Let the Games Begin
Bruce Pennycook’s music students produce game prototypes using DIIA’s digital media lab.
DIIA’s digital media lab has again served as a significant resource for UT Austin in addressing the learning needs of 21st century students.
This spring, the lab provided considerable support for a pilot game-development interdisciplinary course conducted through the Digital Arts and Media Bridging Disciplines Program (BDP), led by Bruce Pennycook, professor of composition. Twelve students in two teams received practical experience in designing and developing computer games and digital entertainment products. Each team contained members assigned to mission-critical roles as project manager, artist/scripters, mapper/modelers, and sound/music designers. Each team developed a plan of work to identify goals and established a timeline with milestone outcomes, producing a working prototype by semester’s end.
Jeanette Herman, assistant dean for academic initiatives in the School of Undergraduate Studies, shepherded the project through the application and approval steps and set up processes for grading and evaluation.
Pennycook’s support of a student organization of game developers in fall 2008 provided a dry run of sorts for students’ use of DIIA’s digital media lab to produce games. After persevering without standard technology or a suitable work space, the Electronic Game Developers Society (EGaDS) reserved the lab for regular sessions to produce modifications of existing video games (MODs). EGaDS members seek to learn skills and gain experience critical to breaking into the video game industry. Pennycook provided supervision and the support of a teaching assistant, pleased to support the group’s goals while essentially observing a pilot project for his pilot project.
For the spring course, Pennycook served as project leader, collaborating with Arie Stavchansky, a freelance Web designer and human-computer interaction specialist, and Michael Augustin, founder of Gendai Games and a designer for many commercial entertainment products. With the collaboration of Kristy Bowden, director of the Austin Digital Media Council (DMC), students enjoyed invaluable access to industry professionals, with more than ten speakers visiting the class. Students also met with UT Austin faculty from several fields and with professionals from the gaming industry for mentoring in skills and best practices in the fields of gaming and on-line entertainment.
Pennycook holds a joint appointment in the Butler School of Music and the Department of Radio-Television-Film, specializing in new media and audio technologies, with research interests in new media interface design, music visualization, film/video music, interactive music performance, and network-based audio. He teaches music composition, film scoring, and digital media. He serves as panel chair for the Digital Art and Media Bridging Disciplines program.
DIIA’s high-end, self-service digital media lab provides a key resource for supporting partnerships with faculty across campus to integrate media assignments into course design. Located in GSB 2.130, it is equipped with powerful Mac and PC workstations, a full array of the latest digital media software, and peripherals for input/output to support improving students’ media literacy through class projects involving digital video and audio. It is available for scheduling classes and for hands-on, course-related individual and group projects. DIIA trains students to use digital media production tools, consults on production strategies and techniques, and provides access to high-quality digital media hardware, software, and production facilities.
After the pilot course concluded last month, Pennycook expressed gratitude to Susanna Herndon, director of technology enhanced learning at DIIA. “I am sincerely grateful to all the DIIA personnel and to DIIA for permitting me to run this unique and technically demanding course in a cordial and pleasant work space.” Pennycook cited assistance from Keene Haywood and Wei Yeh as particularly helpful. “My students had access to everything they needed during the term, and the specialized software such as Game Salad from Gendai Games was constantly upgraded and maintained as the class worked through their projects.”