Still from "Blinded" by students Ashley Kim, Nina Duan, Justin Lee, Magda Gourinchas

IDeATe › Undergraduate Programs › Animation & Special Effects

Animation & Special Effects

Students in the Animation & Special Effects minor study the interconnected components of performance capture, rendering, 3D and 2D animation, and special effects. They merge arts and technology perspectives to explore each of these components and the area of digital animation as a whole. Through common repositories across courses and collaborative projects, students explore how the different components and types of expertise come together to create a convincing computer animated experience.

Students in this minor are also be able to connect to other IDeATe courses to explore applications of digital animation in different contexts (games, interactive environments etc.) and to integrate other key areas of knowledge (narrative, sound) into digital animation projects.

Animation & Special Effects Minor Requirements

Animation & Special Effects Minor - Minimum of 45 Units
one computing course - Minimum of 9 units	15-104 Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice 15-110 Principles of Computing 15-112 Fundamentals of Programming and Computer Science 60-210 Electronic Media Studio: Introduction to Interactivity 60-212 Electronic Media Studio: Interactivity and Computational Practice
One ideate Portal course - minimum of 9 units	Recommended Portal Course for this area: 60-125 Introduction to 3D Animation Pipeline 16-223 IDeATe Portal: Creative Kinetic Systems 18-090 Twisted Signals: Multimedia Processing for the Arts 53-322 IDeATe: Little Games/Big Stories: Indie Roleplaying Game Studio 60-223 IDeATe Introduction to Physical Computing 62-150 IDeATe Introduction to Media Synthesis & Analysis 82-250 Digital Realites: Introducing Immersive Technologies for Arts and Culture 99-361 IDeATe Portal
Ideate animation & Special effects Courses - minimum of 27 units	15-365/60-422 Experimental Animation 15-463 Computational Photography 15-465/60-414 Animation, Art, and Technology 53-320 IDeATe Special Topics in Animation: Character Modeling 53-321 IDeATe Special Topics in Animation: Bipedal Rigging for Animation Production 53-323 IDeATe Special Topics in Animation: Storytelling Through Effects 60-220 Technical Character Animation 60-333 Character Rigging for Production 60-335 IDeATe Special Topics in Animation: Story Development 60-337 IDeATe Special Topics in Animation: Storyboarding 60-398 Social History of Animation 60-413 Advanced ETB: Real-Time Animation 60-415 Advanced ETB: Animation Studio 60-426 Advanced ETB: 2D Animation 60-461 Experimental Capture Additional courses as available. Please check IDeATe Courses for the options for the current and upcoming semester.
Double-counting: Students may double-count up to two of their IDeATe minor courses for other requirements.

How to Participate

IDeATe collaborates with the Robotics Institute to offer an undergraduate minor in Animation & Special Effects, which is open to students from any major. Students interested in the minor should contact the IDeATe advisor to discuss curriculum and to make a loose plan of study.

All students are welcome to take IDeATe's Animation & Special Effects courses to fulfill requirements or to explore an area of interest. Pursuing the minor is not required to take the courses.

Animation & Special Effects Faculty

The Animation & Special Effects faculty represent Carnegie Mellon's expertise in Art and Robotics. They carefully oversee the collaboration of students while delivering the IDeATe Animation & Special Effects courses.

Johannes DeYoung