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Film industry has eyes on Texas A&M visualization programJul 06, 2011 (The Eagle - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Despite light summer enrollment, Texas A&M's department of visualization is still buzzing with activity. Last week, on the top floor of the Langford Architecture Center, senior visualization production specialist Glen Vigus and graduate student Jonny Greenwald watched carefully as macabre digitally rendered creatures emerged from flowers. Bright computer-animated images of Lamborghinis and Transformers-like robots provided the only light in the screening room as the two finalized a video they will submit at the International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in August. The two-minute clip is a concentrated showcase of a year's worth of work by Aggie Vizzers, as students in the visualization department are sometimes called. It will be played during a segment of the conference at which Dreamworks Animation shows off the talent pool it often draws from. Dreamworks isn't the only animation company seeking A&M graduates -- the credits for Disney and Pixar's Cars 2 listed the names of 29 A&M alumni, three of whom held top positions. "That's pretty significant because you're talking about overall supervision of an aspect," said Tim McLaughlin, associate professor and visualization department head. McLaughlin credits the leadership roles to the broad experience and knowledge in multiple areas that comes with A&M's master's of science in visualization degree. "That makes them really well-suited for moving on after a specific job," he said. "There are very few programs like what we do." Recruiters who come to A&M, McLaughlin said, also try to enlist students from the University of Southern California, Carnegie Mellon and Brown University, among others. Graduate students are trained in computing and design while they focus deeper on a component of their choosing, he said, and a written thesis along with individual and group projects all contribute to the well-rounded education. "The big issue is the collaborative nature [of the projects]," McLaughlin said. "There's a lot of flexibility to shape one's personal vision." Once outside of the program, where the pressure is on learning, graduates have to learn to focus on completion to excel in the industry, McLaughlin said. "They have to be able to push and push with an eye for detail," he said. William Jenks, visualization lab director and assistant department head, helps mold undergraduates into the kinds of students who can succeed in the digital animation industry. He said even the most advanced 3-D animations begin as rough pencil sketches on a napkin. "Computers are dumb," he said. "They only know what you tell them. We're teaching [students] how to think with their eyes and hands first." Although Hollywood is the biggest draw for most Vizzers, Jenks said the potential direction for employment is expanding daily, with the same technology being used in the medical and military fields. Michael Catalano, a first-year graduate student, knew he wanted to go into animation before he was even accepted into the program. "It's kind of a merger between technical and artistic ability," he said. "You have to have both to be proficient in it." Catalano and 14 other students are working with a visiting Disney animator on a two-course summer project. Having already worked as an intern on a Disney movie, Catalano vouches for the quality of his education. "The really great thing about this program is the teachers don't just teach you how to use the tools," he said, referring to trade schools which only teach certain programs. "They teach you the basic artistic principles and aesthetics." Usually pushing their mid-to-late 20s upon graduation, Viz Lab graduate students have contributed to other blockbuster movies such as Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Green Lantern and Kung Fu Panda 2. Go to viz.tamu.edu for more information and to view examples of their work. To see more of The Eagle or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.theeagle.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, The Eagle, Bryan, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |