The multidisciplinary Computer Science + Animation (CS+ANI) Bachelor of Science degree program prepares students to span the boundary between computing and its application in animation, providing them with a career path to technical artistic roles in the animation and game development fields. The fact that DePaul boasts both a highly-ranked Animation program in the School of Cinematic Arts and a large, successful Computer Science program in the School of Computing enables us to provide a unique high-quality curricular combination of both educational areas. The CS+ANI curriculum combines a solid computer science core customized to fit the specific needs of this discipline, with a foundation in 3D animation designed by animation and game art faculty. There is a heavier emphasis on programming than on art due to the technical demands of this field. CS+ANI students receive valuable interdisciplinary collaborative group project experiences with teams of students majoring in 3D animation, storyboarding and character design, game design, game art, and game programming.
The CS+ANI BS contains two concentrations, Animation Technical Director and Game Art Technical Director, with requirements of each tailored to the specific requirements of the film and TV and game production fields. A technical director (referred to as a TD in the industry) serves as a bridge between artists and programmers. TDs in both fields can be involved in a wide range of duties, including managing and developing the production pipeline, developing features and add-ons to software, developing custom tools, and working with programmers on larger software projects. They also work on productions doing rigging, modeling, lighting and rendering scenes, building shaders, programming FX and particle systems, and working with motion capture.
Due to the rare combination of technical and artistic skills, the demand is high for people who fit this job description. Top animation and game studios
| Program Requirements | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|
| Liberal Studies | 76 |
| Common Major | 84 |
| Concentration | 20 |
| Open Electives | 12 |
| Total hours required | 192 |
Learning Outcomes
- Model a computational problem, select appropriate algorithms and data structures for a solution, justify the correctness of the algorithm, and implement an application solving the problem.
- Analyze and select an algorithm based on system effects.
- Analyze the efficiency of a computational solution mathematically, and validate the analysis experimentally.
- Criticize a program on the basis of its maintainability and suggest improvements.
- Apply graphics and rendering techniques to support game or animation production.
- Apply essential concepts and utilize tools necessary for 3D entertainment production including modeling, lighting, texturing, rigging, and rendering.
- Utilize scripting knowledge to create tools in professional software packages such as Maya, Unity, Unreal, Houdini, or Nuke.
- Analyze and troubleshoot the artwork-to-render/engine pipeline on a 3D animation or game development project.
Liberal Studies Requirements
Honors program requirements can be found in the individual Colleges & Schools section of the University Catalog. Select the appropriate college or school, followed by Undergraduate Academics and scroll down.
| First Year Program | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago Quarter | ||
| LSP 110 or LSP 111 | DISCOVER CHICAGO or EXPLORE CHICAGO | 4 |
| Focal Point | ||
| LSP 112 | FOCAL POINT SEMINAR | 4 |
| Writing | ||
| WRD 103 | COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC I 1 | 4 |
| WRD 104 | COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC II 1 | 4 |
| Quantitative Reasoning | ||
| Not Required | ||
| Sophomore Year | ||
| Race, Power, and Resistance | ||
| LSP 200 | SEMINAR ON RACE, POWER, AND RESISTANCE | 4 |
| Junior Year | ||
| Experiential Learning | ||
| Required | 4 | |
| Senior Year | ||
| Capstone | ||
| Required in major 1 | ||
- 1
Students must earn a C- or better in this course.
Learning Domains
Arts and Literature (AL)
- 3 Courses Required
- ANI 101
- 1 course selected from: ANI 206 or MCS 207 or MCS 208 or MCS 209 or any HAA course approved for AL
- 1 additional AL course
Historical Inquiry (HI)
- 2 Course Required
Math and Computing (MC)
- Not Required
Philosophical Inquiry (PI)
- 2 Courses Required
- 1 course selected from either FILM 228 or CSC 208
- 1 additional PI course
Religious Dimensions (RD)
- 2 Courses Required
Scientific Inquiry (SI)
- 1 Course Required
[1 Lab Course]
Social, Cultural, and Behavioral Inquiry (SCBI)
- 3 Courses Required
Major Requirements
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| MAT 140 | DISCRETE MATHEMATICS I | 4 |
| MAT 141 | DISCRETE MATHEMATICS II | 4 |
| CSC 241 | INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE I | 4 |
| CSC 242 | INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE II | 4 |
| CSC 300 | DATA STRUCTURES I | 4 |
| CSC 301 | DATA STRUCTURES II | 4 |
| CSC 321 | DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF ALGORITHMS | 4 |
| CSC 361 | OPTIMIZED C++ | 4 |
| CSC 373 | COMPUTER SYSTEMS I | 4 |
| CSC 374 | COMPUTER SYSTEMS II | 4 |
| GAM 325 | APPLIED 3D GEOMETRY | 4 |
| GAM 370 | RENDERING AND GRAPHICS PROGRAMMING | 4 |
| ANI 105 | MOTION GRAPHICS FOUNDATIONS | 4 |
| ANI 230 | 3D DESIGN & MODELING | 4 |
| ANI 231 | 3D ANIMATION | 4 |
| ANI 332 | 3D RIGGING | 4 |
| ANI 339 | 3D TEXTURING AND LIGHTING | 4 |
| Eight (8) credit hours selected from any courses in ANI, CP, DOC, FILM, GAM, POST, SCWR, or VFX | 8 | |
| Senior Capstone (Choose one of the following pairs) | 8 | |
| GAME DEVELOPMENT PROJECT I | ||
| GAME DEVELOPMENT PROJECT II | ||
| OR | ||
| ANIMATION PROJECT I | ||
| ANIMATION PROJECT II | ||
| OR | ||
| SOFTWARE PROJECTS | ||
Any 300-level ANI, CSC, or GAM course | ||
Note: Students may take CSC 243 and one (1) CSC elective in lieu of CSC 241 and CSC 242.
Open Electives
Open elective credit also is required to meet the minimum graduation requirement of 192 hours.
Program Combination Restrictions
Students pursuing the BS in Computer Science + Animation are forbidden from pursuing a Minor in the following areas: Animation; Animation Technical Director; Computer Science; Game Technical Director; Information Technology.