This page has been edited with permission from Dr. Keith Mitchell. This information appeared on Apple's web site from 1997-1999. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the Technology Applications Center for Educator Development or the Texas Education Agency.

Digital Graphics/Animation, Skills for the Next Millennium 
by Keith Mitchell, Ph.D. - Education Development Executive for Apple Computer, Inc.

This new curriculum is going to be both rewarding and challenging to teach. The information products made possible by today's leading edge graphic arts and animation tools are nothing short of phenomenal and can often be valued as true works of art. The learning curve for individual tools however can be lengthy and will require possibly only a partial look at what is possible. An evaluation of today's printed glossy magazines, interactive CD-ROMs, highly formatted web pages, and video based advertisements provides evidence for a growing demand for creative artists who can produce unique graphics and animation to feed into the print and digital publishing mediums. It has been said that the amount of content available on the Web is doubling every 90 days! One networking firm has over 150 full time employees just to maintain the company's web page. Skill with technology generated animation is also on the rise. A recent Los Angeles Times article (Launching Pad for Digital Artist, Monday, September 1, 1997) stated Warner Bros., DreamWorks SKG, 20th Century Fox and Viacom are spending a combined $1 billion to launch or expand their animation departments. Disney has gone on a hiring spree, nearly doubling its animation division since 1995. At least 7,000 animator jobs are based in Los Angeles, and command an average salary of $104,000 a year. 

Student skill sets will not only include procedures and features of each application, but how they work together to produce a final product. Finally, it will be important they can identify appropriate authoring tools which can accept their products and demonstrate the ability to import their finished graphics or animation. At the heart of graphic arts and animation is art itself. The TEKS point out that students will need foundation art skills such as correct use of color and methods of adding depth such as lighting effects and shadows. The TEKS also identify this course as an appropriate place to introduce sound capture and editing techniques, specifically as they are incorporated into the finished animation sequences. Finally, the incorporation of 3D modeling and rendering tools will be one of the most interesting aspects of this course. 3D design tools are commonly used in product design, architectural reports, and, of course, the entertainment industries. Often the same tools that are used for modeling a 3D object can render and export an animation suitable for video or digital products. I would also suggest this course include using development tools for Apple's QuickTime Virtual Reality media. 

The curriculum can be organized around a series of products that introduce sequentially more challenging use of the individual tools. Possibly each individual or group's product could follow a theme allowing some master product to be made of the components pieces. I read once that Virtus held a conference in which each group developed a 3D room with Virtus VR. At the end of the conference a house was created with appropriate connections to all the rooms that had been developed. In either case, the experience should result in student developed products that are perceived as having a purpose to both the students and their community. The time spent on mastering individual software tools and more importantly producing information products will accomplish most of the issues covered in the TEKS, but additional resources will have to be incorporated to insure students are learning quality skills as defined by the curriculum and the industries involved. Much of the additional resources such as those involving ethics, copyright, or even style can be obtained from student research on the Internet.