This course combines traditional sculpture with 3D computer modeling. Students will explore fundamental principles of 3D design; principles and concepts of 3D computer graphics; linear, planar and volumetric forms and how they can evolve through repetition, deformation, and transformation. Students will design and implement their own compositions through a series of hands-on labs that shift between the real and virtual worlds.
A tentative list of assignments can be seen here (pdf).
This course is co-taught by Professor Orr of the Department of Computer Science and Professor Fourie of the Department of Art. The class will sometimes will be divided into two groups, with one group meeting in the Sculpture Studio (Gatke B1) and the other in the Computer Science lab (Ford 202).
For meeting times and instructors, see main course page
Grading guidelines
| A | excellent work |
| B | good work |
| C | satisfactory work |
| D | less than satisfactory work |
| F | failing work |
Grading percentages
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During the course of projects, critiques or the preparatory work that leads to the construction of projects the instructor will make suggestions about your work which are made specifically with the goal of helping you improve your work and gaining a greater understanding of the process of making sculpture. This course is designed specifically to force you to question your own understanding of what art is, how it affects the viewer, and how it is made. Overcoming your own fears or preconceived notions is a very necessary part of this process. You will develop artistically if you take chances and follow the advice of your instructors. You should expect to be challenged and at times may even feel frustrated. It is important to realize that making art is not easy, but rather hard work that requires both physical and mental involvement. Remember that you are not on your own in this process. The instructor is here to answer your questions and help you in any way necessary. There is no such thing as a stupid question.
Since this is a studio class, studio-time spent with the instructor and your peers is crucial, and cannot be made up by working outside class. Because the class requires the use of potentially dangerous equipment, working through the night for a few days before a deadline to make up for numerous missed classes is not an option. The resulting exhaustion would make you far more likely to injure yourself. Consequently any student who misses six or more classes will receive an F, and should drop the class, or petition for an incomplete if it is medically justified.
Students are expected to attend all class meetings. If you are unable to attend class, it is your responsibility to contact the instructor to find out if he has assigned homework for the next class meeting. Attendance at all critiques and semester-end cleanup is mandatory. In accordance with University policy students are allowed three absences. After three absences the student's final grade will be lowered by one grade ( A becomes A-) for each additional occurrence. Lectures and instructions for class projects will be given at the beginning of class, so it is to your advantage to be on time. Tardiness will reduce your grade. Every three tardies become one unexcused absence, and will consequently lower the student's final grade by one grade. Students who show up more than a half-an hour late will be charged with an unexcused absence. Students who leave class early will be charged with a tardy. Departing from class excessively early, or coming excessively late because of materials shopping will be considered an unexcused absence. Shopping for materials should be done on your own time, not class time. Students who show up for class unprepared will be sent home and charged with an unexcused absence.
There is a $50 course fee for this class, billed to your student account by the business office. The fee is used to purchase materials used in design and modelmaking and pay for the use of specialized equipment (3-D printers for instance) you'll use in this class, but you will still need to find or purchase some supplies (a sketchbook and pencils for instance) on your own.
It is expected that you will follow all safety rules and guidelines as set down by the instructor. Willful refusal to do so will result in loss of your equipment-use privileges.
Plagiarism is defined as representing someone else's work as your own. All work submitted for a grade must be the product of the students' own work, and only the student' work. Your father, mother, sibling, boyfriend, girlfriend, friend, classmate or any other person should not be working on your project. If you do a search on the web, you will find a significant amount of material on Maya, including already created models and scenes. You are not to use this material. The purpose of this class is to create your own work.
Students who fail to comply with this policy will automatically receive an "F" for the assignment and will be charged with an academic integrity violation. Do not endanger your grade and academic record.
The critique is perhaps the most important learning tool at the disposal of art students. It is a process that helps you understand and evaluate your own work, and explores ways in which you can make your work stronger. It also teaches you how to speak about art in an intelligible and productive way. During a critique students or the instructor will discuss your work critically, pointing out the successes of a particular work as well as shortcomings. Discussions of a work's shortcomings will always be followed by specific suggestions for remedying those shortcomings. It is important to keep in mind that the comments in a critique are made in the interest of improving your work, and are not a reflection of your ability, intelligence or potential as an artist. Criticism is aimed at the work, not the person who made it. Your full participation in critique sessions is crucial to the success of the class. When a critique is scheduled students are expected to have their projects completed and presented in a professional manner in a designated space. If your project requires time for installation allow enough time before class begins to complete installation. Rendering computer animations can take many hours and often must be redone due to mistakes in settings or software failure. You must allow sufficient time to deal with such problems. In order to give your work the maximum amount of attention we cannot afford to spend class time getting ready for critique.
As mentioned before students will need to keep a sketchbook. You will not only do preparatory drawings in your sketchbook, but are encouraged to paste images in to it, collect articles that interest you or anything that is connected to the work that you are doing in this class. A sketchbook is one of an artist's most valuable tools, and serves as a repository for all the visual input that fuels and feeds artmaking.
Please clean your work area after each work period. We will stop working five minutes before the end of class to allow time for cleanup. Failure or refusal to clean your area will result in a reduction of the class-participation portion of your grade. Please do not leave a mess for the next person. Students are responsible for removing their projects within a reasonable amount of time after they have been graded. If projects are not removed they will be thrown out without notice. Note: Failure to clean your work area, or follow guidelines about project and material storage will result in a reduction of your final grade.
It is critical that you backup your work after every work session. Software crashes can corrupt your files making them unusable. Losing your work is not an excuse for failure to complete an assignment on time. For this reason, it is imperative that you save your work frequently to numbered versions while you work. At the very end of a work session, you should copy your files to a location that is different from where you are working (e.g a thumb drive or other hard drive.) If you follow these procedures, you will never lose more than 15-30 minutes of work if a crash occurs. If you do not own a thumb drive or other similar backup device then you are required to purchase one. It should be at least 2 Gigabytes in size. Thumb drives are available in the Willamette Bookstore.
Computer images and animations can be very large. Therefore, it is also important for you periodically to clean up your folders by removing old or temporary files. If you are working on your H-drive, you should make sure that you have enough space to save your files. If you try to save a file when there is not enough space, Maya will not tell you that there is not enough space. Instead, Maya will seem like it is saving your file, when it isn't. This will be a rude awakening when you later try to open the file.
Arrangements have been made for students to have access to the sculpture studio and the computer lab outside class hours. After your name has been placed on an access list you will have 24-hour access to the sculpture studio 7 days a week using your ID card. The sculpture shop should be open and unlocked whenever Gatke Hall is open (usually between 7:30AM and 5:30PM). You will also receive the combination for the key box that contains the key for B1. During the day the sculpture shop will be open and available for use whenever it is not utilized by another class. Please do not use the shop when another class is in session as there is a very limited amount of space.
The computer lab is unlocked during normal school hours. You will be given an access code for the keypad on the door of the computer lab which will give you access when the lab is locked. Please keep the door closed and locked during off-hours. Note, the Maya software is also available on many other computers across campus, including Ford 224.
You will primarily be using the 3D rendering and animation software Autodesk Maya 2012. Maya is installed in a number of labs on campus, including Ford 202. As a student (if you have a decent computer), you can also get a full version for free from here.
Other software you may be using includes:
Your H drive will usually be sufficient for storing your work. When more space is needed, e.g. when you do animation, you will use our separate network server (called \\home\cs-render).
For animations, it is strongly advised that you use our renderfarm which will dramatically speed up the rendering process. However, when using the renderfarm, your Maya project must be on cs-render - it will not work from your H-drive.
At any point in the semeser, you may be asked to submit not only your rendered images, but your entire Maya project. For this reason, please make sure that you keep all files/projects in a safe, easy to access, and organized location. Don't lose or delete your work!
Disabilities: Students requesting accommodations for a disability must provide a letter of accommodation; preferably, within the first two weeks of classes. Contact Lorie Fontaine, Disability Services Coordinator, Bishop Wellness Center, 503-370-6471 for further information.
