employers that can be used in a range of applications.
Students must attend one activity from each section.
Oana Jones
Alison Lowery
Domestic fee $1,059.00
International fee $6,000.00
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see School of Product Design .