# ARTV 2335 — Portfolio Development for Animation & Game Art ### Fall 2026 · Fridays · Frisco Campus --- ## What this course is You leave in December with four things: 1. **A portfolio of 6–10 finished pieces**, aimed at a specific job title, live on a platform where people can find it 2. **A resume** that survives a first cut and produces a click 3. **A network** — actual people who know your name and what you make 4. **A plan** for the ninety days after you graduate Most weeks you meet with me one-on-one during your group's hour. Four Fridays, the whole class meets. --- ## How the semester is shaped | | Full-class Friday | The question it answers | |---|---|---| | **Week 1** — Aug 28 | **Locate** | Where am I, what job am I going after, and what do I already have? | | **Week 6** — Oct 2 | **Be read** | How does a stranger decide, in fifteen seconds of text, that I'm worth a click? | | **Week 10** — Oct 30 | **Be found** | How do people encounter my work without me applying? | | **Week 15** — Dec 4 | **Be chosen** | What happens in the room, and what happens for the next three years? | Every other week is appointments and open lab. --- ## Your appointment group **Groups are fixed for the semester.** Sign up in Week 1 for the hour that fits your actual life — your job, your commute, your obligations. Sign-ups lock after Week 2 and then that's your time, every appointment week, no rotation. | Group | Hour | |---|---| | A | Hour 1 of the block | | B | Hour 2 | | C | Hour 3 | | D | Hour 4 | **Need a different hour some week?** Post in the *Appointment Swaps* discussion beforehand and attend another group's hour, space permitting. You don't need permission, just notice. --- ## Come prepared, every time Three things, every appointment: 1. **Work open and running** — the current build, on screen. Not a description of it. 2. **One specific question.** "Does this read as a junior environment artist piece?" is a question. "What do you think?" is not. 3. **Your Portfolio Tracker**, showing what actually moved. --- ## The lab is open the whole block Your appointment is your guaranteed slot, not your dismissal time. The lab has software and hardware most of you don't have at home, and it's yours for the entire scheduled period. Students who use the full block finish this course with better portfolios than students who leave after fifteen minutes. That's not a threat — it's just what happens every semester. --- ## Three dates to put in your phone right now | | | |---|---| | **Fri, Sep 18** | **Apply for Graduation** on collin.edu. You do not graduate automatically. It takes fifteen minutes. | | **Fri, Oct 30** | Last day to withdraw from a 16-week course. | | **Fri, Dec 4** | Everything is due. Final presentations in class. | **No class Nov 27** (Thanksgiving, campus closed Nov 25–29) or **Dec 11** (Commencement). That's 14 meetings, and the November hole falls in the worst possible place — plan around it. --- ## Guest Speaker Series Evenings at **Frisco or Wylie** — September, October, November, with **Portfolio Review speakers in December, likely at Wylie**, where Portfolio Development students get priority presentation slots. **Attending one live industry event is required** and counts toward your Networking Log — a Guest Speaker session is the default, but Industry Insights, Society of Play, Tech Arts Meetup, and IGDA Dallas all qualify and are all free. There are only three; going to the first one is easier than explaining in December why you went to none. Dates get posted in Announcements as soon as the department fixes them. --- ## ⭐ Put this one in your calendar too **Industry Giants 2026 — Saturday, October 3, 9 a.m.–6 p.m., UT Dallas (Richardson).** The 20th annual conference and the only animation, VFX, and game development event of its kind in Texas: 400+ artists, five main speakers, figure drawing, **live portfolio reviews**, artist alley. It falls the day after our Week 6 class on resumes and professional introductions, which is about the best possible timing you could ask for. Not required — it's ticketed — but it earns extra credit and it is the highest-value day available to you this fall. **Buy early, register with your `.edu` email**, and ask me about student discount codes. --- ## Grading | | Points | |---|---:| | Attendance & appointment engagement | 10 | | Portfolio inventory & triage | 5 | | Portfolio plan & production schedule | 5 | | Platform live & placement cadence | 5 | | Resume — draft 5 / final 5 | 10 | | Professional identity kit | 5 | | Website — concept 5 / content 5 / final 5 | 15 | | Showcase piece — plan 5 / final 5 | 10 | | Networking log | 5 | | 90-day plan | 5 | | **Final portfolio presentation** | **25** | | **Total** | **100** | | Community involvement | +5 extra credit | **A** ≥ 90 · **B** ≥ 80 · **C** ≥ 70 · **D** ≥ 60 · **F** < 60 --- ## Two things worth knowing on day one **Six strong pieces beat ten uneven ones.** A portfolio is judged closer to its weakest included piece than its strongest. Most of the work in this course is deciding what *not* to include. **An adjacent first job is a strategy, not a failure.** Simulation, motion design, arch viz, medical and technical animation, location-based entertainment — these hire far more junior artists in North Texas than AAA game studios do. An adjacent job buys shipped credits, production discipline, and rent while your portfolio matures. Holding out while your newest piece ages past twelve months loses twice. --- ## If something goes wrong Tell me early. Illness, a job change, family, hardware failure, a piece that collapsed — almost all of it is workable in September and most of it isn't workable in December. Message me in Canvas. I would much rather rebuild your plan in Week 6 than write you an F in Week 15.