# ARTV 2371 — Advanced Skill Development for Animation and Games ### Fall 2026 · Tuesdays 9:00 AM – 1:50 PM **Animation & Game Art · Media Arts · Collin College** --- ## Welcome This course is the capstone of your Enhanced Skills Certificate. You already hold an Associate of Applied Science or a Certificate in Animation & Game Art, and you have already built an online portfolio in Portfolio Development. This semester is not about broad coverage. It is about going deep in one area, at a professional standard, and adding work to that portfolio that changes what it qualifies you for. You will complete **three projects** over sixteen weeks, working independently and meeting every Tuesday to report progress, receive critique, and get direction on what comes next. --- ## The spine of the course The three projects are not independent assignments. Each one feeds the next. **Week 3** — you audit your existing portfolio and name the gap in it. **Project 1** — you recreate a piece of professional work. In doing so you generate a list of techniques you had to learn. **Project 2** — you take one technique from that list and teach it, which is how you find out whether you actually learned it. **Project 3** — you build the piece that closes the gap you named in Week 3. By December the portfolio you walked in with has been examined honestly, added to deliberately, and pointed at a specific job. --- ## How this course works This is a studio course, not a lecture course. There is no weekly reading quiz and no lockstep assignment sequence. 1. **You propose the work.** Weeks 1–2 you choose a track and scope three projects. 2. **You do the work independently.** Most production happens outside the Tuesday meeting. 3. **You report every Tuesday.** You arrive with something to show, you present it, you take notes on the critique, and you leave with a clear next step. 4. **You revise.** Nothing is one-and-done. Every milestone gets critique and a revision window. **Each week has its own Canvas page** telling you what is due, what to bring, what happens in class, and what to do before the next meeting. Start there. The weekly consultation is the engine of the course. Missing it, or arriving without work to show, is the fastest way to fall behind. --- ## Choose your track Pick one and commit to it for the semester: - **3D Animation** — character performance, creature work, body mechanics - **Character Rigging** — deformation, controls, tooling - **Technical Art** — shaders, procedural systems, pipeline tools, optimization - **Game Design** — systems, levels, playable vertical slice - **Game Programming** — gameplay systems, engine work, tools - **Concept Art & Storyboard** — visual development, character design, sequential storytelling - **Motion Graphics** — design in motion, title design, broadcast - **Virtual Production** — real-time on-set workflows, LED volume, camera tracking - **Other related area** — by proposal and approval Two-track combinations are permitted where coherent and realistically scoped. Discuss in Week 1. Your track determines the curated source list you choose Project 1 from. --- ## The three projects **Project 1 — Deconstruction** *(Weeks 2–6, 30 points)* Choose an existing professional piece — a title sequence, an effects shot, a game mechanic, a character design, a level, a rig — and recreate it, faithfully or in your own style. The creative direction is handed to you, so you can concentrate entirely on execution. **Project 2 — Technique Tutorial** *(Weeks 6–11, 30 points)* Take one technique you learned in Project 1 and teach it. Written, video, or AI-assisted. You cannot write a tutorial for something you only half understand, which is precisely why this is the assessment. **Project 3 — Original Work** *(Weeks 11–16, 30 points)* An original piece that fills the gap you identified in your portfolio review, or demonstrates a skill a real job posting requires that your portfolio does not yet show. --- ## Start here 1. Read the **Course Schedule** and put all sixteen Tuesdays on your calendar. 2. Read the **Weekly Consultation Protocol** — it tells you exactly what to bring each week. 3. Read the **2026 Industry Skills Report** before Week 1, so your project choices aim at real hiring requirements. 4. Read the **Career Audit & Portfolio Review** page — the first thing due. 5. Skim the **Track Resources** page for your area. 6. Bring your existing online portfolio to Week 1, ready to show. --- ## Quick reference | | | |:--|:--| | **Meets** | Tuesdays, 9:00 AM – 1:50 PM | | **First class** | Tuesday, August 25, 2026 | | **Census date** | Tuesday, September 8, 2026 | | **Withdrawal deadline** | Friday, October 30, 2026 | | **Thanksgiving** | Nov 25–29 — **our Tuesday section still meets Nov 24** | | **Final meeting** | Tuesday, December 8, 2026 | | **Total points** | 100 (+5 extra credit) | --- > **Note:** résumés, cover letters, demo reel assembly, networking, and interview preparation are covered in **Portfolio Development**. This course assumes that groundwork is done and focuses on producing the work that goes into the portfolio.