Standards: Standard VIII

Kathleen Markwardt

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Standard VIII

Digital Graphics/Animation

The digital graphics/animation teacher has the knowledge and skills needed to teach the Foundations, Information Acquisition, Work in Solving Problems, Communication strands of the Technology Applications Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) in digital graphics/animation, in addition to the content described in Technology Applications Standards I-V.

Prior to starting the TATC program, my only work with digital graphics had been adding clipart to documents and enjoying graphics and animations that I saw on sites I may have surfed. I was totally clueless as to the possibilities in this area. Boy, were my eyes opened! I think this was really cool area of study, and I have seen some awesome examples of graphics and animations through my fellow classmates. I now have the tools to work with graphics and animation in my own projects. My examples may not be as exciting as my classmates', but they are exciting to me because they represent steps in my own growth. I'm not "there" yet, often I'm not even sure where "there" is, but at least I'm working on it. It is even a fun activity (when a deadline is not looming). I will continue manipulating graphics and photos in Photoshop and trying animations in Swish, Flash, and LiveMotion to put the basics into practice and try to move on to some of the slightly more complicated processes. Again, practice for me will be the key.

Since I had never worked with any type of digital graphic before taking the Vision IT workshop and this course, the assignment in Artifact#8 challenged me to apply each of the concepts we were studying. The "thinking through" of each of the elements and principles in order to apply them in my examples was quite literally an eye opening experience for me. Having to manipulate the graphics to illustrate the concepts reinforced the knowledge I gained from the readings and examples given for the elements and principles. The actual manipulations necessary to make my examples gave me the opportunity to explore the different software to accomplish the task. I felt much more competent in understanding the basic principles and elements of design when the assignment was complete, but I have tons of room for growth in this area!

Artifact #8 / Artifact #14 / Artifact #15


Caption 8

Indicators: Standards: I, II, III, and TA TEKS 7.14s, 7.36s, 7.37s, 8.1s, 8.11s, 8.12s, 8.13s, 8.14s, 8.15s, 8.17s, 8.19s, 8.21s, 8.22s, 8.24s, 8.25s, 8.26s, 8.31s, 8.34s, 8.35s, 8.38s,8.41s, 8.46s, 9.1s

Artifact #8

Descriptors: Elements and principles of design, Internet search, manipulating images in Paint and Adobe Photoshop, report and graphic examples created in Microsoft Word

Title: Representing Design

Course: 100 Foundations

Date Created: August 27, 2002

Source: Individual TATC product. The clip art images were imported from the Microsoft Online Gallery. Some were altered in Paint and/or Photoshop and then imported into Microsoft Word.

Media: Microsoft Word Document in Rich Text Format. February 1, 2003 changed to pdf format for faster loading.

Description: The assignment involved illustrating the elements and principles of design by creating and/or manipulating digital images. The report I created defines terms related to each element and principle, and images were included as visual examples. To create a sense of unity in the report, I chose the basic shape of a heart to include in each digital graphic. I imported most of the images from the Microsoft Online Gallery. I then edited and altered the clips in Paint and/or Photoshop when necessary. In some instances I applied color and/or pattern to better illustrate certain concepts. The graphics were then inserted into my report which was created in Microsoft Word. The report was saved as a rich text file for sharing and was posted to our discussion area. Through the thought processes involved in selecting, creating, and altering the graphics, I increased my understanding of elements such as line, color, form/shape, space, texture, value, and contrast. The design principles of rhythm, balance, unity, variety, pattern, emphasis, and proportion also became much clearer to me.

Rationale: Using the software to create and/or alter graphics to apply the design elements and principles gave me a much better grasp of the individual concepts. My knowledge of the topic and of the use of the software to apply the ideas gave me concrete experience that helped me become more confident in this area. I am looking at visual design in a new way, and my continued experiences with digital graphics will continue to expand on these basic ideas. I will be able to use this new understanding as I develop and critique digital and web products in future classes and personal projects. Another reason I chose this artifact is that it provides an example of my growth in working with file formats. I originally created the assignment as a rich text file, not having been introduced to Adobe Acrobat at the time. Later I changed the output to a .pdf file format. The change reduced the file size and helped decrease loading time for the document.

Implications for the future: Learning to recognize and use the elements and principles of design opened the door to better design of web pages, desktop publishing products, and projects of all types. Using these concepts in web pages, printed materials, and other projects will help me to communicate information in a more pleasing and effective way. The concepts are important to the technology applications courses of digital graphics and animation, web authoring, desktop publishing, multimedia and even video. Learning to see and apply this knowledge myself will allow me to teach these same concepts to students.

Reviewer's Comments: Nice job. Your definitions of the elements and principles were very easy to understand and your graphics clearly demonstrated your definitions.

Reviewer's Name: Sheryl A. Lamb

Date Reviewed: August 28, 2002

Title: TATC Student

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Caption 14

Indicators: Standards I, II, III, IV, and TA TEKS 7.3s, 7.4s, 7.7s, 7.8s, 7.9s, 7.11s, 7.12s, 7.13s, 7.14s, 7.15s, 7.16s, 7.21s, 7.22s, 7.23s, 7.24s, 7.27s, 7.28s, 7.29s, 7.31s, 7.41s, 7.43s, 7.45s, 8.1s, 8.2s, 8.6s, 8.8s, 8.11, 8.12s, 8.13s, 8.14s, 8.22s, 8.33s, 8.34s, 8.35s, 8.38s, 8.39s, 8.40s, 8.47s, 9.20s, 9.41s,10.9s, 10.11, 11.26s,

Artifact #14

Descriptors: Animation Report/2D, Internet searches, Use of Interactive Guides and Course Readings, sharing sources through links, post discussion to appropriate area, read and respond to classmates' posted assignments

Title: Evolution of 2D Animation--Past, Present, and Future

Course: Digital Graphics 101-1

Date Created: October 29, 2002

Source: Individual TATC Project

Media: Microsoft Word, rich text file format, Internet, Google search engine, online discussion

Description: Module 3, Discussion 2--assignment information was copied and pasted below.

In this part of the activity, we are going to look at the past, the present and the future of animation. Give at least one specific link to your sources that you found useful in your research.

Tell us:

· How the techniques have changed from the beginning to now

· Some major developments in your format and what you see in the future, OR

· Give us the Pro’s and Cons of using this animation form in the classroom

Review one animation program as part of your research as well. Give the link to the demo or trial download for that program in your review.
I chose to report on the evolution of 2D animation. The animation program that I reviewed was Macromedia Flash.


Rationale: I chose this artifact because I learned a lot about the evolution of animation through searching the Internet for information and studying the electronic information presented through our course resources. As I did my research, I found a wide variety of information to use and bookmarked many sources. I provided links to applicable sites so that others might easily access additional information. Through the information I found, I was able to better understand the traditional techniques of animation and how they apply with today's technology. From my research, I learned a little more about what the future may hold in this exciting area. In addition, through reading and responding to my classmates' reports I gathered many other resources on animation, both 2D and 3D. By researching the animation software program, Macromedia Flash, I was able to provide review information on this particular software program . The review helped me to become more aware of the features this powerful software animation program includes and compare its features with other programs.

Implications for future: Knowing more about the history of animation provided me with a basic knowledge of the steps and processes it takes to animate. This knowledge led me to understand the way technology has made animation so much quicker and more realistic through technology. I have used the knowledge I gained through this research throughout TATC. If I ever teach Digital Graphics/Animation, this background knowledge on animation would be helpful. I would be able to give students a brief history of animation and intelligently discuss future possibilities. Macromedia Flash is one of the leading programs for animation. It is used in many animations that may be seen on web sites and various sites on the Internet. Therefore, it is important that I have a working knowledge of iits features in order to relay the information to my students. Many other animation programs are modeled similarly and produce animations in the swf format.

Reviewer's Comments: What an awesome tool to have for 2D animation. I know that when you are teaching TA classes you will find these resources and links you have invaluable. Very informative and well written!

Reviewer's Name: Rachel Newman

Date Reviewed: June 2003

Title: TATC Instructor

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Caption 15

Indicators: Standards I, II, III, IV, and TA TEKS 7.3s, 7.4s, 7.6s, 7.7s, 7.8s, 7.9s, 7.10s, 7.13s, 7.14s, 7.15s, 7.17s, 7.22s, 7.23s, 7.24s, 7.36s, 7.37s, 7.38s, 7.41s, 8.1s, 8.2s,8.7s, 8.9s, 8.11s, 8.13s, 8.14s, 8.15s, 8.18s, 8.19s, 8.22s, 8.23s, 8.24s, 8..25s, 8.26s, 8.27s, 8.30s, 8.31s, 8.33s, 8.34s, 8.35s, 8.37s, 8.40s, 8.41s, 8.43s, 8.44s, 8.45s, 8.46s, 8.47s, 9.1s, 9.3s, 9.8s, 9.9s, 9.11s, 9.13s, 9.15s, 9.16s, 9.18s, 9.20s, 9.21s, 9.24s, 9.26s, 9.27s, 9.28s, 9.29s, 9.39s, 9.40s, 9.41s, 9.42s, 9.43s, 10.2s, 10.9s, 10.12s, 10.16s, 10.28s, 10.41s, 11.1s, 11.2s, 11.13s, 11.7s, 11.10s, 11.11s, 11.12s, 11.13s, 11.16s, 11.17s, 11.18s, 11.19s, 11.20s, 11.21s, 11.23s, 11.24s, 11.25s, 11.26s, 11.27s, 11.28s, 11.29s, 11.30s, 11.31s, 11.32s, 11.33s, 11.35s, 11.39s

Artifact #15

Descriptors: Digitized images, creation and modification of images, images selected to appropriately portray elements of my life in a graphic format, getting acquainted with classmates, posted to online discussion area, critique and discussion of classmates' digital biographies, web page, file compression, jpeg file format (lossy compression)

Title: Digital Bio

Course: Digital Graphics 101-1

Date Created: October 11, 2002

Source: Individual TATC Project

Media: Scanner for digitizing photos, Adobe Photoshop 7 for editing and optimizing photos, Internet, Adobe GoLive for web page

Description: Our assignment required the creation of a "digital" bio to help us become better acquainted with our online classmates. We were to include images of various sorts to give viewers of the graphic a visual respresentation of our lives. To create this image, I first scanned existing pictures of my children. I then edited and sized the digitized photos in Adobe Photoshop. Using the Photoshop tools, I cropped, brightened, and "tweaked" the pictures of my children. Each picture was edited and saved as a psd file (Photoshop working file). I then opened a new canvas and inserted and arranged the three pictures. I gathered the clip art images from Microsoft Online Gallery. I resized them and then added text in Photoshop. After the entire collage had been created, it was optimized for the web through Photoshop and saved as a jpeg for file compression purposes. I had to be careful to work with the Photoshop psd files to avoid saving as jpeg files multiple times. Each time a jpeg is saved, there is additional loss of quality. It was my first attempt at using Photoshop by myself, but I think I could do a better job of editing now! The "digital bio" was posted to our online discussion area originally as an email attachment. I created a basic web page during my portfolio process to showcase the digital bio.

Rationale: Creating the digital bio from existing photos, online clip art, and text elements required the consideration of several factors. First, I had to consider my audience and decide on elements to highlight my life at the time. Next, I had to find the images at home and through Microsoft Clip Art Online Gallery and bring the images into Photoshop for editing. Therefore, this artifact shows that I can acquire electronic information and use various input devices (scanner) to create graphics. My placement of the graphics shows a consideration of the elements and principles of design as does my color scheme. The graphics manipulation in this project used a wide variety of basic photo editing features including selection tools, color adjustment, cropping, feathering, blending, etc. Although the quality is not as high as I would like, this bio shows my knowledge and photo editing capabilities at the time it was created.

Implications for future: I have continued to work with these concepts in creating graphics throughout TATC, and I feel I have made additional progress in the necessary skills. In order to teach the TA class of Digital Graphics and Animation, I believe I would need to continue to explore the software to become more confident and fluent in the use of the tools. I will continue working with graphics and animation, and I would like to take a workshop on Photoshop to continue to explore its many uses.

Reviewer's Comments: Posting comment from Kathleen--"Here is my digital bio. I did not get it looking the way I wanted, but I certainly got some practice in Photoshop. I still get bogged down in the details...." Rachel's review: "sometimes we can't get that perfection we wanted - YOURS looks good - I love the pictures of your kiddo's how old are they?"

Reviewer's Name: Rachel Newman

Date Reviewed: October 12, 2002

Title: TATC Instructor

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I, II, III, IV, V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI