Program Course Descriptions

ETC Cooperative Education [53-600]
This "extended internship," or co-op, requires the permission of the program directors. During the Fall semester, the student is considered a full-time, registered Carnegie Mellon student, and pays full tuition. A contact person at the company must agree to act as the local representative to the ETC faculty, and the representative, the student, and the ETC directors must establish what activities the student will participate in during the co-op (during which time the student may be paid by the company, as well). The student must be able to discuss their work, and make in person presentations to the ETC community both at mid-semester and upon completion of the semester. When the directors grant this extended internship, it is customary (but not guaranteed) that they will waive the elective course normally taken during the third semester.

ETC Project Course Spring [53-605], Summer [53-606], and Fall [53-607].

Project courses are "group independent studies," where teams of 3-6 students work on a focused project(s) during that semester. The number of projects per semester will vary. The primary objective of the courses is to provide a hands-on working experience with teammates who are from different backgrounds and disciplines. Other objectives are to experience project management, and have the possibility of working with an external client (some projects have externally collaborators).

• The team contain students from both technology and non-technology backgrounds
• The team must prototype and produce a tangible artifact (not a paper)
• The work must be supervised by a faculty member approved by the ETC for this project.

The Visual Story [53-608]
Students are taught the language of filmmaking and the director’s craft as it applies to the digital format. Aspects of mise-en-scene, visual storytelling, continuity-style coverage, temporal and spatial montage theory, directing actors and thinking visually, will be essential to the new media director’s palette. All forms of digital filmmaking will be discussed including dramatic, documentary and independent features as well as commercials, music videos and experimental subjects. Through lectures, readings, screenings, web-postings, discussions, writing and production assignments, you will learn the basic principles and vocabulary of film theory and aesthetics. Understanding these fundamental ideas will help you develop a more critical eye towards creating new media.

Game Design [53-609]
This is a lecture and project based course that teaches the mechanics and processes of good game design. The principles learned in this class apply equally well to card games, board games, party games, athletic games, and computer games. Students will analyze many types of games, and design many games of their own, alone and in groups, using these principles. Anyone interested in interactive entertainment or in creating compelling experiences should benefit from this course. More info...

Current Issues in Digital Media and Game Design [53-619]
As an elective class for the ETC SV, this course will feature guest speakers from the video game industry and other fields related to the 'state of the art' entertainment technology.   Discussions will include latest software applications and industry trends.

Values @ Play Through Game and Design [53-622]
This course will incorporate the Values @ Play curriculum http://valuesatplay.org/ to serve as the basis for designing and developing a game that integrates social values into its game design and gameplay. General Course Objectives: 1. To foster skills associated with reflective design. Upon completing this course, students should be better able and more predisposed to reflect on their own design practices. 2. To develop and support "values conscious" design practices. Upon completing this course, students should be able to use the Values @ Play methodology for integrating social, moral, and political considerations into the design process. Requirements: Instructor's Permission-Game Design (53-609)

Fundamentals of Entertainment Technology [53-700]
The Fundamentals of Entertainment Technology covers the breadth and specificity of the field of entertainment technology. A main focus of this course will be to create and establish a shared interdisciplinary vocabulary of the design and development aspects pertinent to the field. Similarly, presentation skills will be emphasized to enable students to communicate their ideas effectively across a variety of perspectives. Also, project management techniques will be explored that will be directly applicable to ETC projects. Throughout the semester, ETC faculty and industry professionals will provide historical context and experiential referents in relation to entertainment technology. Students will have the opportunity to begin shaping their professional networks as well as establishing a fundamental understanding of how experiences engage and inform.

Improvisational Acting [53-711]
This course uses the craft of improvisational acting to: foster team building, exercise spontaneity, sharpen focus and increase listening skills, solve problems, build from nothing, recognize and develop basic elements of storytelling - including plot, character development, and theme; stretch creative imagination, and encourage students to overcome inhibitions when communicating publicly and working with others.  With the focus on taking risks and exploring moment to moment, improvisation allows the student to access once again the aspect of self that creates in the form of play.  By placing the emphasis on creation rather than performance, the student is able to focus on the application of skills rather than achievement - the result is a fun, relaxing and creatively stimulating environment.  

Entertaiment Design Studio [53-723]
This is a studio class that brings programmers, designers, and digital artists together to work on interdisciplinary projects at the Entertainment Technology Center. The Entertainment Technology Masters Program works with a wide range of unique input devices (like the Jam-O-Drum). This studio will allow master students and undergraduate students the opportunity to work together on an interdisciplinary team that will maintain current content and generate new content for these devices. The studio may also assist the various client projects that are currently running in the Entertainment Technology Center if the need and/or opportunity arise. The exact projects that the studio will tackle during any semester will be determined by the current needs of the Center and the current skills make-up of the studio members. The studio will be working with the open source Panda3D Engine that is jointly developed by the ETC and by Disney. For programmers, no experience with the Python language is re quired however all programming members will need a prior knowledge of standard programming techniques and will need to learn Python quickly. An introduction to Panda3D using Python will be provided by the instructor. Artists who wish to join the class must have prior knowledge of 3D modeling, texturing, and/or animation using either the 3D Studio Max or Maya software packages. If only one package is known then a willingness to work with the other on an as needed basis will be required. Some projects have special pipeline requirements. An introduction to the production pipeline for using the Panda3D game engine will be provided by the instructor.

Introduction to Maya [53-788]
This is an introductory class for Autodesk Maya Complete.  Students will master the complex interface and toolset of Maya.  Introduction to Maya will concentrate primarily on the proficiency of use for the tool, and secondarily on the sharpening of personal skill sets such as modeling and animating. There will be in-depth discussion of the basic methodologies use in all leading 3D modeling packages for a better understanding of how Maya and other 3D applications work internally.  Students will be assigned small-scope projects in modeling, animating, texturing, and rigging. Most of the features discussed will be geared towards current game industry use.

• Low-poly modeling
• High-poly modeling
• Character modeling
• Joint systems/Bones
• UV Mapping techniques
• Materials & Texturing
• Mechanical Animation
• Character Animation
• Skinning/deformation weighting
• Basic Rigging
• Basic Lighting & Rendering

Building Virtual Worlds [53-831]
Building Virtual Worlds (BVW) is a project course, where interdisciplinary teams build immersive (helmet-based) interactive virtual worlds, as well as a variety of other interactive content. The course uses Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) platforms, such as the Jam-O-Drum, camera-based audience interaction techniques, Quasi the robot, and others. The goal of the course is to take students with varying talents, backgrounds, and perspectives and put them together to do what they couldn't do alone. The key thing is that there are no "idea people" in the course; everyone must share in the mechanical creation of the worlds. Students use 3D modeling software (Maya), painting software (Photoshop), and sound editing software (Adobe Audition & Pro Tools). Another tool available to the students is the Panda3D engine, originally developed by Walt Disney Imagineering's Virtual Reality studio, to display our virtual reality worlds.

Electives

These are examples of the courses, by department, that ETCers have taken for elective credit in the program. Please note that what's listed is a representative sample, and the courses may not necessarily be offered every semester. View sample External Electives list.