DEATH TO PROM - Filmmaker Event

Last week, the School of Art and Design's digital cinema program hosted a test screening of the soon-to-be released feature film, DEATH TO PROM. Minneapolis filmmakers and co-directors Matt Stenerson (writer-producer) and Jeremy Wilker (cinematographer-producer) were on-hand for the event which included an artist talk and classroom presentation. After the screening, attendees filled out surveys for the filmmakers and contributed to an insightful feedback session and discussion.

Learn more about DEATH TO PROM.

Learn more about UW-Stout BFA in Entertainment Design / Digital Cinema.

FABLAB offers Design students exciting opportunities

There is an exciting new workshop available to students in the School of Art & Design.  Through the Discovery Center FABLAB, students will now have access to state of the art tools that will help them design and build extraordinary things.  The FABLAB officially opens their doors on Monday, February 4, 2013 with an open house from 12 p.m. noon to 4 p.m.  The new FABLAB is located in 132 Applied Arts building and will offer students the latest fabrication equipment including a mini-mill, vinyl cutter, laser engraver, router, and 3-D FDM printer. While a Z-Corp printer has been available to Design students for years, the new FDM printer that uses ABS plastic will allow students to put together quality, realistic, and strong prototypes for project presentations and for their portfolios.  These tools, once only available for use in mass production, will now help students compete in their field with others from across the country.  Students in Jennifer Astwood’s and Dr. Whitney Nunnelley’s DES 432 Theory, Application, and Society courses are currently completing training on the available equipment. Training on the equipment involves learning by application.  Below are some students examples.

Vinyl Cutter example by Industrial Design Senior Student Elizabeth Volk

Laser Engraver example by Industrial Design Senior Student Cory Roehl

Another laser engraver example of a piece of driftwood by Industrial Design Senior Student Sam Wellskopf

The FABLAB is the result of a 2012 UW System Growth Agenda Award.  During the week of February 4 – February 8, 2013 the FABLAB will be open for visitors from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. For more information visit www.uwstout.edu/discoverycenter

Students Blend Art and Video Games over 2013 Winterm

Edge of Nowhere by Jake Thompson

While many students spent the Winterm playing games at home, DES 256: Interactive Environments, was making them.  For two and a half weeks in early January, fifteen UW-Stout students spent over eight hours a day (five days a week) creating their own video game environments. They drew on their previously learned knowledge of 3D modeling, and combined it with newly acquired skills in programming and game engine design.  Roughly half the class was Entertainment Design majors, while the rest was composed of Game Design & Development (Art Concentration) students.  Dave Beck, Assistant Professor of 3D Animation and Game Design taught the course. 

Nearly all of the artists worked on their own, utilizing Autodesk Maya and Unity, the artist-friendly 3D video game engine.  Their goal was to create artistic experiences for the viewer to explore as virtual installations.  Students were responsible for creating everything themselves (models, materials, lighting, animation, scripts, sounds, etc.).  Elements of sculpture, performance, interactivity, game design, and art/game history were incorporated into the course and the student-designed environments. 

In addition to creating their own games, students also presented examples of published video games which demonstrated impressive 3D environments and interactivity.  The daily presentations included both a research-style presentation and a class-wide playtest session.  Games such as Far Cry 3, Bastion, Dear Esther, Half Life 2, and Super Mario Sunshine were presented and play-tested.

Please feel free to experience a few select examples of these projects, here: http://davebeck.org/interactive_environments.html.

Temple by Keith Catalano

UW-Stout Animations Featured at MET

UW-Stout is proud to announce that twelve different pieces were accepted for inclusion in the 2012 Minnesota Electronic Theater (MET) Festival. MET is an annual, juried animation festival for the state of Minnesota and Western Wisconsin.  There were eleven student works and one faculty work included in Student and Independent Showcases, respectively. A list of artists and works is below.

Chair of the MET Scott Gaff had this to say about Stout's performance,"It was great to see such a large number of UW-Stout student entries selected for the 2012 Minnesota Electronic Theater. The MSP ACM SIGGRAPH chapter and the MET strongly believes in showcasing student work, and it was encouraging to see so many students from one institution participate.  As a member of the UW-Stout's School of Art and Design Professional Advisory Board,  I attribute this impressive showing to the strides made by the Entertainment Design Program to established itself as a creative force in the region."

In addition to the twelve works featured in the show, one piece received the second place award in the Student Category.  The piece is a 3D animation titled Forge Ahead, and was created by Keith Catalano, Andy Bensen, Tyler Haas, Chayne Bourget, and Tou Xiong.

Forge Ahead

You can view the UW-Stout animations that were featured in the festival, here: https://vimeo.com/channels/uwstout2012met

Student Showcase

Stephen Nicksic – The Griefer Machine (3D Animation)

Brandee Anthony – The West Wing (3D Animation)

Matt Culbertson - The Far Watch Tower (Video Composite)

Calvin Keyes - El Perro Del Mar (Excerpt) (Video Composite)

Robbie Bangart – Mill vs. CP (3D Animation)

Juan Sanchez – The Unknown Story (3D Animation)

Dorothea Rossmeisl – It’s a Twister! (3D Animation)

Sam Herder – Not So Fast (3D Animation)

Cody Petts – Reborn (3D Animation)

Cody Vinson – We Live As We Dream (Motion Comic)

Keith Catalano, Andrew Bensen, Tou Xiong, Tyler Haas, Chayne Bourget – Forge Ahead (3D Animation)

Independent Showcase

Dave Beck (Faculty) – Smorgasbord (After Per Lysne) (3D Animation)

--------------------

For 20 years The Minnesota Electronic Theater has been the annual meeting place for the state’s computer graphics community. It has served as the premiere showcase for locally-produced award-winning animation and a unique venue for computer graphics professionals, educators, and students to socialize. The highpoint of the event is the showing of the MET show reel, a compilation of local animations, graphics and effects, selected by a Jury made up of award winners from last years submissions. More Information can be found here: http://www.met2012.org/

Senior Industrial Design students win International Sustainability Design Competition

Industrial Design seniors enrolled in Dr. Whitney Nunnelley's Systems, Environment, and Context studio recently participated in the 3rd Annual International E-Waste Design Competition.  Students, J. Makai Catudio, Ryan Barnes, Danny Kopren, Sam Wellskopf, and Lennon TeRonde were awarded first and second prize in the Reuse Category.  The winners were announced during a ceremony on December 4, 2012 at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC), the coordinating agency for Sustainable Electronics Initiative. ISTC is part of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois. The ceremony was simultaneously broadcast as a webinar to allow participation of as many students who entered and other interested parties as possible.

A total of 19 entries were submitted; 10 in the Reuse category and 9 in the Prevention category. Jurors awarded monetary prizes to the top three projects within each category, along with one honorable mention award. The first place winners will receive $3000, second place is $2000, and third place receives $1000. A total of $12,000 was awarded, which has been made possible through generous contributions by Peter Mcdonnell (Friend level) and Dell (Platinum level).

The first place "Platinum" award ($3000) was submitted by J. Makai Catudio and Ryan Barnes.  Their project "Digitizer" is a revolutionary new product meant to revitalize film-based photography and bring it up to date in the digital era. The purpose of the digitizer is to reduce future electronic waste of cameras while reusing materials that are electronic byproducts. It does this by reducing the number of film-based cameras that are replaced by digital cameras, upgrading and adapting to new technologies without discarding and replacing currently working devices, and reusing often discarded electronic waste in its manufacture. By manufacturing the digitizer from e-waste components, chemicals such as lead, beryllium, arsenic, and mercury will also be kept out of landfills. The digitizer serves a twofold purpose by meeting the needs of an unfulfilled market of photographers and reducing electronic waste caused by outdated cameras.

The second place "Gold" award ($2000) was submitted by Danny Kopren, Sam Wellskopf, and Lennon TeRonde. "The Wake Up Project" is a highly marketable, easy to use, smart clock concept that tracks the users wake-up times using software on a reused internet router. The smart clock would also incorporate reused cell phone parts, as well as plastic recycled from e-waste. Using crossover cables connected to a built-in web interface, the user can set a time for the clock to sound every morning. The Wake Up Project is a realistic solution to the ewaste problem that can secondarily provide consumer education opportunities. The Wake Up web site would have information about e-waste and how the consumer could play a role in solving the e-waste problem. 

The official press release can be found at: http://ewaste.illinois.edu/2012winnerspressrelease.pdf