Postgraduate Course: 3D Digital Design (DESI11206)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will investigate the principles of 3D design. You will gain practical and theoretical experience in 3D modelling, sculpting, texturing and animation, and the use of 3D assets across a wide range of digital media. You will develop a fluent skillset in 3D digital design and an understanding of the potential for innovative 3D design work as an essential component in existing and emerging digital media platforms. |
| Course description |
The course investigates the principles of 3D digital design, primarily within digital media but also looking at the application of 3D digital design within the physical world. You will gain an understanding of passive, interactive, and immersive 3D design, exploring how current and emerging digital technologies engage with and shape these experiences. You will develop a skillset in appropriate software platforms. Areas that the course will investigate will include 3D modelling, 3D sculpting, texturing and the use of materials, capture techniques, rendering solutions, optimisation, 3D animation and other relevant topics. The practical application of 3D design will be supported with discussions on principles underlying character design, environment design, cinematography and visual narrative. As this is a constantly developing field, you will be encouraged to research contemporary innovations in 3D design to innovate your own creative practice.
You will make extensive use of the 3D digital assets you design in creative responses to a practical project brief. Project work is supported by critical enquiry and reflection that explores the applicability of 3D digital design within a professional creative practice. The course fits within a context of applied design within a global creative industry environment and encourages ethical / responsible design in terms of digital materials and data.
The course will consist of a series of weekly 2-hour lectures addressing the core principles of 3D digital design. These lectures will include guests from creative industries. A weekly series of 1-hour critique sessions will provide feedback and discussion opportunities with regard to your ongoing progress with the coursework you will submit for assessment. Three practical workshops (each 3 hours) will also be scheduled to provide further opportunities for you to develop your 3D digital design skillsets.
All sessions will be taught as hybrid campus and online sessions, combining the campus and ODL versions of the course.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | This Course does not require any additional costs to be met by the Student.
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Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 11,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 9,
Online Activities 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
130 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 2 assessment components.
1) Project Draft, consisting of asset log, documentation and reflective report of c. 800 words. 40%. weeks 4-6. Relating to Learning Outcomes 1, 2 and 3.
2) Completed Project, consisting of completed project files and output, documentation and reflective report of c. 800 words. 60%. weeks 11-13. Relating to Learning Outcomes 1, 2 and 3.
Further information:
1) Project Draft. Submitted design work can encompass a wide variety of creative responses and challenges to an open-ended brief including 3D models, applied textures, animation and related design assets. The first submission will consist of designing a set of draft 3D digital design assets aligned with the overall creative direction, an asset log detailing the submitted 3D assets, and documentation in the form of a plan for the second submission and reflective project report.
2) Completed Project. The second submission will consist of refining and completing the assets accompanied by a reflective report detailing the creative decisions and changes made since the draft. |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
Ongoing verbal formative feedback will be provided through the weekly group tutorials by the course organiser and the course tutors.
The weekly group tutorials on campus will inform the work presented for each summative assessment. These tutorials offer an avenue to guide the students along their learning journey, provide advice on the work that should be submitted for submission 1 and show how this work on submission 1 should feed forward into submission 2.
Summative Feedback
Summative written and verbal feedback will be provided on the Project Draft submitted for submission 1.
Verbal feedback will be provided within scheduled lecture sessions.
Summative written feedback will be provided on the Completed Project (submission 2).
The feedback will be provided by the course organiser and the course tutors.
The summative feedback from submission 1 will directly inform the work presented for submission 2.
Summative feedback will be provided according to University regulations.
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate detailed knowledge and in-depth understanding of the fundamental principles of 3D digital design by successfully modelling and animating a 3D digital design project.
- Employ a range of tools to research and design a 3D digital design project using established design approaches.
- Articulate and evaluate in writing the phases of the project research and development using appropriate academic protocols.
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Reading List
CHOPINE, Ami. 2011. 3D Art Essentials: The Fundamentals of 3D Modeling, Texturing, and Animation. Focal Press .
JULESZ, Bela. & Ira J. HIRSCH. 1972. Visual and Auditory Perception - An Essay of Comparison. In: E. E. DAVID & P. B. DENES (eds.). Human Communication: A Unified View. McGraw Hill, New York.
KATATIKARN, Jasmine & Michael TANZILLO. 2016. Lighting for Animation: The Art of Visual Storytelling. CRC Press.
WELLS, Paul. 1998. Understanding Animation. Routledge, London, UK.
WILLIAMS, Richard. 2012. The Animator's Survival Kit. Farrar, Strous & Giroux, New York.
Online Resources are updated annually and provided on the course resource list. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Aspiration and Personal Development: Developing on practical skills and understanding of design principles, you will develop confidence and the ability to reflect on your own practice, building towards your own career goals and aspirations.
Outlook and Engagement: By drawing together your creative design skillset and your own initiative and experience, you will engage positively, ethically and respectfully. with your own design communities.
Personal and Intellectual Autonomy: By developing your research and organisational skills, you will be able to critically evaluate ideas and evidence to become a creative problem solver. |
| Keywords | 3D Design,3D Animation,3D Modelling,3D Sculpting,Extended Realities |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Ms Eleni Geragidi
Tel:
Email: egeragid@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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