Instructor Boyd Branch Herberge
Syllabus Instructor Boyd Branch Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts Arizona State University Teaching Assistant Michael Bateman Interdisciplinary Digital Media MFA
Contact Information Office Hours By Appointment Contact Form http://tinyurl.com/FMP294 Email Address [email protected] Technical Support for the Course Website https://herbergeronline.asu.edu/help
Communicating With the Instructors
This course uses a “Four Before” policy in regards to student-to-faculty communications. When questions arise during the course of this class, please remember to check these four sources for an answer before asking me to reply to your individual questions:
1. Course syllabus 2. Announcements in Herberger Online 3. The “Water Cooler” discussion board 4. Google
This policy will help you in potentially identifying answers before we can get back to you and it also helps your instructor from answering similar questions or concerns multiple times. If you cannot find an answer to your question, please first post your question to the “Water Cooler” discussion board. Here your question can be answered to the benefit of all students by either your
fellow students who know the answer to your question or the instructor. You are encouraged to answer questions from other students in the discussion forum when you know the answer to a question in order to help provide timely assistance. If you have questions of a personal nature such as relating a personal emergency, questioning a grade on an assignment, or something else that needs to be communicated privately, you are welcome to contact us via contact form or email. Our preference is that you will use the contact form first. We will usually respond to form and email messages from 8am to 5pm on weekdays, please allow 24 hours for us to respond.
Course Description
This is an introductory course surveying the aesthetics, design, manipulation, editing, compression, encoding, and search engine optimization of digital sound and video media.
Course Objectives
At the completion of this course students will be able to:
1. Identify, interpret, and analyze the aesthetic experience of digital media design; including digital audio, video, and still images.
2. Navigate and utilize the current legal landscape governing digital media to author legally distributable content.
3. Evaluate and compare various formats and encoding schemes for digital audio, digital images, and video with an understanding of their underlying functions.
4. Build introductory competence in the use of basic software/tools for media creation and editing. 5. Author communicative/expressive media utilizing best aesthetic practices for online
development and distribution. 6. Explore self-directed and autonomous forms of learning by using e-learning methodologies.
Unit Objectives Unit I: Self-Directed Learning
� Describe self directed learning goals � Identify how media authorship can advance personal career goals � Critique relationship between media authorship design and aesthetic goals and target audience aesthetic appreciation.
Unit II: Web-Based Portfolio
� Describe purpose of web portfolio � Organize content of web site to maximize impact for target audience
Unit III: Digital Images
� Define and use appropriate technical language related to digital image optimization, creation, and editing
� Define and use appropriate design terminology related to the aesthetics of digital image composition, palette, and visual narrative.
� Demonstrate how to properly crop and compress image asset maintaining aesthetic integrity. � Demonstrate how to properly color correct image asset according to thoughtful aesthetic considerations of palette. � Demonstrate how to effectively edit images into meaningful aesthetic compositions � Demonstrate how to properly encode and wrap image files for web distribution
Unit IV: Digital Audio
� Define and use appropriate design terminology related to the aesthetics of sound including pitch, rhythm, harmony, and balance.
� Define and use appropriate technical language related to digital audio optimization, creation, and editing
� Demonstrate how to properly compress audio file � Demonstrate how to properly equalize audio file � Demonstrate how to effectively edit audio into aesthetically meaningful compositions � Demonstrate how to properly encode and wrap audio files for web distribution
Unit V: Digital Video
� Define and use appropriate design terminology related to the aesthetics of digital video composition, palette, pacing, and montage.
� Define and use appropriate technical language related to digital video optimization, creation, and editing
� Demonstrate how to properly compress video asset � Demonstrate how to properly color correct video asset � Demonstrate how to effectively edit video into meaningful compositions � Demonstrate how to properly encode and wrap video files for web distribution
Unit VI: Animation
� Define and use appropriate design terminology related to the aesthetics of 3D composition, palette, font, scale, pacing, and line.
� Define and use appropriate technical language related to animation. � Demonstrate how to extrude text in three dimensions � Demonstrate how manipulate virtual cameras for fluid movement � Demonstrate how to manipulate quality of movement to convey meaning � Demonstrate how to properly encode and wrap animation files for further video editing
Unit VII: Integration
� Demonstrate how to combine audio, video, and animation into a cohesive a e s t he t i c a l l y meaningful presentation
Course Requirements
Online Course This is an online course and therefore there will not be any face-to-face class sessions. All assignments and course interactions will utilize Internet technologies.
This course uses Herberger Online for the facilitation of communications between faculty and students, submission of assignments, and posting of grades. Lectures and online tutorials of the various applications used in this class will also be presented on the course website. The Herberger Online Course Site can be accessed at https://herbergeronline2.asu.edu/mediaauthorship
Computer Requirements This course requires that you have access to a computer that can access the Internet. You will need to have access to, and be able to use, the following software packages:
� A web browser (Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox) – the most current version � Adobe Acrobat Reader (free) � Adobe Flash Player (free) � Adobe Creative Cloud (19.99) � Microsoft Word � Photoshop or Gimp � Audacity � iMovie or Windows Media Maker or Premiere Pro � After Effects or Google SketchUp
You are responsible for having a reliable computer and Internet connection throughout the course. Computer failure and/or problems connecting to the Internet are not acceptable excuses for tardy assignments or missing exams. Do not ask for extensions or make-ups due to your unreliable computer or internet problems. Email and Internet You must have an active ASU e-mail account and access to the Internet. All instructor correspondence will be sent to your ASU e-mail account. Please plan on checking your ASU email account regularly for course related messages. Campus Network or Herberger Online Outage When access to Herberger Online is not available for an extended period of time (greater than one entire evening – 6pm till 11pm) you can reasonably expect that the due date for assignments will be changed to the next day (assignment still due by midnight). Attendance/Participation Preparation for class means reading the assigned readings & reviewing all information required for that week. Attendance in an online course means logging into the Herberger Online course on a regular basis and participating in the all of activities that are posted in the course. Studying and Preparation Time The course requires you to spend time preparing and completing assignments. A three-credit course requires 135 hours of student work. Therefore expect to spend approximately 20 hours a week preparing for and actively participating in this course.
Late or Missed Projects/Assignments All assignments must be finished and turned in to complete the course. Assignments will be lowered a letter grade for each day late if they are submitted after the posted deadline. All assignments turned in after 48 hours of the posted deadline will receive a 0. In the case of a technical difficulty, each student may make ONE late submission request for a missed
exam or assignment. The request must be submitted within 24 hours of the due date. Early Submission Students may submit their assignments ahead of their due date, but they will not necessarily be graded prior to the assignment deadline. Submitting Assignments All assignments, unless otherwise announced by the instructor, MUST be submitted via Herberger Online. Each assignment will have a designated place to submit the assignment. Exam/Quiz Policies You are encouraged to use a reliable wired Internet connection to complete the assessments in this course. Using a wireless connection or mobile device to complete an Exam/Quiz is strongly discouraged. Do not navigate away from an Exam/Quiz while you are taking it. Do not open any additional tabs/windows on your Internet browser. Do not reload/refresh the page while completing an Exam or Quiz. Do not log into or out of any other ASU page (myASU, etc.) while completing an Exam/Quiz. These behaviors can cause your exam session to become corrupt, which can make your submission of the Exam/Quiz unsuccessful. Unsuccessful submissions cannot be graded. Exam/Quiz Resets If you encounter technical difficulties with an Exam/Quiz, you can reset the Exam/Quiz in order to access it again. To do so, close out of the active Exam/Quiz and return to the course website. Once there, follow the directions to reset the Exam/Quiz and log out of the course website. Once you log back into the course website, you will be able to access the Exam/Quiz again. If you are unsure of how to correct the problem that caused the technical difficulties with your first attempt, please contact Herberger Online Help Desk at https://herbergeronline.asu.edu/help with a detailed description of the problem. Note: You are only allowed to reset an Exam/Quiz once, and you only have two resets available during the entire course. Drop and Add Dates If you feel it is necessary to withdraw from the course, please seehttp://students.asu.edu/drop-add for full details on the types of withdrawals that are available and their procedures. Subject to Change Notice All material, assignments, and deadlines are subject to change with prior notice. It is your responsibility to stay in touch with your instructor, review the course site regularly, or communicate with other students, to adjust as needed if assignments or due dates change. Academic Integrity ASU expects and requires all its students to act with honesty and integrity, and respect the rights of others in carrying out all academic assignments. For more information on academic integrity, including the policy and appeal procedures, please visit http://provost.asu.edu/academicintegrity and the Student Conduct Statement below.
Submitting Your Video Projects
All the video projects in this class will be posted on Vimeo and submitted through Herberger Online. You will need to set up a Vimeo membership according to the following instructions:
1. Visit www.vimeo.com and create a new membership using your ASU email address. 2. Use the same full name that is on the roster for this class as the name on your profile. 3. Attach a recognizable picture of yourself to the profile. 4. Set the “Location” field on your profile to “ASU.” 5. Find the group “FMP 294_Fall_A_2014”
(shortcut: https://vimeo.com/groups/202263) and submit a request to join the group. One of the instructors will approve your membership
6. When you upload your projects, you must title the video as per the instructions in the project assignment sheet, upload them to Vimeo, and then add them to the FMP 294 group.
7. Post a link to your video in the appropriate section of the Projects area of the course website. 8. You and your classmates will then respond to each other’s work on the course website.
Titling Your Projects
For every project use the following titling language: LastName_TitleOfProject_Assignment. Example: Branch_BirdsOfTempe_AudioPressureProject1, or Branch_MyWebsiteLogo_LogoGraphicProject.
Required Materials
Textbooks Harrington, Richard and Weisner, Mark. Professional Web Video. Focal Press, 2010. Software Software for this course is available through Adobe.com under their student subscription service. The Adobe Creative Cloud subscription gives you access to the entire Adobe Creative suite. It is recommended that you download the free 30 day trial for Creative Cloud the first week of the course. After the 30 days you may subscribe for the Creative Cloud service for $19.99 a month educational pricing. The educational pricing is conditional upon a one-year commitment, however if you are unable to subscribe for a full year, you may cancel your subscription within 30 days. You may also use previous non-subscription versions of the Adobe Software below, however keep in mind the tutorials may feature functionality different from yours. You may choose to use either a Windows-based or Mac OS X-based computer. Adobe software is available for either platform. Adobe Creative Cloud Software Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator Adobe Audition (optional) Adobe Premiere Adobe After Effects
Adobe Alternatives This course uses Adobe products because they offer the most reliability, technical support, and cross platform features. There are open source software alternatives however for those who would prefer not to subscribe. We will not be offering a full range of tutorials on this software, so it will be your responsibility to learn how to use the software to accomplish the assignments.
Cross-platform
GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP): http://www.gimp.org Audacity (audio editing program): http://audacity.sourceforge.net MPEG Stream Clip: http://www.squared5.com
Windows only Windows Movie Maker
Mac OS X only iMovie (non-linear editing program): available for download from the Apple App Store for $14.99
Hardware Required:
Personal computer You are required to have access to a personal computer for completion of the online component of this course. This computer must have high-speed Internet access as well as be able to run all the cross-platform software above and one of the non-linear editing applications (either Windows MovieMaker on a Windows machine or iMovie on an Apple machine).
Headphones with ⅛” stereo connector
Highly recommended:
Video camera. In the absence of more expensive models, a Flip camera (www.theflip.com) or similar OR current generation iPhone or iPod will serve adequately.
Audio recorder or USB Microphone. We recommend the Zoom H2 portable recorder ($129) or the Blue Snowball USB microphone ($80). You can also use your iPod/iPhone or computer internal mic, but these will improve your quality immensely.
Computer Application Descriptions / Information Adobe Photoshop (Ps) PS is the industry standard premier raster graphics editing software on the market today. Initially created for optimization and manipulation of digital photographs and other rasters, this powerful software is also capable of creating animations, 3D graphics and textures, as well as a host of other features. Photoshop is used for webpage design, Power Point presentations, flyers, posters, animated GIF’s, and of course making your photos look better. Adobe Illustrator (Ai) AI is one of the leading Vector-Based drawing programs on the market. Vectors are different from rasters in that vectors are digital images drawn by the computer based on coordinates passed to the graphics processor (more on this later). AI is used to create logos, characters, and scenery for the web, animation, and print. AI is an extremely versatile program that lets you create graphics that will scale to as big or small as you can print or project with zero loss to image quality. Adobe Audition (Au) Au is a digital audio workstation featuring both a multitrack, nondestructive mix/edit environment and a destructive-approach waveform editing view. With Au you can record and mix sounds of your own or gathered from other sources to create simple or complex compositions. Au lets you sample various sounds, remove unwanted elements and even score your video. Adobe Premiere Pro (Pr) Pr is a powerful time-line based non-linear editing application used by both professionals and amateurs alike. Featuring high-resolution video editing, audio sample-level editing, and 5.1 surround sound mixing. It has a robust set of filters for color correction, keying, cropping, and many other effects.
Adobe Media Encoder (Me) Me lets you create optimized video for any screen size and resolution with the codec and wrapper of your choosing. As you will learn in this course, different devices and programs require different kinds of compression GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) GIMP is a free software raster graphics editor. It is primarily employed as an image retouching and editing tool and is freely available in versions tailored for most popular operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and GNU/Linux. In addition to detailed image retouching and free- form drawing, GIMP can accomplish essential image editing tasks such as resizing, editing, and cropping photos, photomontages combining multiple images, and converting between different image formats. GIMP can also be used to create basic animated images in the GIF format. Audacity Audacity is a free software, cross-platform digital audio editor and recording application. It is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and BSD. Audacity can also be used for post-processing of all types of audio, including podcasts by adding effects such as normalization, trimming, and fading in and out. Audacity has also been used to record and mix entire albums. iMovie iMovie is a proprietary video editing software application which allows Mac, iPod Touch 4th generation, iPhone 4 and iPad 2 users to edit their own home movies. It was originally released byApple in 1999 as a Mac OS 8 application bundled with the first FireWire-enabled consumer Apple model – iMac DV. Since version 3, iMovie has been a Mac OS X only application bundled in the iLife suite of Macintosh applications. Windows Movie Maker (WMM) WMM is a free video editing software package that is provided as part of the Windows XP and Windows 7 operating systems. The most up-to-date version of WMM can be downloaded from Microsoft’s website at http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker. Google Sketchup Sketchup is a free open source 3D graphics application from Google.
Projects and Assignments Portfolio Purpose Project For this project, you will identify the purpose and intended audience for your online portfolio. During this course you will be applying the skills you learn related to digital media authorship to create a media rich online portfolio. Your portfolio will live as a web page accessible to your future employers, clients, or other targeted audience. Each assignment will provide a template for the creation of various digital media assets that you will customize to suit your individual interests and goals. It is important that you decide upfront what the purpose of your portfolio site is, and who you would like to view it. Competencies/concepts explored:
� Critical thinking � Constructive feedback � Career planning
Google Site/Portfolio Assignment For this project, students will create a simple portfolio page to showcase their coursework. For this assignment, students will use Google Sites, a free and easy tool for sharing content on the web.
Competencies/concepts explored:
� Using templates when creating websites � Navigation structures � Personal presentation on the web.
Photo Optimization Assignment Students will use some simple techniques to explore how to optimize a photo for distribution over the web. Competencies/concepts explored:
� issues of resolution � image value controls: brightness, contrast, levels � image encoding: compression, image modes, working with layers and channels including
alphas, editing raster imagery. Competencies/concepts explored:
� raster vs. vector graphics � image encoding � compression, image modes, working with layers and channels including alphas, editing raster
imagery. Podcast Project Create a 30-60 second podcast for your home page that introduces you to your audience, describes your unique interests, skills, experience, and/or perspective about your chosen subject, and demonstrates your audio optimization and editing skills. Competencies/concepts explored: Understanding key concepts behind a time-based medium: narrative sensibilities, pacing, keeping a specific target audience interested; Technical skills: EQing and dynamics for voice and music, volume automation, making it easy to listen to. You will be delivering a 30-60 second podcast that is engaging and entertaining.
Competencies/concepts explored:
� Digital sound encoding � Equalization � Filtering noise � Multi-track editing � Transitions/fades � Audio web standards � Audio compression
Video Introduction Project Utilizing both existing video assets you have the rights to as well as original video assets captured for this assignment, edit video to accompany your podcast. Your video must have a consistent color palette and general aesthetic, smoothly transition between assets, and be optimized for uninterrupted playback at the designated video size. Competencies/concepts explored:
� Video codecs/wrappers � video bit rate � non-linear editing � composition � montage � filtering and effects � color correction
Animation Project In this project, students you will use Adobe After Effects for a brief introduction to 3D animation. Students will create a 3D object, and adjust the object and environmental settings. You will then create animation by setting camera paths. Finally you will learn to export the animation as a movie file and add it into their final project. Competencies/concepts explored: keyframe animation concepts (“tweening”), compositing, layers and channels in animation. Competencies/concepts explored:
� 3d environments � Virtual camera manipulation � Animation compression best practices � Frame rate
Final Project For the final project, you will be uniting all the skills acquired in previous units to create a video that presents or showcases one or more of your relevant skills. Each student will create a 2-3 minute composition in one of the following formats:
1. promotional video for event or organization 2. pitch video for business or entrepreneurial venture 3. music video or short creative film 4. Demo reel
Competencies/concepts explored:
� Audio,video, still image integration
Comments on Forum
Viewing and responding to the work of your peers is a critical learning strategy for this class, as well as an important skill in and of itself. For the Portfolio Purpose Project, Photo Optimization Assignment, Header/Banner Project, Podcast Project, Video introduction Project, and the Animation Project, each student will need to comment on the work of at least two of their peers in the Project areas set up for each student’s submission. These comments should be substantive and detailed. Non- substantive assessments like “I liked this” or “it was good” will NOT receive credit. Each statement must be backed up with your reasoning, preferably utilizing the vocabulary we share in the course content. A total of 24 comments will be made throughout the semester, make sure to complete them within 1 week of the submission deadline.
Resource Index (weekly assignment) You are required to post links to a total of 5 outside resources you have found useful for each major course assignments. You must post at least one new resource by the end of the weeks designated below. The end of the week means Friday by midnight. You may post additional resources for a single week, but you are still required to post a new resource on the appropriate subject for subsequent weeks. In other words you cannot simply post 5 resources for one week and get full credit for the assignment.
Tutorial Quizzes After most of the online video tutorial for the various applications utilized in this class, students will be asked to take a short quiz on the course website to evaluate their understanding/retention of the tutorial material. Competencies/concepts explored: understanding of interface/workflow of each application.
Grading
Item Points Date
Projects Portfolio Purpose 25 Week 1 Google Site/Portfolio 25 Week 1 Photo Optimization 50 Week 1 Header/Banner 75 Week 2 Podcast 75 Week 3 Video Introduction 100 Week 5 Animation 75 Week 6 Final Project 195 Week 7 Assignments Project Feedback 25 (12 @ 2 points each +1pt) Weekly Resource Index 25 (5 @ 5 points each) Weekly Exams Quizzes 80 (8 @ 10 points each) Midterm 100 Final 150
Grading Scale Google Spreadsheet “What’s my Grade” Template View a tutorial video on how to calculate your grade
Points Percentage Letter Grade
980-1000 98-100 A+ 920-979 92-98 A 900-919 90-92 A- 880-899 88-90 B+ 820-879 82-88 B 800-819 80-82 B- 780-799 78-80 C+
700-779 70-78 C 600-699 60-70 D
<599 <60 E
Plagiarism Policy
Though there are few opportunities for cheating in a class that is built to evaluate your ideas and skills, nevertheless the possibility for plagiarism exists. Plagiarism or intellectual property theft will result in an immediate loss of all points on the assignment. Plagiarism is defined in ASU’s Student Academic Integrity Policy. Examples relating to this class:
o Appropriating or copying all or part of an existing work from online or other sources in a manner not explicitly permitted by the project descriptions.
o Collaboration or “splitting” of work with other students in a manner not explicitly permitted by the project description.
All necessary and appropriate sanctions will be issued to all parties involved with plagiarizing any and all course work. Plagiarism and any other form of academic dishonesty that is in violation with the Student Code of Conduct will not be tolerated. For more information, please see the ASU Student Academic Integrity Policy: http://provost.asu.edu/academicintegrity
Special Accommodations
To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact the ASU Disability Resource Center (http://www.asu.edu/studentaffairs/ed/drc/# ; Phone: (480) 965-1234; TDD: (480) 965- 9000). This is a very important step as accommodations may be difficult to make retroactively. If you have a letter from their office indicating that you have a disability which requires academic accommodations, in order to assure that you receive your accommodations in a timely manner, please present this documentation to the course instructor(s) no later than the end of the first week of the semester so that your needs can be addressed effectively.
Honors Contract Option
There is an option in this course to do an Honors Contract. According to the Barrett Honors College, Honors Contract options provide an advanced curriculum for courses offered by colleges other than The Barrett Honors College. Students may receive honors credit in FMP 294 by receiving the approval of the instructor to complete an honors option, and by having an individual student-professor contract in place within the first 4 weeks of the semester. The extra work required to fulfill the contract will be negotiated with the instructors on a case-by-case basis related to the student’s area(s) of interest.
Syllabus is subject to change, please keep updated through the Announcements area of the course website.
Please contact your instructors if you have any questions about this document.
