ARC 351R/381R
Introduction to Computer Imaging

Instructor: Owen Cappleman
Time: Tuesday - Thursday 9:30 - 11:00 AM
Place: SUT 2.102

COURSE FORMAT
This course is divided into three parts. The centerpieces for the first one-third of the semester are 1) image processing employing the program Adobe Photoshop and 2) graphic design and layout using Adobe InDesign. Demonstrations will be provided by the instructor. Students will engage in tutorial projects in teams, and there will be an individual summary project at the end of this segment.

During the mid-part of the semester, software demonstrations will shift from being instructor-driven to being student-driven, as we explore other programs in graphics, solid modeling, animation, cybertravel, who knows...?

In the latter part of the semester, each student will propose a term project which, once approved, will become tantamount to a directed individual study. Whenever feasible, architecture and interior design students are urged to coordinate their final project with design studio. Likewise, students in other majors are encouraged to relate their imaging project to their respective disciplines whenever this is appropriate/desired.

INTERDISCIPLINARY
Introduction to Computer Imaging is open to all disciplines on campus; in fact students from outside the architecture and interior design programs are welcome. In the last few years, more than half the class were from other fields, with majors ranging from Computer Science to Communications to Fine Arts.

SUPPLIES
Each student should have his or her own high-capacity personal storage device such as an Iomega Zip cartridge and/or a CD-RW. Students will need access to a camera. Expendable supplies include common printing paper for black and white laser printing, film for photographic resources and the film recorder, videotape cassettes or CDs for animated projects, etc. Prints made on the 11 x 17 color laser printer are paid for by the student at cost per print (they are pricey). Prints on the HP DesignJet plotter are inexpensively charged by the running inch. Use of various other printers is free, with the student providing his or her own paper. Exceptionally good results in color printing have come from using glossy photo paper (IlfordŽ is the best quality) on our inkjet printers. For specialized high quality hard copy, the student may choose to go to a commercial service bureau. Note that this latter option is often very expensive.

READING
There is no required reading for this course. You may find Stewart Brand's The Media Lab--Inventing the Future at MIT to be frustratingly fascinating (frustrating not because it's a difficult read--it's written by a journalist--but because of all of MIT's wondrous toys), and I strongly recommend Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television by Jerry Mander, some of Marshall McLuhan's writings from the late '60's and early 70's, and Victor Papanek's Design for the Real World. None of these has any direct bearing on the course, nor will they contribute to your success in imaging, but at least they will put us on a common wavelength.

ATTENDANCE
Regular attendance is important, and students are expected to work on projects in the computer lab during class time not devoted to discussion and/or demonstration. More than three unexcused absences during the semester, or two consecutive absences, may cause a student to be dropped from the course. An absence is excused either by prior notification (e-mail or telephone) or with a written excuse from a health care professional following the absence. The instructor's telephone number is 512.471.7179. His voice mail will be activated during times when he is out of his office, or when he is speaking to another party. His e-mail address is: owenc@mail.utexas.edu.

EVALUATION CRITERIA
Establishing grades in a course such as this, given its subjective nature, is a more complex matter than grading in academic areas. Criteria for grading assignments include demonstrated understanding of basic computer operations, evidence of enthusiasm and involvement, and the quality of computer images in terms of clarity, composition, elegance and imagination. The semester grade will be averaged according to the following percentages:

Photoshop Tutorials 10%
Summary Photoshop/InDesign Project 15%
Software Demonstrations 25%
Semester Project 35%
Attendance and Class Participation 15%

The grading scale below is a familiar one, but published here to satisfy University requirements:

A (90 - 100%): OUTSTANDING WORK.
B (80 - 89): GOOD WORK.
C (70 - 79): AVERAGE WORK.
D (60 - 69): POOR WORK.
F (below 60): UNACCEPTABLE WORK.

The grade of X (incomplete) can be given only for legitimate reasons, such as illness or family emergency, or some other reasonable contingency. Simply not completing the work is not an adequate cause for assigning this grade.