Course Description

This course addresses aesthetic, historical, and technical issues related to the creation and production of medium-to-large-scale three-dimensional artwork using today’s digital technology to design and fabricate the artwork.  For the purposes of this course, "medium-to-large-scale" here means larger than approximately 1 meter cubed. The course builds on an historical perspective.  At the same time that students are creating their own artworks, they study and research a variety of historical examples of three-dimensional art at various periods and over a variety of cultures. Students may work either as teams or individually to design, fabricate and install their artworks.  Questions of content, composition, and the effect of scale are considered.  Technical D scanning. Students have access to all the DDA facilities within Myrtle Hall with the exception of the Dimension 3D Printer.

Entry Requirements

Students are not expected to have prior experience with 3D software and the course is structured on the assumption that students do not have such prior experience. If students do have prior experience with 3D software, exercises and instruction will be adjusted accordingly.

Apart from any technical considerations, all students are expected to already have prior experience and some familiarity with at least one three-dimensional artform -- for example, sculpture, pottery, interior design, package design, architecture, etc.

Goals of the Course

The goal of the course is to become capable, both artistically and technically, of producing high-quality medium-to-large-scale physical three-dimensional artwork using digital technologies.

Course Requirements

Attendance/Participation

The classes will involve lectures, demonstrations, discussions, exercises, and critiques. Each of these is considered extremely important and, because of this, attendance at and full participation in the weekly classes are required of all students.

Please note also that it is Pratt Institute policy that three unexcused absences constitute grounds for an automatic F for the course, and that two latenesses are considered the equivalent of one absence. Arriving more than 15 minutes after the scheduled start of class will be considered late. Arriving more than one hour late will be considered absent. Students are 100% responsible for their own attendance and must allow for delays due to subways, traffic, etc. If you miss class because of illness, you are advised to bring in a note from your physician to avoid your absence being listed as "unexcused".

The Project

Each student will work either individually or within a group on a semester-long project. The goal of this project is to digitally conceive, design, produce, and exhibit a medium-to-large-scale three-dimensional artwork. The production of this piece will take place over the course of the entire semester and will be divided into two stages. At the conclusion of each stage, student will present and hand in their work-to-date for graded evaluation. At the conclusion of the semester, each student or group will install and exhibit their project.

All projects must be approved in advance by the instructor. This will include consideration of the technical feasibility of being able to produce and exhibit the proposed project.

Students are encouraged to incorporate the full range of their skills into this project. This means incorporating any drawing, photographic, imaging, sculptural, design, art historical, and other skills you may have at your disposal, into the project.

Exercises

There will be three graded exercises, with approximately 3-4 weeks being devoted to each. Each exercise will focus on a specific set of technical skills and approaches. There will also be additional ungraded exercises available to students who are able to do them

Research Presentations/Papers

Each student will research some aspect of three-dimensional artmaking. Based on this research they will make a short presentation to the class and write a short paper.

Readings & Tutorials

There will be selected readings from several short publications, all of which can be found online.

We will use the collection of tutorials at www.3dtutorials.michaelorourke.com

Other tutorials found online and in DVD collections will be used as necessary.

File Storage

Each student is 100% responsible for storing all of his or her files on their own removable storage media. You must make permanent backups of your files on regular basis onto your own storage media (Flash, CD, DVD, external HD, etc.). When you do so, please remember to make two backups--the first is your "original", and the second is your "backup".

Each student may, upon request, receive storage space on the DDA server. Ask Lab Management about this if you are interested.

Student files are not to be stored for extended periods on the local hard drives of the workstations. An exception to this is when you are rendering frames. In this case, be respectful of each other's work. On the one hand, do not delete others' rendered frames unnecessarily; on the other hand, do not leave your rendered frames on the machine unnecessarily (more than one day). Student files left on the local hard drives more than one day may be deleted if disk space is needed by another student.

Also, be aware that Lab Management may, at their discretion, delete student files from the hard drives to make room for other work.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

	Week 1	Student info Overview of course structure, online Overview of fabrication techiniques: wireframe, unfolded polgyons, cross-sections Intro to Maya -- an exhibition space polygons, polygon primitives dimensioning surface materials For next week: Sketches & written proposal for semester-long project Start Exercise 1 Redefining Scupture Digitally. Michael O'Rourke, 2010
	Week 2	Students' project ideas Basic lighting Texture maps For next week: Finish Exercise1 Readings: Computers, Scupture and Three-Dimensionality. Michael O'Rourke, 1985
	Week 3	Exercise 1 due Polygon modeling tools: Add Divisions; Interactive Split; Polygon Extrude; Display Non-planar Faces; Triangulate Unwrapping/unfolding a polygon model: Pepakura
	Week 4	Unwrapping/unfolding a polygon model: Pepakura Maya: .obj format; plugin; export Virtual Box = Windows Peparkura: Open, Unfold, Scale
	Week 5	More polygon modeling: Bevel; Chamfer; Rendering Harden Edge; Insert Edge Loop; Poke Face More Pepakura For next week: finish Exercise 2
	Week 6	(Prof. O'Rourke on Jury Duty) Exercise 2 due Intro to NURBS surfaces: Concept of a spline patch, NURBS primitives, curves Extrude along a path; Revolve For next week: Final deadline for Exercise 1 (revised deadline) Prepare materials for semester-long project: drawings + verbal description + some Maya modeling
	Week 7	Exercise 1 due (revised due date) Prepare materials for semester-long project: drawings + verbal description + some Maya modeling Student Research Presentation Projecting a curve onto a surface Making a surface from a closed curve Calculating cross-sections MEL script for calculating cross-sections
	Week 8	Project: Stage 1 due More NURBS modeling cross-section fabrication Sending cross-section data out Student Research Presentation
	Week 9	More NURBS modeling registration marks Printing cross-sections Student Research Presentation
	Week 10	Exercise 3 due Intro to laser cutter
	Week 11	Deformers Non-manifold surfaces Work on projects Student Research Presentation
	Week 12	Intro to 3d Scanner Work on projects Student Research Presentation
	Week 13	Work on projects Student Research Presentation
	Week 14	Work on projects Student Research Presentation Begin installations of projects
	Week 15	Final Critique of finished and installed projects Project: final due

Methods of Assessment & Grading

The semester-long project will be divided into two stages and will count for a total of 50% of your final grade. Each stage will have the following weighting: stage1 = 15%; stage2 = 35%. (For group projects, individual students will be graded based on the quality of the work produced by the team as a whole plus the quality of their specific contributions to that work. Students working as part of

Each of the three exercises will count for 10% of the final grade. Thus all the exercises together account for 30% of the final grade.

The research presentation will count for 10% of the final grade.

Active participation in the classes and discussions will count for 10% of the final grade.

Grades are earned by a combination of effort + quality. It is assumed that all students will work hard. That is where we start. This means that merely working hard does not necessarily earn you a high grade. Working hard and doing good quality work is what will earn you a high grade. Thus, a grade of A means that you have worked hard and you have done excellent work. A grade of B means you have worked hard and done reasonably good work. A grade below C means your work is not up to the standards of this Department.

All projects and assignments must be handed in on the due date. Please note that technical problems, lab problems, or being "really busy" do not constitute an excuse for unfinished work. Such issues are part of life and life with computers, and you should assume they will occur. It is your responsibility to schedule your time and your work to allow for this sort of problem and still get your work done well and on time.

Software and Materials

Software

The principle software we will be using for our three-dimensional modeling and rendering is Autodesk Maya. This software is available on all the DDA machines. It is also available to students as a free download from Autodesk at http://students.autodesk.com/. Maya can run on either Windows or Macintosh.

We will also use Adobe Illustrator. This software is available on all the DDA machines. Illustrator can run on either Windows or Macintosh.

We will also use the Pepakura unfolding software. Several copies of this will be available on the Pratt machines. Pepakura can be purchased for $38 from http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/. Note: this software runs on Windows machines only.

Other Materials

To fabricate your physical artwork and models, you will need to purchase some combination of the following:

Aluminum sculpting wire
Glue
Foamboard
Cardboard

Technical Topics

The following is a list of technical topics addressed in this course in approximately the order they will be presented in the course.

• Dimensioning 3d models
• Polygon modeling
• Basic texturing
• Basic lighting
• Basic rendering

• More polygon modeling tools
• NURBS curves
• NURBS surfaces

• Wireframe physical models

• Polygon unfolding
• Folded-surface models (paper, cardboard,etc.)
• Edge angle calculations

• Cross-sections
• Physical cross-sectional models
• Laser cutting surfaces

• 3d scanning

Academic Integrity

(The following is copied from the Pratt Institute website.)

Pratt Institute considers Academic Integrity highly important. Instances of cheating, plagiarism, and wrongful use of intellectual property will not be tolerated.

• Faculty members will report each incident to the registrar for inclusion in studentsí files.
• More than one report to the registrar during a studentís program of study at Pratt will result in a hearing before the Academic Integrity Board, at which time appropriate sanctions will be decided. These may include dismissal from the Institute.
• The nature and severity of the infraction will be determined by faculty members who can: ask students to repeat an assignment, fail students on the assignment, fail students in the course and/or refer the incident to the Academic Integrity Board.

For more details about these procedures please see the Pratt Student Handbook, the Pratt Bulletins, and the pamphlet entitled Judicial Procedures at Pratt.

CHEATING

If students use dishonest methods to fulfill course requirements, they are cheating. Examples of this include, but are not limited to:

• Obtaining or offering copies of exams or information about the content of exams in advance.
• Bringing notes in any form to a closed book exam.
• Looking at another student's paper during an exam.
• Receiving or communicating any information from or to another student during an exam.

PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is a bit more complicated, but the rules of documentation and citation are very specific and are tailored to different academic disciplines. Types of plagiarism include:

• Including any material from any source other than you in a paper or project without proper attribution. This includes material from the Internet, books, papers, or projects by other students, and from any other source.
• Using your own work to fulfill requirements for more than one course
• The extensive use of the ideas of others in your work without proper attribution.
• Turning in work done by another person or a fellow student as one's own.

Please remember that all work must be the student's own. If it is not, the source should be cited and documented appropriately.

If there are aspects of this statement that are not understood, ask faculty members for help.