Genesee Community College

Syllabus for

COM 215, CREATIVE EDITING & SPECIAL EFFECTS

Spring Semester, 2006

Instructor:	Barry Chow, Director of Video/Telecommunication Services T-144 - GCC, One College Road, Batavia, NY 14020-9704 Phone: 343-0055 ext.6252 Email: bcchow@genesee.edu
Office Hours:	Thursday 10:30am - 12:30 pm or by appointment.
Class Schedule: Lab Schedule:	Monday and Wednesday: 9:05 am-10:00 am. Friday: 9:05am-11:05 am.
Location:	Room E-122.
GCC Catalog Course Description:	“This course will focus on the creative aspect of Non-linear Editing.  The topics of this course include the use of special effects such as multilayer keys and composites, motion tracking, digital painting.  The goal of this course is to enable students to use special effects creatively in the Non-linear Editing environment. Two class hours, and Two lab hours.  Prerequisite: COM 211 or ART 210 or permission by instructor.
	Students enrolled in this class will: · Have demonstrated understanding of File Types and File Management. · Be able to describe the function of each special effects tool studied. · Have attained the fundamentals for using Keys, DVE, and Mattes. · Have gain working knowledge of the special effects tools. · Have produced a minimum of five projects that demonstrate an understanding of the special effects studied.
Criteria for Grading:	Class attendance, class participation, and successful completion of lab modules. 1. Class attendance.        5% 2. Class participation.     5% 3. Five projects.            90%
Suggested Texts:  Assignments:	Adobe After Effects 6.0 HOT (Hands-On Training), 2004, Peachpit Press. (NOT Required, only a suggestion) ISBN 0-321-22854-5. Other reading material as assigned. There are 5 projects for the course to be completed as assigned.
Instructional Strategies:	Lecture, discussion, demonstration and reading assignments.
Course Outline:	1) Introduction to Special Effects. Touring the interface. -Layers. -Masks. -Precomposing. -Nesting. -Mattes. -Rendering. -Audio. -Bitmap preparation. 2) Effects concepts. -Blurs and Sharpen. -Channel Effects and Keying. -Distortion Effects. -Adjust, Image Control, and Perspective Effects. -Stylize and Render Effects. -Text and Time. -Transitions, Video Options, GIF Animations, and Text Effects. 3) Production Bundles. -Motion Pack. -Keying and Matte Tools Pack. -Distortion Pack.