The Pixels and Polygons Professional Program
In our comprehensive certificate program, our students learn the skills needed to become professional 3D artists and animators. We prepare our graduates for careers in Game Art, Animation, Motion Graphics, Visual Effects, and the many subspecialties therein. Our program is comprised of nine terms, with each academic term targeting the development of a set of specialized skills within a core topic area. Through lectures, practical exercises, demonstrations, and extensive practice, students are given the time, tools, and resources to achieve mastery in each core discipline.
Throughout each term, students are challenged with assignments and deliverables of progressive complexity. These assignments require the application of existing skills while encouraging a constant elevation of artistry. Applicable traditional art skills will be discussed and refined throughout each term in addition to the instruction of the latest software programs and digital art practices.
Student deliverables will be regularly critiqued by classmates and professionals. Each term also includes a mid-term examination, applied skill tests, and career training exercises to ensure well balanced student development.
Finally, each term concludes with a Design Challenge project, where students complete a pre-determined design challenge and present their work to the class in order to demonstrate their proficiency in the subject matter and their artistic creativity.
The Pixels and Polygons Professional Program
Our program is paced for students who are ready for a deep dive into the wide world of 3D Art, Animation, and Games. Our schedule permits students to balance their educational pursuits with existing commitments. Classes are 3 hours long, and meet 3 times per week.
Foundations Program
First Term
P&P 101 FOUNDATIONS FOR DIGITAL ARTISTS
Software, Skills, and Artistic Fundamentals | Available in-person and online | 120 Hours
Our first term will prepare students to become well rounded and productive digital artists. We’ll begin creating digital art on day one and we won’t stop until graduation. Students will explore traditional art history as well as the history of Computer Generated Images, Visual Effects, and Video Games. Within the first week of class, each student will create an art blog where all future deliverables will be posted, shared, and discussed. This blog will provide a public platform to monitor student progress, while teaching students to maintain a professional presence online. Students will develop their artistic sensibilities while learning
proper file organization and project management. We will also discuss best practices for note taking, comprehension and long-term retention of skills and concepts.
Second Term:
P&P 102 INTRODUCTION TO 3D ART
Understanding Autodesk Maya| Available in-person and online | 120 Hours
Our second term dives into the industry’s most popular and most powerful 3D production application, Autodesk Maya. Students will learn to navigate Maya’s interface and explore the 3D workspace. We’ll cover the fundamentals of 3D Modeling, UVs, Texturing, Materials, Lighting, and Rendering. With an emphasis on clean modeling techniques, we’ll examine both hard surface and organic techniques. We’ll discuss basic hierarchies in the outliner, the shading networks in the hypershade. Students will learn the same professional production pipelines that are used in popular Games, Film, Feature Animation, and Advertisements.
Third Term:
P&P 103 INTRODUCTION TO ANIMATION
Animation and Rigging Principles | Available in-person and online | 120 Hours
Our Third Term is where it all comes to life. Students will learn to animate both on paper and on screen. The history of animation, including the development of the 12 Principles of Animation will be examined and applied. Students will learn to utilize their sketching skills in storyboards, while honing their own acting abilities in order to understand how to communicate through body motion. Students will learn critical character rigging principles such as hierarchies, joints, controls, constraints, and skinning in order to breathe life into their own original characters.
Intermediate Program
Fourth Term
P&P 201 INTERMEDIATE 3D ART
Environmental and Architectural 3D Modeling, Texturing, Lighting, and Rendering |Available in-person and online | 120 Hours
Our Fourth Term will expand upon student knowledge of the 3D Art production pipeline. Projects will become larger and more complex through well-planned environmental design and set creation. Groups of students will team up to collaborate on more significant scenes, creating the opportunity to explore new techniques, organizational skills, and project management under the supervision of their instructors. Sets will be designed for use as a stage for future character animation projects. Assets and props will also be created with real-time interactive level design in mind, requiring highly efficient use of resources without sacrificing artistic clarity or fidelity.
Fifth Term:
P&P 202 ADVANCED 3D ART
Organic Modeling, Texturing, Retopology, and UVs| Available in-person and online | 120 Hours
In our Fifth Term, students will learn to create their own original characters using the industry’s leading digital sculpting program, Pixologic Brush. We will explore both realistic and stylized characters and discuss the different approaches for film and games. Students will master Human anatomy and proportions, while creating iconic characters from imagination and concept reference. Students will learn to create realistic skin, hair, eyes, clothing, and armor textures using powerful texturing tools such as ZBrush, Allegorithmic Substance, and Marvelous Designer. We will also discuss how to prepare a character for rigging and animation, including best practices for Retopology and UVs.
Sixth Term:
P&P 203 ADVANCED ANIMATION AND RIGGING
Mastering Animation | Available in-person and online | 120 Hours
In our Sixth Term, students will become masters of animation and character rigging. We will create advanced body and facial rigs, giving our characters the ability to emote and perform intricate dialogue. We will cover IK/FK Switches, Stretchy Limbs, User Interfaces, and MEL Scripting. Students will act out and record scenes for animation reference, just like the pros. In doing so, they’ll learn to capture the subtleties and nuance of human action in their animations. Students will also learn dynamic physics simulations for animating clothing and hair.
Advanced Program
Seventh Term
P&P 301 ADVANCED RENDERING AND VFX
Lighting, Rendering, Live Action Compositing, and Special Effects |Available in-person and online | 120 Hours
Our Seventh Term teaches students to create finished, professional quality images and videos using the Arnold render engine. We will master Maya’s hypershade to create complex shader networks along with realistic lights, while balancing efficient, but effective render settings. We will break our images down into Render Passes (AOVs) for color correction and compositing, allowing the fine tuning of every aspect of our finished character animation projects. Students will also explore the same high-end film techniques that are used in today’s CG blockbusters. Through motion tracking and green screen, students will learn to convincingly composite CG elements into live action video.
Eighth Term:
P&P 302 GAME ENGINES
Optimization and Implementation for Real Time Game Engines| Available in-person and online | 120 Hours
Our Eighth term introduces students to the world of game engines. In order for the lush, interactive worlds of today’s games to exist, many measures are taken to optimize the art, animation, physics, and lighting for real-time feedback. By creating clean, focused rigs, limiting polygons, maximizing UV space, and leveraging the engine’s materials and lights, students will learn to push the limits of low-poly 3D art to create beautiful assets for games. We will explore rigging and animation cycles for games, including techniques for motion capture and cleanup. Students will learn to blend cycles to make their characters walk, run, jump, and attack based on player input.
Ninth Term:
P&P 303 FINAL PROJECT AND PORTFOLIO
Bringing it All Together – Career Focused Projects and Career Readiness | Available in-person and online | 120 Hours
Our Final Term is where we put our student’s knowledge and talent to the test. Students will complete final examinations and skill tests in each of the core principles. They’ll be pushed to solve artistic and technical challenges based on real world scenarios with clients and in studios. The results of these examinations will reveal student passions and proficiencies. These results will be discussed with each student and used to guide students into an appropriate specialty, tailored to their skill set. Under the advice of our faculty, students will design their own final project, demonstrating their mastery of a given subject. Once the final project is complete, students will build their specialized, professional portfolios.