CTV News features 3D Animation and CGI Program
When CTV News Montreal was looking into a story about the local digital effects industry, employers said they should come to Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ to meet the next wave of digital artists.
Every major company in Montreal has hired graduates of the 3D Animation and Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) Program of Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ. “Our network has grown over the last 10 years and it continues to grow,â€� said Charles Le Guen, Program Coordinator. “Our teachers and grads are connected to the industry and help our students find work.â€�
“At the end of the program, they are trained filmmakers,� said teacher Raymon Fong. “In 3D Animation and CGI, they can make a whole film with the skills they learn here at Dawson. They can write, direct, illustrate, produce, and act in (through their characters) animated productions.�
Several graduates have been involved in Oscar-winning films and big-name productions. Three alumni worked on Blade Runner 2049: Ian Cooke Grimes, lead lighter for MPC (lit Rachel in the movie); Sabrina Poirier and Niomie Papatens-Rochon worked on camera tracking for the film, which their employer Framestore won the Oscar for VFX. Ian was also nominated for a VES award as part of a four-person team from MPC for his work on Blade Runner.
It is the only program of its kind offered in English in Quebec.
During the three-year program, students learn:
- art fundamentals such as drawing anatomy, drawing in perspective, gestural drawing & figurative sculpting in clay
- to create digital drawings, designs and painting using Photoshop
- to design characters in 2D and in 3D
- to sketch characters in dynamic poses
- to design props and environments in 2D and in 3D
- to create storyboards
- to create animatics and layout for animated projects
- to model characters, props and the environments in 3D, using industry standard tools for digital modeling and sculpting
- to apply textures and colours to the 3D models using tools like substance painter
- to create skeletal “rigs� for their 3D characters to be able to move
- to animate characters in 2D and in 3D
- to add lighting to a 3D scene
- to composite layers of images, using node-based industry software
- to work with motion capture data, using our motion capture equipment as well as specialized software
- to edit sound and movies using industry software
- to analyze the characteristics and requirements of a project, and understand the pipeline tying all the different stages together
Check out these links for more about the program:
- Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ 3D Animation and Computer Generated Imagery Program information
- Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ 3D Animation and Computer Generated Imagery Graduates
