OATdb Archive

2013 - 2014

Art BFA (Computer Animation)

Goal
Believable Motion Using The Principles Of Animation
Computer animation students will demonstrate the ability to create believable motion that demonstrate an understanding of the Principles of Animation in 2D and 3D animated movies.

Objective
Computer Animation Students Will Understand And Apply The Principles Of Animation
Students in the Computer Animation program will demonstrate their ability to apply the Principles of Animation to create believable animated movies using a variety of techniques including 2D and 3D animations.

Indicator
Students Will Upload Projects To An Online Video Posting Service
Students will be required to upload animated videos from ARTS 2343 (Animation Concepts and Techniques) ARTS 2344 (2D Computer Animation) and ARTS 3343 (Intro to 3D Computer Animation) to a video hosting site such as YouTube or Vimeo. A rubric that includes the ability to use Squash and Stretch, Timing and Motion, Anticipation, Staging, Follow Through and Overlapping Action and Secondary Action will be used with possible scores of 0-10. Two faculty members will evaluate students who have completed ARTS 3343 and include work from 2344 and 2343 in their assessment. The attached rubric will be used for the evaluation.

Criterion
Students Will Score 8 Or Above
The Rubric has been changed from a 100 point scale to a 10 point scale this year. Last year 20% of the students scored 80 or above in the principle of "anticipation". Over 80% of student scored above 80 in all other areas. This year we hope that at least 60% of students score 8 or higher on "anticipation" and above 80% score 8 or higher in all other areas.

Finding
Improvement In Anticipation
85% of students scored above 8 in Squash and Stretch, and Follow-through.
100% of students scored above 8 in Timing and Motion and Staging.
Only 75% of students scored 8 or above in Anticipation.
Although Anticipation remains the weakest area, there is improvement in student scores over last year. 

Action
Continue To Emphasize Animation Principles
Student improvement in scores on all of the principles indicate that the emphasis on Principles of Animation in all of the Animation courses has been successful. The principle of Anticipation remains the most difficult principle for students to achieve.

The faculty in the Computer Animation Program will continue to administer lectures and coursework that focus on proficiencies in the Principles of Animation, and require that students upload complete projects to their own personal Vimeo pages. In all of our courses, faculty will place more emphasis on using the principle of Anticipation to enhance animated storytelling, and character movement.


Goal
Effective Soundtracks And Audio Components In Animation
Students will be able to create audio soundtracks for animation and to effectively synchronize animated visual elements with sounds.

Objective
Soundtracks And Sound Effects
Students in the Computer Animation program will demonstrate the ability to create audio soundtracks for animated movies that include sounds that are synchronized with movement.

Indicator
Animation And Sound Project
Students will assemble demo-reels of their work at the end of the semester in ARTS 2434 Animation Concepts and Techniques, ARTS 2344 2D Computer Animation, ARTS 3344 Advanced 3D Computer Animation, and ARTS 4357 Computer Animation for Interactive Games. The demo-reels will include soundtracks and animations that use sound. Two animation faculty will evaluate the demo reels of students who have completed these courses using the attached rubric and evaluating the effective use of sound on a scale of 1-10.




Criterion
60% At 8 Or Higher
The Rubric has been changed from a 100 point scale to a 10 point scale this year. Last year 40% of the students scored 80 or above on creating an effective soundtrack. This yiear we hope that at least 60% of students score 8 or higher on the effective use of sound to create a soundtrack in their demo reels.

Finding
Poor Scores In Use Of Sound
Only 20% of the students scored 8 or above on the use of sound in their demo reels. The effective use of sound was the lowest overall score in the assessment of the students work by a large margin.


Action
Emphasize Effective Soundtracks
The poor scores indicate that faculty need to increase efforts to improve students' ability to use sound effectively in animation.

Faculty will demonstrate sound editing techniques and provide examples of effective soundtracks for students in all of the animation courses and continue to evaluate the student’s soundtracks. 


Action
Continue To Emphasize Sound And Titles
The faculty in the Computer Animation Program will continue to administer lectures and coursework that focus on proficiencies in the Early Portfolio Development and Practices, and require that students upload complete projects to their own personal Vimeo pages. In all of our courses, faculty will place more emphasis on areas that need additional improvements. Specifically, we will be targeting titles and the use of sound.


Goal
Professional Preparedness
At the completion of the BFA program, Computer Animation students will be prepared for employment in the Animation industry and graduate programs in Animation.

Objective
Professional Portfolio
Computer Animation students will produce a portfolio of professional-quality work in the form of a demo-reel that is suitable for presentation at interviews for employment in the Animation industry and to graduate programs in Animation.

Indicator
Student Demo-Reels
Students will create end-of-the-semester reel in 4 of their required courses: ARTS 2434 Animation Concepts and Techniques, ARTS 2344 2D Computer Animation, ARTS 3344 Advanced 3D Computer Animation, and ARTS 4357 Computer Animation for Interactive Games. Students will upload their reels to Vimeo at the end of each semester. Two Computer Animation faculty members will evaluate students who have completed all 4 courses in their assessment.

The demo-reels will be evaluated  using a rubric to assess the students'
• ability to edit effectively
• ability create effective titles
• overall effectiveness of demo reel
• overall quality of work



Criterion
80% At 8 Or Above
The scores this year will be a baseline to measure future performance against. It is hoped that at least 80% of the students will score 8 or higher in each area.

Finding
Improvement Needed In Creation Of Titles
Averaging the two faculty scores, 80% score 8 or above in editing, 60% scored 8 or above in use of titles, 95% scored at least 8 in overall effectiveness, and 100% scored 8 or higher in overall quality.


Action
Continue To Emphasize Sound And Titles
The faculty in the Computer Animation Program will continue to administer lectures and coursework that focus on proficiencies in the Early Portfolio Development and Practices, and require that students upload complete projects to their own personal Vimeo pages. In all of our courses, faculty will place more emphasis on areas that need additional improvements. Specifically, we will be targeting titles and the use of sound.



Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement

In order to achieve continuous improvement in this area, faculty in the Computer Animation program administered an increased number of lectures, exercises, and projects that focused on the Principles of Animation. Students in these courses were required to upload projects to their own personal Vimeo pages for faculty review. Upon review, we found a marked improvement in the all of the criteria. Though scores in some of the categories demonstrated needed improvement, each students scores averaged above 80%, and the category averages for all students also averaged above 80%.


Plan for continuous improvement The faculty in the Computer Animation Program will continue to administer lectures and coursework that focus on proficiencies in the Principles of Animation, and require that students upload complete projects to their own personal Vimeo pages. In all of our courses, faculty will place more emphasis on areas that need additional improvements. The program will continue to evaluate student progress in this objective on an annual basis. This will take place during the Department of Arts BFA reviews, the annual Computer Animation Festival, as well as annual program faculty meetings.