Computer Graphics World

Escape Studios makes a point to employ the same tools and technologies the industry uses, thereby enabling graduates to more easily step into a professional studio environment. Industry Investment Industry technology firms have long provided discounted educational pricing on hardware and software for students and schools; today, vendors are increasingly donating solutions to enhance students' education, abilities, and experience. Dassault Systemes' 3DVIA brand holds an annual Web-based, student game development contest called "The Z."  "The Z is a cutting-edge game development curriculum in the form of a contest," says a 3DVIA representative. "Students compete to build and publish the best one-level 3D browser game on the new 3DVIA Studio engine for cash, prizes, and promotion. This structure gives students the technical skills typical of a class setting, while teaching best practices for building an audience through marketing and promotion." In March, Boston University Center for Digital Imaging Arts' (CDIA's) Team ZPZ (Matthew McCarthy, Andrew Collins, and Matthew Thompson) won for their third-person shooter, Zombie Park Zoo. Team ZPZ received $2000 and promotion at the 2011 Game Developer's Conference. "The Z competition was one of the best things I've done in my 3D career," says McCarthy, team lead. "From beginning design work to final promotion, The Z taught every aspect of building and publishing successful casual games. I'm thrilled with what we 14 • Education Supplement • July 2011 accomplished in three and a half months and would recommend The Z to any student looking to break into the video game industry." "By leveraging the new 3DVIA Studio engine, The Z allowed faculty to teach game design, not code, enhancing CDIA's 3D animation curriculum while providing realworld experience for students," says Emmy Jonassen, game development marketing manager for 3DVIA. "We are looking forward to continuing to help CDIA, as well as nine other schools, accomplish this next year with the 2012 Z contest." The competition ran like a curriculum, teaching students the principles of good game design, as well as how to promote and attract audiences to games once published. Several teams, consisting of both current students and alumni, participated in creating their own one-level 3D game using the new 3DVIA Studio engine. Early Education If ever there was an argument for investing in education, it's Riley Lewis, a 13-year-old student at The Discovery Charter School (K–8) in San Jose/Cupertino, California. As he was finishing seventh grade last month, Lewis was setting up a design lab at his school. Already an experienced user of Dassault Systemes' SolidWorks, Lewis started out the Design Lab with a gutted HP workstation. Nvidia gave the school highend graphics cards, which Lewis says changed the rendering experience. In fact, the Design Lab has several notable sponsors, including Dassault Systems, Nvidia, Boxx Technologies, HSM Works, 3Dconnexion, and 3D Systems. Easily rattling off brand names, model numbers, and hardware specs as though they were the digits of his phone number, Lewis excitedly describes the Design Lab inventory. The lab now boasts: a once-gutted HP workstation, now powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Nvidia Quadro graphics board; a Boxx Technologies GoBoxx mobile workstation (which he describes as "amazing to use" for all his projects) equipped with an Nvidia Quadro graphics card; SolidWorks and CSWA (Certified SolidWorks Associate) tutorials; Nvidia graphics cards; a 3D mouse from 3dconnexion; and a 3D printer from 3D Systems. Excited about how the lab is progressing, Lewis has no plans to rest on his laurels, however; he is working on designing and developing an iPod stand "to sell to get more stuff" for the Design Lab, he says. "I am always on the lookout for tools to help me with my design work." Riley is using PCs with advanced graphics cards to run SolidWorks to design 3D models of prototype parts, such as a pick-proof lock that he imagined. With the highend cards, Riley can easily create a virtual model of what he "sees" and then validate the operation of even a complicated lock set. He and his friend are also using the tools to design high-performance air-rifle pellets for use underwater. This type of design work employs hydrodynamic modeling and requires a high-end graphics system and card to speed the rendering time and let them try out different designs, discard those that have obvious flaws, and focus on the ones that have decent potential. All this will culminate with the 3D printer, enabling Riley and the other students to design 3D models quickly in SolidWorks, render them with a variety of textures and finishes, and output them on the 3D printer. What is on his and his peers' current wish list? Adobe's After Effects. "One of my friends, Vernon, and I make short movies, mostly comedies, with open-source photo and video software. After Effects would be really cool for the small stuff I work on extracurricularly." The most important message Lewis wishes to convey concerns young students worldwide. "A fairly large number of young people want to design out there. It's filtering down to the middle-school level; there's a large amount of interest there—if other kids could just get their hands on [hardware and software] and get rolling with it. We [at the Discovery School] are just more on the map because someone with Dassault Systemes came to talk to us." Courtney E. Howard is a contributing editor for Computer Graphics World. She can be reached at cehoward@twitchinc.net. Hephaestus, written and directed by Alexander Curtis; lighting and texturing by Andrew Dehner and Mohamed Sinbawy; modeling by Jordan Hess and Josh Brock; ©2011 SCAD. nologies' SynthEyes camera-tracking/matchmoving and stabilization software, as well as animating to match the actor's performances. The school's popular 3D course has won international awards over the years; just recently, two student films were nominated for awards from the Visual Effects Society (VES) and Aspen Shortsfest in Colorado. SCAD hosts several events, including competitions, which are well attended by industry. "We just held a motion-graphics symposium, called INSPIRE, that was a big success, with industry giants coming from all over the world," says Weishar. "We also have a game developer's exchange for the Gaming Development and Interactive Design department. We had roughly 600 people at that conference; it was a huge success, with major names from huge studios coming and talking to the students." Animation is the largest undergraduate department at SCAD, "and this is one of the largest schools of art and design in the world," Weishar adds. "It's exciting that it is that popular and that well received. We have animation programs in Savannah and Atlanta, and we've started one in Hong Kong." In September, SCAD will hold its Animate show and "best of" competition. Also held by SCAD in the fall, the Savannah Film Festival draws a wealth of people who work behind the camera as well as in front of it. Past honored guests include Sir Ian McKellen, Liam Neeson, Tommy Lee Jones, Sydney Pollack, Alan Cumming, and more. "We had visual effects superstars and Rick Baker, six-time Academy Awardwinner for makeup design. Scott Ferraro, Rob Lagato, Syd Mead, and Scott Ross— major names from VFX—were all on the same panel, and that's an opportunity that doesn't exist for most college students." scad.edu/animation Education Supplement The m

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