 NAUGHTY AND NICE. New hardware, software and facilities await the aspiring digital arts enthusiasts as CICS unwraps the Digital Arts program to the public. Dedicated in honing the skills of budding digital artists and enthusiasts, the College of Information and Computing Sciences opened the Digital Arts Program which is set to start in January 2008. Digital Arts Program is divided into eight tracks namely: Digital Arts Foundation Track, Computer Layout and Design Track, Digital Illustration Major in Vector Graphics Track, Digital Illustration Major in Pixel and Photo Editing, Web Design Track, Web Animation Track, Video Production Track, and Digital Animation Track.
Digital Arts and Foundation Track offers Fundamentals in Drawing, Photography, Storyboarding, Digital Video and Audio Fundamentals, and Digital Audio for Media, each to be taken in 28 hours. Computer Layout and Design Track caters to Adobe InDesign CS2 (56 hours), CorelDraw X3 Basic (28 hours), and Adobe Illustrator Basic (28 hours).
Digital Illustration Major in Vector Graphics Track is also presented teaching aspiring students in Corel Draw X3 Advance (56 hours) and Adobe Illustrator CS2 (56 hours). Digital Illustration Major in Pixel and Photo Editing Track provides an intensive training in Adobe Photoshop CS2 (70 hours).
Web Design Track offers Dreamweaver 8 (98 hours) and Fireworks 8 (56 hours) while the Web Animation Track caters to Fireworks 8 and Flash 8, both in 56 hours. Video Production Track presents Storyboarding (28 hours), Adobe Premier (35 hours), Final Cut Pro (35 hours), and Adobe AfterEffects (35 hours). Lastly it provides potential digital artists with a crash course in Digital Animation Track with 2 D Computer Animation (28 hours), Alias Wavefront Maya I (84 hours) and Alias Wavefront Maya II (56 hours). Qualifications Students who want to enroll in the said program must be at least a high school graduate. Inclination in creative arts and previous experiences on computer hands-on is an advantage. However, students who are interested in the said program but lacks experiences are encouraged to enroll. Also, some of the short courses may provide necessary course prerequisites.
On the other hand, the program comes in a first-come, first-served basis. Interested individuals are encouraged to visit the CICS Dean’s Office located at the 3rd floor of Diego Silang Building.
Rationale In an interview with Mrs. Cecilia Mercado, CICS Dean, the rationale behind the said program is the projected 1,383,890 cyber services employment opportunities by the Department of Labor and Employment for the years 2006-2010. These services include animation, back-office processing, customer contact, medical transcription and software development. Among the five mentioned, animation continues to be on top and in need of additional manpower.
A survey was conducted to high school students of Saint Louis Pacdal, Baguio City National High School, and Saint Louis Aurora Hill and college students from the different colleges covering CNS, CON, CHS, CEA, and CAC on their willingness to enroll in a Digital Animation Course. There were a total of 784 respondents, 407 high school and 377 college students. Survey results show that 76.90% high school students while 77.19% college respondents confirmed their willingness to enroll in a Digital Arts Program. Majority of them preferred the course on a modular basis. Resources According to Mrs. Mercado, instructors for the said program will come from the faculty and practitioners outside.
“We will be inviting Digital Artists outside since not all of the faculty will be available for the program,” stated Mrs. Mercado.
Students who will enroll in the said program will be using state-of-the-art resources. New equipment were purchased such as LCD monitors, keyboards, CPUs, speakers, and projectors. Also, there will be a studio for the Digital Arts Foundation Track and Video Production Track such as the photography studio. The Digital Arts Laboratory is located at the 2nd floor of the Msgr. Charles Vath Building.
Also, part of the preparation is the monthly visit to the different companies testing and animation which is essential for marketing of the program. They also tapped the TESDA for accreditation since the courses in the program are certificate courses. According to Mr. Gerry Paul Genove, the students who will finish the course will be having a port folio of their outputs which is vital for employment. He further added that they are targeting about 35 students to keep the quality of the products of the said program.
When asked on the manner of teaching of the instructor, he replied, “We will be avoiding lecture method. It would be better if the instructor will exercise the hands-on method.”
Moreover, Mrs. Mercado declared that if the short courses on Digital Arts will be successful, it might mature to a Digital Arts Degree.
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