Game Art Minor

This class teaches the fundamentals of game art production from a broad perspective. Students will learn to work within multiple specialties within the game art field in order to build up a general understanding of the pipeline and processes involved. Emphasis is placed on strong foundation skills, compelling conceptual ideas, and self-motivated problem solving. Class will consist of lectures, demonstrations, in-class workshops, and take-home projects. The second half of the class will be devoted to an all-inclusive final project, where students will work in groups to build a compelling playable game world. The final project will serve as a culmination of all they have learned in the class, as well as become a platform for further experimentation and problem solving. This class will not focus on a single element, but rather, it will attempt to give a broad overview of the role that art plays in the creation of Games.

This course covers the foundations of scripting for games, stressing fundamental computer programming principles with hands-on game development projects. An introduction to logical structures and design paradigms allow for core interactions in a visual and object-oriented environment. Additionally, technical knowledge dealing with
development tools will figure prominently in the course, specifically the Unity game engine and version control.

This course brings artists, designers, programmers, and other developers together to create a vertical slice or playable demo of games that are proposed by other graduate and undergraduate students. Emulating the professional game development environment, students will work in interdisciplinary teams to take a game concept from early design through production, focusing on developing a playable prototype that demonstrates core gameplay, visual style, and key features.

In this course, students go through the development cycle of a 2D side scroller level. Projects involve concepting a cohesive idea, creating schedules, and creating a playable scene in a game engine. At the end of the course the student will have an understanding of the 2D production pipeline that can directly relate to various other disciplines in the game art program.

This course is an overview of the game industry, its pipelines, processes, history, and opportunities. It will include fundamental information on how 3D Art is processed by game engines (the “anatomy of 3D art”), as well as guidance on how to make the most of your time in the LACD Game Art program.

This course explores the fundamentals of Game Design. Everyone thinks they have great game ideas. That is what makes game design the most competitive discipline in an already competitive industry. This course will make you become a more confident and competent game designer by engaging you in designing and creating several non-digital games. Just as you take fundamentals classes in figure drawing and color theory to become visual artists, this class is grounded squarely in the basic fundamentals of game design. This course focuses on the elements common to “all” games that are fundamental for a game designer working with any medium. Even though we will focus on non-digital games, digital games will be discussed.

This course is an analytical course that examines video games as a multifaceted medium. Students will learn to analyze games by focusing on individual mechanics and systems, exploring how these elements have evolved from earlier titles and influenced subsequent designs. The course will cover the history of various game genres, highlighting their evolution and the societal trends that have shaped their development. Students will also investigate games that engage with relevant societal topics, considering how they foster discussion and awareness. Additionally, the course will address the use of video games in medical research, workplace training, and educational contexts, examining their practical applications beyond entertainment. Through a combination of lectures and critical discussions, students will gain a deeper understanding of the cultural and social significance of analog and video games.

This course provides a foundational understanding of the various game engines available in the market today. Students will explore the selection of game engines, gaining insights into their strengths and weaknesses to make informed decisions when choosing the right engine for specific projects. The course will involve hands-on experience by building a project in the Unity game engine, followed by recreating the same project in Godot and Unreal Engine. This practical approach will highlight the core differences between these engines, emphasizing unique features, workflows, and design philosophies. Through lectures and practical exercises, students will develop a comprehensive understanding of how to select and utilize game engines effectively, equipping them with the skills needed to navigate the diverse landscape of game development tools.

This course is an applied learning course focused on the iterative process of game design. Students will engage in multiple 3-4 week-long projects, each requiring them to design within specific constraints. The course emphasizes the design of game systems, including the creation of proper documentation and prototypes. Throughout the projects, students will experience changes in design as requested by the instructor, who will act as a “Lead Designer” to simulate a studio environment. This course aims to prepare students for real-world game design challenges by fostering adaptability and creativity in response to evolving design requirements.

This is an applied learning course which challenges students with projects that span the course of multiple weeks where they will build out game mechanics and systems according to design specifications. Students will leverage their existing knowledge to develop solutions that meet design requirements, iterating based on project needs. Emphasis is placed on collaborative teamwork, with students working together on projects either from scratch or with an existing codebase. Additionally, students will learn to effectively use version control functionalities, such as branches and code merging. They will also develop research skills to find solutions for problems beyond their prior knowledge, ensuring they can independently tackle new challenges.

The students in this course will be focusing on the creation of core mechanics and systems. Using a provided Game Design Document (GDD) as the foundation, students will work within parameters to bring game concepts to life through the design and implementation of different gameplay elements.

An understanding of human anatomy is the most fundamentally important aspect in creating believable characters and creatures for any field of entertainment. This course will help students to construct anatomically sound and aesthetically pleasing human and humanoid figures.

This course focuses on storytelling with pictures. Students learn the relationship between character and story development, and how to compose images and arrange them in sequence to present a coherent and emotionally effective story.

This course explores the fundamentals of Game Design. Throughout this class you will design and create several non-digital games. Just as you take fundamentals classes in figure drawing and color theory to become visual artists, this class is grounded squarely in the basic fundamentals of game design. This course focuses on the elements common to “all” games that are fundamental for a game designer working with any medium. Even though we will focus on non-digital games, digital games will be discussed and two of your assignments for the semester will deal directly with digital design.

This course focuses on rendering and designing as it pertains to vehicles, spaceships and robot designs for the game and entertainment industry. Emphasis is on high-level design and presentation skills, and building finished portfolio pages. Each student will develop a clear understanding of how to design vehicles and/or robots using a variety of rendering techniques, gestures, shapes, forms, storytelling and color application. Students will learn the importance of time management, and will be expected to work efficiently as individuals as well as in teams. Our primary tools will be Photoshop, Blender, Google Sketchup, and the Wacom tablet. The course will include lectures, demonstrations, class discussions, and critiques.

Every character artist in the game industry is expected to understand all organic and anatomical structures to their character designs; this understanding and ability to execute this skill set is key for a character artist. This course will teach students the anatomical structures of animals in order to understand how their organic forms are built in real life. Additionally, students will further develop their understanding of these structures by creating creature designs, where they will be challenged to push the anatomical principles they’ve learned to create fantasy creatures that make sense both anatomically and organically.

This course aims to focus students on the thought process behind creating solid concept art, reinforce the fundamental elements of good painting (composition, use of color, and form), and give them the wherewithal to exploit digital media's strengths. Two approaches will be taught: standard digital painting techniques using brushes to render objects and scenes, and photobashing, where photos are warped, cut, and modified to speed up the painting process and bring photorealism to a piece.

This class is an introduction to UI/UX design for video games. The student will discover and identify the differences between UX and UI as they create wireframes, prototypes, style guides, front-end menus, and heads up displays (HUDs). Students will design a FUI (Fantasy/Future/Fictional/User Interface) then prepare all the art assets for Unreal. This is an ideal course for those that are interested in learning about what it takes to be a UI/UX designer/artist in the video game industry.

In this course, students will keep a sketchbook and develop techniques and thought processes to get their ideas down on paper and be able to communicate them with others. They will learn to iterate on them to take them from initial spark through final sketch. The focus is on preplanning, previsualization, and vizcomm processes, with an emphasis on thumbnail sketches to develop ideation relevant to the industry. The practice of keeping a sketchbook is a valuable part of an artist’s growth, as well as a vital part of their overall portfolio of work that demonstrates what the final piece may not: your thought process.

The purpose of this course is to instruct students in the design and construction of game levels. Theoretical aspects of level design will be discussed during each class. The class will discuss player navigation, story methodologies, level aesthetics, and general issues of game play which make the difference between an entertaining level and a mediocre one. Students will review examples of both good and bad levels for class critique. In addition to the theoretical aspects of level design, students will also learn the practical aspects of level creation through the course projects.

3D modeling softwares are tools that can be utilized by both 2D and 3D artists. This course focuses on the common 3D processes used by concept artists to create a more efficient workflow that allows for faster iteration times and more accurate perspective and lighting in their compositions.

3D modeling software is deep and complex. This course focuses on mastering the essential concepts, tools, and workflows of 3D hard surface modeling in game development. This course will allow students to become comfortable with the complex interface of the 3D modeling software, so that they may have an easier time grasping the high-to-low poly pipeline for creating assets for games. The focus is on the use of professional tools to create complex props for integration into a game, from rough prototyping to final, textured assets. Aesthetics, construction, visual communication, light and form, and quality of work are stressed.

This class introduces students to the interrelated specialties of character animation and rigging for modern video games and their impact on other departments within the game art pipeline. Students will learn the principles of animation as they apply to simple objects and fully articulated characters, as well as create sophisticated custom rigs that can be tailored to specific animation needs. Emphasis is placed on acquiring practical, industry-relevant strategies for creating effective assets, the ability to prioritize goals and techniques in order to achieve results within time and budgetary constraints, and building a solid foundational knowledge of the crafts involved.

Game Pipeline addresses production pipeline skills not addressed in the existing curriculum. Each year new production parameters are created by development projects the major has chosen for that academic year. This class is to engage the students in exploration and learning - helping to better serve their ability to solve problems in the development environment.

This course will provide students with the artistic and technical skills required for being a successful 3D environment artist. Building on previous skills learned in 3D development, this course expands students’ abilities to craft professional quality assets for use in games. Students will gain valuable skills related to modeling, texture creation and application, and animation for video games. The course will also make use of a level editor, which will give students the opportunity to test and further their skills by implementing their work in a real world application.

In this course, the student will learn and polish the skills necessary to create hand-painted textures. Students will use texture editing systems to adhere and manipulate textures onto 3D forms. Students learn to make textures that compliment the geometry of a mesh, how to optimize a low poly mesh to support hand-painted textures, as well as tiling textures. Skillful use of color, the illusion of light and shadow, and other effects, and appealing brushwork will be developed to equip students to excel in the hand-painted pipeline.

This course allows the students to participate in a class that is specifically developed to integrate an industry design contest, sponsorship and/or a special educational or academic opportunity with visiting instructors or experts to bring their expertise to the Game Art program.

The World Development course is designed to develop and demonstrate the skills necessary to visually communicate story, setting, and other relevant context entirely through environment art. Those skills include, but are not limited to, believably (not necessarily realistically) rendering materials, set dressing/composition, scale, and attention to silhouette. Students will be asked to analyze and expand existing storytelling examples from films and games. In addition, they will develop and communicate entirely new stories through the use of props and environments. The course assignments, critique, and expected revisions of work will be modeled after standard practices of professional studio environments. This is not a “how to” modeling/texturing or painting class; students are expected to already have experience in either or both. This class can be used to expand those skills with industry-experienced feedback, but it is not the class' goal or focus. Students should feel free to focus entirely in 2D or 3D throughout the class; the principals taught are equally applicable to both mediums.

This course harnesses the power of digital sculpting to create original characters and creatures from 3D rough iterations through final polished models. Starting with ideation, the student will create creatures and focus on their anatomy, mobility, attitude, skin, texture, and scale as they visually impact the viewer or player. The myriad of tools that ZBrush offers for organic and hard surface modeling, texture painting, cloth and fiber simulation, and procedural modeling will be introduced and used in a series of projects. Students will learn the advantages and disadvantages of the digital sculpting workflow versus the 3D modeling workflow, and practice rapid development of ideas and polish in ZBrush.

Houdini is an advanced 3D software application focused on procedural generation as well as other animation, modeling, visual effects, simulation, and rigging tools. With the knowledge and implementation of this tool, students will be able to create procedurally generated interactive assets and/or environments full of atmosphere and story that can be directly implemented into numerous game engines.

This course will cover efficient modeling and rendering for games, with an emphasis on the Physically-Based Rendering (PBR) shader pipeline. Students will create 3D worlds with an emphasis on mood and effects in current standard game engines to demonstrate the vital impact of lighting in game engines, as well as the need to account for their cost in realtime rendering. The class will cover quick modular modeling and texturing techniques in a 3D application, and set a mood with proper lighting and effects in a game engine.

This course is designed to provide a foundation in historical period design style as it relates to architecture. Students will explore and visit period styles while developing skills of observation, analysis, identification, interpretation, and representation while drafting and creating architectural renderings. Students will use a number of different 2D mediums to create architectural Visualizations.

'Building Worlds and The Power of Shape' Students will embark on the process of developing their own unique intellectual property based on a story of their choice. We will approach this process from a visual development standpoint, with the specific purpose of presenting this reinterpretation to contemporary audiences as a mass market entertainment property (game, film, etc.)

This course offers an intense investigation and deep dive into character design principles. Students will design unique and imaginative characters suited to the game and entertainment industry as a whole. Students begin with preliminary sketches and construction drawings, which are then refined to create finished character concepts consisting of turnarounds, facial expressions, callouts, and more. A variety of styles are explored. Emphasis is on working from one’s imagination, expanding their visual library, and strengthening their drawing and presentation skills.

Real-Time VFX is a very focused game art discipline, and has been consistently one of the most in-demand roles sought after by studios. This course introduces beginners to digital wizardry with an overview of the most common and fundamental techniques used to bring fires, explosions, missiles, and all kinds of awesomeness to life in games! This class focuses on a series of exercises aimed at mastering these foundational elements. This course combines animation, texture painting, and modeling all together into one epic tempest!

This course provides an in-depth understanding of 2D game level design fundamentals. Students will explore and analyze various genres within the 2D space, creating engaging scenarios for players to overcome. They will design levels for different 2D genres, learning about the unique restrictions and limitations of each. Throughout the course, students will build gameplay for small-scale games, designing levels that fit these gameplay experiences. Students will also master the effective use of sprite-based tools within game engines to more efficiently use 2D assets in building levels.

This course will cover efficient modeling and rendering for games, with an emphasis on the Physically-Based Rendering (PBR) shader pipeline. Students will create 3D worlds with an emphasis on mood and effects in current standard game engines to demonstrate the vital impact of lighting in game engines, as well as the need to account for their cost in realtime rendering. The class will cover quick modular modeling and texturing techniques in a 3D application, and set a mood with proper lighting and effects in a game engine.

This course will prepare students for the artistic and technical requirements necessary for success in the unique discipline of character design. Students will be utilizing several different 3D programs for the entire creation process that promotes both stylized/hand-painted and realistic/PBR pipelines. Students will learn how to create functional and usable 3D characters for use in games and will gain valuable skills related to modeling and texturing of characters for video games.

identify the differences between UX and UI as they create wireframes, prototypes, style guides, front-end menus, and heads up displays (HUDs). Students will design a FUI (Fantasy/Future/Fictional/User Interface) then prepare all the art assets for Unreal. This is an ideal course for those that are interested in learning about what it takes to be a UI/UX designer/artist in the video game industry.

Narrative Design is an advanced course focused on the intersection of storytelling and game design in both tabletop and digital games. Students will explore strategies for weaving narrative elements into gameplay, tackling unique challenges in integrating systems design with storytelling. Through hands-on assignments, students will learn foundational storytelling techniques, including character development, dramatic action, conflict generation, and world-building, gaining the skills to create compelling and immersive game narratives. By the end of the course, students will understand how to shape memorable player experiences through narrative-driven design.

This course provides students with the understanding of fundamental concepts of sound from conceptual physics, to software implementation and manipulation. Students will learn the concepts of signal flow, processing, and formatting for a game engine.

This course focuses on having students design multiple functional levels in game engines based on concepts provided by the instructor. Students will create levels for various genres and 3D camera perspectives, understanding the benefits, restrictions, and limitations of each. The course also covers the effective use of terrain tools within game engines, setting up levels with prototype materials to support environment artists, and building in-game cutscenes using camera systems to support narratives within the levels.

This class will build upon fundamental and foundational drawing skills to help students design advanced character, prop and environment concepts. Projects will strengthen students’ observational and conceptual drawing techniques alongside specific assignment requirements. Rigorous ideation processes and advanced principles of design will be the basis for finalizing concept art. Students will be building upon their own specific stylistic approaches to their designs, and will be mentored in their unique styles to strengthen the quality of their own work. Assignments require both traditional drawing tools and a digital painting program such as Adobe Photoshop or similar. 3D tools may be used as described by the instructor, and will require instructor approval on an assignment-by-assignment basis.

This course delves into the intricate design of gameplay systems, equipping students with the skills to design, document, and implement fully-contained systems that integrate seamlessly with all other gameplay elements. Students will learn to craft comprehensive documentation that clearly conveys their design intent, ensuring that programmers can implement these systems accurately and efficiently. Throughout the course, students will analyze existing game systems, enhancing their analytical skills by recreating documentation for these systems. Additionally, students will implement many of their designs in a game engine to understand the process around implementing these systems to better understand the requirements for their documentation.

3D modeling software is deep and complex. This course focuses on further mastering the essential concepts, tools, and workflows of 3D hard surface and environment modeling in game development. This course will allow students to become comfortable with the complex interface of the 3D modeling software, so that they may have an easier time grasping the high-to-low poly pipeline for creating assets and environments for games. The focus is on the use of professional tools to create complex props for integration into game environments, from rough prototyping to final, textured assets. Aesthetics, construction, visual communication, light and form, and quality of work are stressed.

This course focuses on designing combat systems for a wide array of game genres. Students will gain hands-on experience building comprehensive combat systems for various types of games, including 3D hack-and-slash, 2D beat-em-ups, turn-based combat, and both 2D and 3D fighting games. Through in-depth analysis of existing combat systems, students will develop a nuanced understanding of the unique challenges and requirements of each genre. The course emphasizes the importance of detailed documentation, teaching students to create precise, implementable design documents as they relate specifically to combat systems. Throughout the course, students will design, document, and prototype multiple combat systems, ensuring a practical, well-rounded learning experience.

This class continues to strengthen the knowledge of character animation and rigging for
modern video games, and their impact on other departments within the game art pipeline.
Students will learn the principles of animation as they apply to simple objects and fully
articulated characters as well as create sophisticated custom rigs that can be tailored to
specific animation needs. Emphasis is placed on acquiring practical, industry-relevant
strategies for creating effective assets, the ability to prioritize goals and techniques in order to achieve results within time and budgetary constraints, and building a solid foundational
knowledge of the crafts involved.

In collaboration with partnering schools and our graduate program, students work in development teams that reflect current industry practices. The teams are established to create demos and vertical slices of original games. This multi-university, cross curricular opportunity allows artists to work with designers, engineers, and other developers, resulting in a greater understanding and awareness of the game creation process in a team environment.

Conceptual Designers for the Game Industry and Film Industry skillfully illustrate and design unique and compelling environments, vehicles and props for all kinds of stories and eras. This requires a dynamic understanding of industrial design and illustration skills to cohesively understand how things are built; to visually communicate this through drawings and show narrative aspects of the design. This new course offers an introduction to the conceptual process of Environment Design for video games. Students will create original design solutions through silhouettes, sketches and renderings to support a comprehensive story. Students will obtain a solid understanding of how to create original environments utilizing the Wacom Tablet, create layouts digitally, and put together a visually compelling Environment Design Portfolio. Environment Design for games will showcase a step-by step process from raw form and thumbnails to fully finished illustrations. Specializing in video game ideation, Environment Design will be a digital class, using Adobe Photoshop CS3, Google Sketch up, and Autodesk Maya. This class will function as an efficient problem solving tool for game creation and will help to formulate personal process for creating strong workflow.

This course takes digital painting into advanced and specialized areas of the production pipeline. This class has a heavy emphasis on Photoshop's powerful masking and color-manipulation tools, which will be thoroughly explored. Techniques for manipulating photographic material into elaborate matte paintings and skyboxes, such as photobashing, will also be investigated and put into practice.

This course further prepares students with the artistic and technical skills necessary to be successful professional 3D environment artists. Using 3D development software, students will increase their ability to create 3D models and implement them into game engines efficiently. Students will gain advanced skills related to modeling, texture creation and application, and animation for video games. The course will also make use of a level editor which will give students the opportunity to test and further their skills by using a real world application.

This course builds on the skills and techniques acquired in previous texture and painting courses. Students will create a high-quality 3D hand-painted environment and related assets from scratch to a polished finish.

This course will challenge students to expand the scope of their skill sets and workflows in the creation of production ready character assets, with emphasis on the high to low poly pipeline, and more complex characters and creatures. Students will refresh and expand their understanding of comparative anatomy, and its exaggeration and stylization for dramatic and gameplay purposes. Emphasis is placed on polishing high resolution assets to a professional finish, including small details, polypainting, hair, and clothing.

This course builds on GA306 (Real-Time VFX) by introducing the dark arts of lighting, node based VFX editors, and takes a deeper dive into how we can more effectively integrate shaders into node based systems. Students will again make a series of commonly used VFX with the new tech that this course introduces, and then will get to build their own mock art test!

Students will further develop and refine their work and skills from Professional Studies, Senior Portfolio, and other relevant courses. Students will also hear from industry guest speakers on a variety of topics dealing with life in the industry and will gain a better understanding of best practices when it comes to finding, applying for, and interviewing for a job in the industry.

This course will cover the process of creating and applying complex materials to models for implementation into standard game engines, with an emphasis on the Physically-Based Rendering (PBR) shader pipeline. Students will create 3D scenes in current standard game engines to demonstrate the vital impact of lighting in games, as well as the need to account for their cost in realtime rendering. The class will cover texturing techniques in a 3D application and shader creation with proper lighting in a game engine.

This course will prepare students for the artistic and technical requirements necessary for success in the unique discipline of character design. Students will be utilizing several different 3D programs for the entire creation process that promotes both stylized/hand-painted and realistic/PBR pipelines. Students will learn how to create functional and usable 3D characters for use in games and will gain valuable skills related to modeling and texturing of characters for video games.

This course will provide students with a practical and modern industry-focused look into working with digital audio for games. Students will learn how to work audio assets and implement them into a game engine. Concepts of game engine logic, scripting, and rules for audio will be demonstrated in student projects.

3D modeling software presents a profound and multifaceted challenge, requiring an in-depth understanding of both technical and artistic principles. This course delves into the advanced mastery of key concepts, tools, and workflows essential for hard surface and environment modeling within game development. Students will refine their proficiency with industry-standard software, focusing on navigating its intricate interface and optimizing the high-to-low poly pipeline for efficient asset creation. Through a combination of hands-on projects and critical analysis, students will progress from initial prototyping to the development of polished, textured assets, ready for seamless integration into complex game environments. Emphasis will be placed on professional-grade techniques, encompassing everything from intricate prop construction to nuanced aesthetic considerations, including visual storytelling, form and light interaction, and the overall quality of final outputs. This course aims to cultivate not just technical competence but also an elevated sense of artistry, preparing students to execute industry-ready work at a professional level.