Issue date: 10/6/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Chris Griffin [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Scott Johnsgard Visualization sciences graduate student Bobby Huebel works on a computer-generated "animatic" in the Langford annex. [Click to enlarge]

Almost everyone grows up on some diet of animated entertainment. In the days before most college students were born, there were only cartoons. With the advent of computer technology, computer-animated features have become increasingly popular.

New technical boundaries and artistic disciplines have been formed. The Department of Visualization is well aware of this.The Texas A&M Visualization Laboratory, commonly referred to as the VizLab, was established in 1988. Until January, the Department of Visualization was part of the architecture department.

"It was a good fit," department head Tim McLaughlin said, "but we wanted to allow the Masters of Visual Sciences program to extend into the undergrad levels. Now, as our own department, we have more freedom to modify the program."

The VizLab is at the hub of graphic design and animation at A&M. Located in the Langford building, the VizLab's 7,500 square feet contains an array of animation and graphics-oriented tools including two video studios, color and black-and-white darkrooms, sound creation and manipulation facilities, a Cyberware 3-D scanner and a host of other hardware and software tools.

Students enrolled in the Viz program log multiple hours in the VizLab.

"At the undergraduate level, the backbone of the curriculum is the freshman studio courses," McLaughlin said.

"They begin with 2-D and 3-D design problems. Once those principles and skills have been properly mastered, the students advance to form and time based media courses in their sophomore year." McLaughlin said that after learning the basics, students are able to hone their skills.

"At the junior and senior level courses, students begin to delve more deeply into the finer points of computer graphics," he said. "Concurrently, students enhance their aesthetic learning with technical instruction in engineering mathematics courses. We try to give the students a strong foundation in the artistic as well as the technical aspects of their work."

Apart from having a passion for the program, McLaughlin also has a career background in the field. As a creature developer for both Industrial Light and Magic and Lucasfilm, McLaughlin's screen credits include "Jumanji," "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace," "Jurassic Park 3," "Van Helsing" and others.

Graduate students have the opportunity to showcase their work at VizaGoGo, an annual event held by the department. The visualization department is a source of recruiting because the exhibition is frequented by major companies and industries. Alumni have gone on to work for companies like Disney, Pixar, Blue Sky Studios, Industrial Light and Magic and others. Students from the program are also in demand for gaming corporations such as Electronic Arts and software developers such as Microsoft.

Graduate student Rodrigo Huerta won the Sony Image Works top IPAX scholarship, an international award. Lauren Simpson won a mtvU.com contest and directed the music video for Motion City Soundtrack's "It Had to Be You."

"If you look at the media avenues in television, theater, the World Wide Web, so much of it is driven by art and design plus computer graphics and engineering," McLaughlin said. "By giving our students all these strengths, we hope to put them in a good position for future employment and pursuit of their craft."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools