Course availability for AVATAR students in Mass Comm 4260

ATTN AVATAR STUDENTS!!! We have openings for AVATAR minor students in Mass Comm 4260, Long-Format Video Production. The course meets TTh 10-12 in Hodges B11, and is taught by Tad Odell. This would be a great course for anyone interested in video aspects of digital media or who wants to incorporate video production a...s part of their digital media projects. Please contact AVATAR if you have any questions.

Tohline Named New Director of LSU Center for Computation & Technology

The LSU Board of Supervisors has officially confirmed Joel E. Tohline as the new director of the LSU Center for Computation & Technology, effective December 13. Tohline is a professor in the LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy.


"Computational science and computer infrastructure are key to the growth of most all scientific disciplines," said LSU Office of Research & Economic Development Interim Vice Chancellor Thomas Klei. "At LSU we are fortunate that previous administrations at the University and the State had the wisdom to invest in the center that became CCT. Joel Tohline is uniquely suited to lead the center at this critical time. With his guidance I am excited about its potential future and what that will bring to research at LSU and elsewhere in the State."


Tohline says that since he was in high school in New Orleans 40 years ago, most of his time as a student and, later, as a scientist and teacher has been devoted to understanding how computing and communications technologies can be effectively used to solve technically challenging problems.


"Especially as we have moved into an era when computing and networking pervade all aspects of modern life, I am tremendously excited to have the opportunity to lead LSU's Center for Computation & Technology," Tohline said. "I expect to become involved in all aspects of the CCT's activities, which include innovative research in computational science & engineering and numerous related technologies; ties with Louisiana's promotion and advancement of digital arts and the digital entertainment industry; and educational outreach and training to high-school, college, and graduate students throughout the state."


Tohline earned his bachelor's degree in physics from Centenary College of Louisiana in 1974, and his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1978. He has been employed by LSU since 1982.


Tohline has previously served as a member of the Applications Strategy Council of Internet2, on the Program Advisory Council of LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory in Livingston Parish), as Chairman of LSU's Department of Physics & Astronomy, as Interim Executive Director of LONI (Louisiana Optical Network Initiative), and as Interim Director of LSU's Center for Applied Information Technology and Learning (now the Center for Computation & Technology).


The Center for Computation & Technology is an interdisciplinary research center that advances the University's Flagship Agenda and promotes economic development for the state by using computational science applications to aid research and develop solutions that benefit academia and industry. CCT is an innovative research environment, advancing computational sciences, technologies and the disciplines they touch. By uniting researchers from diverse disciplines, ideas and expertise are disseminated across LSU departments to foster knowledge and invention. For more information, please visit: http://www.cct.lsu.edu.

LSU Students Prepare for Supercomputing Competition

LSU Students Prepare for Supercomputing Competition

BATON ROUGE—Whether it’s building a small cluster or solving hardware issues, six LSU students have learned more than they could have imagined about supercomputing in the last few months. The LSU team, consisting of Austin Howick, Kenny Barron, McKendon LaFleur, Tung Le, Alex Chretien and Jason Kincl, has been preparing to compete in the Student Cluster Competition at Supercomputing 2010 (SC10) in New Orleans, November 15th – 17th. The team of five LSU computer science students and one LSU computer engineering student was selected based on an application process. Each member has volunteered almost three hours every Tuesday night since June in addition to subgroup meetings and individual time to learn applications, all while keeping up with course work, as well as other extracurricular activities. They all have applications and libraries they must install and configure to perform optimally so that their benchmarks are better than any other team’s.

The team’s coach, Isaac Traxler, Unix Services Manager for LSU’s High Performance Computing, was more than happy to volunteer his time to train the students. The SC10 selection committee chose the LSU team, along with seven others, from a large number of qualified teams who applied. The winning team will be recognized at the SC10 Awards Ceremony luncheon on Thursday, November 18th. The team at LSU hit the ground running in June as they began designing and building a cutting-edge commercially available small cluster, constrained by two 13 amp circuits at 120 volts. LSU was fortunate to have Hewlett-Packard, Mellanox, LATG and the Portland Compiler Group sponsor them and supply the necessary materials.

“The preparation time each team member has put in is incredible. It is a great opportunity for them to apply what they are learning in the classroom and learn from the different obstacles and challenges that have occurred,” said their mentor.

Jason Kincl, CSC Undergrad said, “It is one thing to learn about scientific computing in a classroom. We have found that it is an entirely different story when we are speccing, building, and running a cluster along with learning the simulation software we will run on it. We have all experienced a slice of what it takes to run a HPC cluster and we have all learned a lot.”

During SC10, teams consisting of six students will utilize the amazing power of clusters and the ability to work with open source software to solve interesting and important problems. The competition, which occurs on the exhibit floor, engages students in real-time to run a workload of real-world applications on the clusters they designed, while never exceeding the allowed power limit.

The teams will put together and test their machines to run the High Performance Computing & Communications Council benchmarks on Monday night, until they receive the competition data sets for the competition. Each team will work from Monday night until the close of the exhibit floor on Wednesday evening. Conference attendees will be able to observe each team as they deal with the workload at hand. Not only will students race to complete the greatest number of application runs, but also must impress the judges with their application knowledge.

Throughout the showcase, teams will have the opportunity to show off their skills and knowledge of the equipment. Each team will be scored on the amount of workload completed, benchmark performance and interviews and outreach. The team with the highest combined score will be named the winner. Judges will also recognize the team with the highest LINPACK, as well as SC Fan Favorite.

“Each one of these guys should be extremely proud of themselves for what they have accomplished already, “ said their mentor. “It has been great to see them learn so much about aspects of supercomputing they were very unfamiliar with. Now, they talk about these things as if they are long lost friends.”

The student team will continue meeting each Tuesday to practice application runs until the competition in November. Regardless of whether they win or lose, all agree the training sessions are providing them with a valuable opportunity to practice working with open source software.

McKendon LaFleur, CSC undergrad said, “Time management is probably the most important thing I have learned out of the whole experience. I think we have all learned more about ourselves as we have faced different challenges.”

***PLEASE DISTRIBUTE***

Red Stick International Animation Festival Announces 2010 Schedule

http://www.redstickfestival.org/


Red Stick International Animation Festival--a forum for animators, directors, students, artists, designers, writers and educators in which they can share their knowledge and skills and promote the ART OF ANIMATION!


As in the past, this year's festival is packed full of education, inspiration and entertainment. The Festival will be held November 10-13, 2010 at the Shaw Center for the Arts, Louisiana Art & Science Museum, Old State Capitol, and Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center.


Some of the highlights of this year's festival are:

• Special Screening of "Waking Sleeping Beauty" at Citiplace
• Educational Lecture by Scott Johnston titled "The ABC's of Alpha and Gamma"
• Lectures by Max Howard, Hans Rijpkema, David Corbett, Christian DeVita, Dean Wellins, Norman Twain, J. Walt, and more..
• Best of the Fest competition screenings
• Fandemonium (science fiction and fandom CON event) with special guest Robert Picardo and Bob Greenberger
• Video Games Live (featuring Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra)
• Princess Ball Fundraiser at the Old State Capitol
• Cartoon-a-Palooza (featuring children's activities and art workshops)
• VIP Dinner Fundraiser and Awards Presentation (to include a silent auction)
• School group lectures and film screenings
• Oscar nominated short films
• Tribute to Pres Romanillos, Red Stick Posthumous Lifetime Career Achievement Award winner.

Visit the festival website for full schedule and pricing details.


http://www.redstickfestival.org/


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LSU’s Center for Computation & Technology sponsors the Red Stick International Animation Festival in partnership with the East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President’s Office, Louisiana Technology Park, Baton Rouge Area Chamber and Baton Rouge Area Digital Industries Consortium.

The Red Stick International Animation Festival is pleased to announce a special lecture by Scott Johnston.


Scott F. Johnston joined Walt Disney Feature Animation during production of "The Little Mermaid" and was part of the team that brought the first digital ink-and-paint system on-line for "The Rescuers Down Under." Johnston was one of the principal designers of the ground-breaking ballroom sequence in "Beauty and the Beast." As CGI Supervisor for "The Lion King", he oversaw the development and production of all the CG effects in the record-breaking film, including the climactic wildebeest stampede.


At Warner Bros., Johnston served as Artistic Coordinator on "The Iron Giant" to realize director Brad Bird's vision, weighing creative solutions and technical requirements against resource limitations. As Animation Special Effects Supervisor for "Looney Tunes: Back In Action", Johnston oversaw the integration of the traditionally drawn characters into the world of the live actors and recreated various artists' styles in the Louvre sequence.


Johnston helped to establish Enne Entertainment in Salamanca, Spain, instructing the management team on production methods and guiding the technical group on building the facility infrastructure. While at Enne, he continued his research in non-photorealistic rendering.


Johnston is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was honored with ASIFA/Hollywood's Ub Iwerks Technical Achievement Award in 2003.


The lecture below will be T*hursday, November 11th at 4:00pm in the Manship Theatre*. This lecture is a Gold Pass event, and you can pre-register for this workshop as an add-on to the Gold Pass.


"The ABC's of alpha and gamma"


This lecture will provide background information on digital imagery to help students understand basic compositing concepts and terms including: monitor calibration, gamma curves, linear vs. non-linear composition, bit-depth, alpha channels, aliasing, pre-multiplied vs. non-premultiplied alpha, transparency, banding and film grain.


Students working in the digital arts should be familiar with these concepts to avoid common rendering and compositing mistakes.

LSU’s “Cinema for the Ears” Concert Oct. 18 at Manship Theatre

The Best Music You’ve Never Heard: LSU’s “Cinema for the Ears” Concert Oct. 18 at Manship Theatre

Louisiana composers from the LSU School of Music will present a variety of experimental and electro-acoustic music on Monday, Oct. 18, during the annual “Cinema for the Ears” concert. The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Manship Theatre, housed within the Shaw Center for the Arts in downtown Baton Rouge.

The LSU School of Music hosts this concert in partnership with the LSU Center for Computation & Technology's Laboratory for Creative Arts & Technologies and the Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research, or AVATAR, Initiative in digital media.

Local composers Stephen David Beck, Tae Hong Park, Jesse Allison, Corey Knoll and Jeff Albert will perform original pieces using the ICAST Audio Sound Theatre, a 27-channel, state-of-the-art, surround-sound environment. ICAST’s capabilities far exceed typical movie theater sound quality and provide an immersive listening experience for the audience.

Cinema for the Ears also will feature pieces from renowned American composer and electro-acoustic music pioneer Jon Appleton and New Zealand electro-acoustic composer Denis Smalley.

The concert takes place with cabaret-style seating, and the composers will discuss their work with the audience prior to performing each piece.

Tickets to Cinema for the Ears are $12, with $6 discounted tickets for students or senior citizens. The Manship Theatre has a cash bar available during the concert.

Order tickets online at www.manshiptheatre.org or by phone, 225-344-0334, or by e-mail, tickets@manshiptheatre.org.

Release online: http://www.cct.lsu.edu/site.php?pageID=63&newsID=1239

Red Stick International Animation Festival Seeking Volunteers!

The Red Stick International Animation Festival is looking for volunteers to work during the sixth annual festival, which will take place Nov. 10-13 in downtown Baton Rouge. Red Stick needs volunteers to work at the festival’s main venues – Shaw Center for the Arts, Manship Theatre, Old State Capitol and Louisiana Art and Science Museum – during the festival. Volunteer duties include taking tickets, checking passes, counting attendance and being available to assist the festival staff with operations. Volunteers must be at least 16 years old and able to provide their own transportation to and from the festival. Children under 16 can volunteer if adults accompany them during their work shifts. Volunteers are expected to be available for four-hour work shifts during the festival.


Volunteers receive complimentary Red Stick Krewe T-shirts and festival Red Passes. (Red Passes otherwise cost $5 per person and allow admittance to festival film screenings and Cartoon-a-Palooza on Saturday, Nov. 13, and access to the merchant's room at Fandemonium, Red Stick's new Con event.) The festival will provide volunteers with a parking pass to use during their work hours.


Anyone interested in being a festival volunteer should attend one of the festival’s informational meetings on Wednesday, Oct. 20 or Tuesday, Oct. 26 at 6:30 p.m. in the Old State Capitol House Chamber. There will be a mandatory training session for all Red Stick volunteers on Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 6:30 p.m. in the Old State Capitol.


For more information about volunteer opportunities, contact the Red Stick Festival Office at 225-366-8473.

Last chance to RSVP for the DM Minor Pizza Night this Thursday at 6 pm

The Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research (AVATAR), Initiative and the LSU Center for Computation & Technology (CCT) will host an information session and pizza night on Thursday, Sept. 23 to let interested students know about the University's new minor programs in digital media and how they can enroll.


The event will take place at 6 p.m. in the CCT Training Room, 338 Johnston Hall. Faculty with the AVATAR Initiative will attend to provide information about the two new digital media minors available to students. One is an art-oriented core that will go through the College of Art & Design, and the other is a technology-oriented core that will go through the College of Engineering. Both minor programs are interdisciplinary, and students will take courses in several departments, preparing them for careers in digital art, animation, electronic composition, character rigging, video game design and more.


Space for this event is limited, so interested students must RSVP to AVATAR Coordinator, Lea Anne Couvillion at leaanne@cct.lsu.edu, today, so we can ensure we have enough pizza for everyone.


For more information on the digital media minors, visit avatar.lsu.edu, and click the "Degree Program" page.

LSU Professors Receive $1 Million in Federal Funding To Advance Digital Media and Computational Science Research

LSU Professors Stephen David Beck and Thomas Sterling received $1 million as part of the appropriations in the United States Senate Omnibus Appropriations Bill for their “Center for Digital Innovation” proposal, which furthers research in next-generation digital media and supercomputer architecture.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, was instrumental in securing this and other funding for Louisiana.

“The LSU Center for Digital Innovation is at the forefront of the growth in technology jobs in Louisiana," said Sen. Landrieu. "The funds for this project will help to build LSU’s role in the development and production of digital media and keep the state on the cutting edge of research in computer science."

Beck, Derryl & Helen Haymon Professor in the LSU School of Music, and Sterling, Arnaud & Edwards Professor in the LSU Department of Computer Science, both hold joint appointments with the LSU Center for Computation & Technology, or CCT. They jointly developed the Center for Digital Innovation proposal to expand research initiatives both are leading to advance components of 21^st century computational science technology.

Beck, CCT interim director, is the University’s lead on the Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research, or AVATAR, Initiative. LSU approved the AVATAR Initiative in Spring 2008 to create a concentrated academic research program in digital media, including animation, video games, electronic music and digital art.

Faculty with the AVATAR Initiative spent the past two years developing a program that will allow students to obtain a minor in digital media through the LSU Colleges of Art & Design and Engineering, in which they will take courses in several departments, including computer science, electrical and computer engineering, music, art, English, and mass communication, to prepare them for careers in digital media. The University approved this academic program in Fall 2009, and students can formally declare the minor beginning this semester.

Sterling, a former NASA and Caltech scientist who invented the Beowulf cluster that is the building block of the world’s supercomputing systems, leads the Systems Science and Engineering Focus Area within CCT. He and his research team have spent the past several years working on the ParalleX project to investigate how parallel computing environments can run effectively on large-scale machines.

He is part of the National Science Foundation’s Exascale Point Design Study program, the NSF HPC Task Force, the DARPA Exascale Technology and Software Studies, and the International Exascale Software Project. He also is leading LSU’s collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories on the recently announced DARPA Ubiquitous High Performance Computing Program to prototype next-generation supercomputers.

Sterling’s research group is conducting research to determine the execution models, application programming interfaces, system software and hardware the scientific research community will need when supercomputers move from Petascale to Exascale and become capable of running a million trillion calculations per second.

“With the additional funding our proposal has received through federal appropriations, we’re able to advance the research initiatives already taking place on campus and catalyze efforts within the digital media group and the supercomputer architecture group to expand work in both areas and create new opportunities,” Beck said.

For more information on the AVATAR Initiative, please visit http://avatar.lsu.edu.

For more information on the ParalleX project, please visit http://px.cct.lsu.edu, and for more information on the Exascale research taking place with Professor Sterling’s group, please visit http://exascale.cct.lsu.edu.

Digital Media Minors - Pizza Night on September 23rd

The Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research (AVATAR), Initiative and the LSU Center for Computation & Technology (CCT) will host an information session and pizza night on Thursday, Sept. 23 to let interested students know about the University's new minor programs in digital media and how they can enroll.


The event will take place at 6 p.m. in the CCT Training Room, 338 Johnston Hall. Faculty with the AVATAR Initiative will attend to provide information about the two new digital media minors available to students. One is an art-oriented core that will go through the College of Art & Design, and the other is a technology-oriented core that will go through the College of Engineering. Both minor programs are interdisciplinary, and students will take courses in several departments, preparing them for careers in digital art, animation, electronic composition, character rigging, video game design and more.


Space for this event is limited, so interested students must RSVP to AVATAR Coordinator, Lea Anne Couvillion at leaanne@cct.lsu.edu , by Monday, September 20 to attend, so we can ensure we have enough pizza for everyone.


For more information on the digital media minors, visit avatar.lsu.edu, and click the "Degree Program" page.

The Red Stick International Animation Festival announces that tickets for our third annual Princess Ball, an evening of fairy tale magic and whimsey that is an annual highlight of the festival, are now on sale!


The Princess Ball will take place Sunday, Nov. 7 (the Sunday preceding the festival) from 3-5 p.m. at the Old State Capitol in downtown Baton Rouge. Princess Ball tickets are $20 per person, and are available for online purchase at https://www.ticketturtle.co/index.php?ticketing=rsiaf. Tickets are non-refundable, and will be available for sale until we reach capacity at the Old State Capitol.


We hope you will join us for Princess Ball 2010, and for other events taking place as part of the Red Stick International Animation Festival, Nov. 10-13, 2010.

For more information on festival events, please visit www.redstickfestival.org or contact the festival office at 225-366-8473.


Red Stick International Animation Festival
Phone: +1 225-366-8473
E-mail: rsiaf@cct.lsu.edu
Web site: www.redstickfestival.org
Twitter @ RedStickFest

Tickets are on sale now for the performance of Video Games Live (VGL) at the Baton Rouge River Center Arena! The works of original video game composers performed by the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, with a full audio, visual, live performance will take place on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. as the closing event of the sixth annual Red Stick International Animation Festival, which will take place Nov. 10-13, 2010.

To order your tickets, just visit the Baton Rouge River Center's "Tickets" site, operated via Ticketmaster at http://www.ticketmaster.com/search?tm_link=tm_homeA_header_search&q=Baton+Rouge+River+Center. Ticket prices range from $23 to $73 per person, depending on seating.

The Red Stick International Animation Festival has partnered with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra (BRSO) to host this performance at the River Center. Produced by renowned video game composer Tommy Tallarico, Video Games Live is the largest and most successful concert of its kind worldwide, having played in venues on five continents. The performance BRSO and Red Stick will host is the first time a Video Games Live show will take place in Baton Rouge.

In this show, the symphony will perform alongside exclusive game footage synchronized to music and lights on giant interactive screens, with live-action stage performers, special effects and a synchronized laser show. Some audience members will join the orchestra onstage and play video games. There will be a pre-show meet-and-greet event at 5:30 p.m. for all ticket holders.

The Red Stick Festival VGL performance is sponsored by Louisiana Technology Park.

For more information on Video Games Live, please visit http://videogameslive.com/index.php?s=home.

Animation Collaboration

AVATAR is at Animation Collaboration this week. Animation Collaboration is an annual highlight of the Red Stick festival in which artists work closely with teachers and school-age children from Louisiana, helping them create animation about their experiences with various social issues.

Mentorship Academy to hold grand opening

The Mentorship Academy will hold a grand opening Thursday celebrating the debut of its two charter schools in Baton Rouge. The Mentorship Academy of Science and Technology and the Mentorship Academy of Digital Media and Art will begin classes for 300 ninth-grade students Monday. There will 15 teachers between the two schools with 25 students in each classroom in the old Regions Bank building at the corner of Florida and North Fourth streets. The building's history makes its renovation into a school unique. The school is turning the old vault into a recording studio where students will have the opportunity to create multimedia projects. There is also a green screen for students to utilize in their digital media projects. The school's three key innovations—project-based learning, technology integration and mentoring relationships—will prepare students for their future careers, says executive director Brian Dixon. One of the school's goals is to educate Louisiana students for Louisiana industries, namely petrochemical and digital media. "These two high schools are results of years of community discussion to provide parents and students high-quality and affordable educational options," says Bryan Jones, board president for the Mentorship Academy. —Emma James

visit mentorshipbr.org

AVATAR Welcomes Jesse Allison

The Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research, or AVATAR, Initiative in Digital Media welcomes Jesse Allison to our faculty working within this multidisciplinary hiring initiative at LSU.

Allison has accepted a position as assistant professor in LSU's School of Music, where he will be a faculty member in the Experimental Music & Digital Media area. He also holds a joint appointment with the LSU Center for Computation & Technology, where AVATAR is housed. Prior to joining LSU, he worked as a sonic and hybrid media artist, serving as the Virtual Worlds Coordinator for Interactive Arts Research and Development for Digital Intermedia Art and Animation (IDIA) at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Allison is also President of Hardware Engineering of Electrotap, LLC, an innovative media arts firm.

As an artist, Allison has disseminated works and research around the globe through live performance art, interactive installations, virtual and hybrid worlds installations, and paper presentations. At Electrotap, he has developed sensor technology, interactive software, and commercial audio plugins through all stages of production. Through his research at IDIA, he taught sonic and hybrid arts and led teams of faculty, graduate students, undergraduates, and external organizations in large-scale projects. Allison received his doctor of musical arts in composition from the University of Missouri -- Kansas City.

LSU is excited to welcome Jesse Allison and his family to Baton Rouge as he becomes the newest member of AVATAR.

Red Stick Entry Date Extended to August 6, 2010

NEW DEADLINE for Red Stick Best of the Fest Submissions

Red Stick has extended the deadline for 2010 Best of the Fest submissions to Aug. 6, 2010. Please see entry categories and details at the festival Web site:

http://www.facebook.com/l/576337saxo_Hvv_WqM9R6PxrSeQ;redstickfestival.org/entries.asp.

Undergraduate Minors in Digital Media

LSU’s Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies, and Research (AVATAR) Initiative in Digital Media is debuting a new, interdisciplinary academic program to help students learn the skills they need for careers in the broad, exciting, and emerging field of digital media.

Beginning in the Fall 2010 semester, undergraduate students can enroll in one of two digital media minor programs, each with a focus on different thematic cores. The DMART minor is an arts-oriented program, offered through the College of Art & Design, and the DMTEC minor is a technology-oriented program, offered through the College of Engineering.

Students in both programs will take foundation courses in the arts and computer programming. Students then will take three courses in digital media within their area of focus (arts or technology) and one course from the other area of focus. Finally, students from both programs meet in a senior capstone course that engages both arts and technology applications in collaborative, interdisciplinary projects.

The minor will prepare students for careers in fields such as animation, video games, electronic music and digital art. Some examples of digital media jobs students could pursue after college include:

• Digital Artist/Animator
• Character Rigging Artist
• Digital Technology Manager
• Game Designers/Developers
• Digital Sound Engineering
• Computer Programming
• Network Development
• Web Applications

Interested students can learn more about the AVATAR Initiative in digital media and get more information about the DMART and DMTEC undergraduate minor programs, including course information, at www.avatar.lsu.edu

Anyone interested in learning more about the AVATAR Initiative's undergraduate minor in digital media should contact Lea Anne Couvillion, AVATAR Initiative Coordinator at 225-578-5433 or leaanne@cct.lsu.edu.!

Digital Media Minor - TECH Core (DMTEC)

AVATAR MINOR IN DIGITAL MEDIA (DMTEC)

The AVATAR Minor in Digital Media (DMTEC) is a complementary, interdisciplinary minor designed for students with an interest in digital media as it applies to their wide range of degrees and disciplines while maintaining a minimum core of experience across the minors. A 2.0 GPA in the minor field is required.

Students in an engineering or science major should contact the College of Engineering for more information on the technology track for the AVATAR Digital Media minor (DMTEC). Students not in an engineering or science major should contact the College of Art + Design for more information on the arts track for the AVATAR minor (DMART).

REQUIRED COURSES (6 HRS):

1. Choose 3 hrs: ART 1001, ART 1011, ARTH 2470, MUS 1751, MUS 1799, or ENGL 2009

2. Choose 3 hrs: CSC 1253, CSC 1350, or IE 2060

ELECTIVE COURES (12 HRS):

1. Choose 9 hrs from Science/Engineering core courses

2. Choose 3 hrs from Arts core courses

REQUIRED CAPSTONE COURSE (3 HRS):

• EE 4859 (3 hrs credit - Permission of Department Required)


To declare the Digital Media minor, students will need to notify the adviser in their major area of study to let him or her know that they wish to declare the digital media minor. For more information on the minor or AVATAR, please contact Lea Anne Couvillion at leaanne@cct.lsu.edu.

Digital Media Minor - ART Core (DMART)

AVATAR MINOR IN DIGITAL MEDIA (DMART)

The AVATAR Minor in Digital Media (DMART) is a complementary, interdisciplinary minor designed for students with an interest in digital media as it applies to their wide range of degrees and disciplines while maintaining a minimum core of experience across the minors. A 2.0 GPA in the minor field is required.

Students in an engineering or science major should contact the College of Engineering for more information on the technology track for the AVATAR Digital Media minor (DMTEC). Students not in an engineering or science major should contact the College of Art + Design for more information on the arts track for the AVATAR minor (DMART).

REQUIRED COURSES (6 HRS):

1. Choose 3 hrs: ART 1001, ART 1011, ARTH 2470, MUS 1751, MUS 1799, or ENGL 2009

2. Choose 3 hrs: CSC 1253, CSC 1350, or IE 2060

ELECTIVE COURES (12 HRS):

1. Choose 9 hrs from Arts core courses

2. Choose 3 hrs from Science/Engineering core courses

REQUIRED CAPSTONE COURSE (3 HRS):

• ART 4059 (3 hrs credit - Permission of Department Required)


To declare the Digital Media minor, students will need to notify the adviser in their major area of study to let him or her know that they wish to declare the digital media minor. For more information on the minor or AVATAR, please contact Lea Anne Couvillion at leaanne@cct.lsu.edu.

Game On: LSU Students Apply Cutting-Edge Creativity, Interactive Techniques to Develop Original Video Games

When most people play a video game, they just focus on winning, unaware of the multiple science, computer programming, technology and art elements that went into its makeup.

These critical elements are the focus of a course LSU has offered since 2007, in which students work in teams to form “companies” and develop an original video game throughout the course of a semester.

The course is listed in the university’s registration materials as both an art and a computer science course, and the material is interdisciplinary, encouraging students from different academic backgrounds to work together in creating a game, each contributing their strengths to the product. Computer science students work on many of the programming elements, while art students work on storyline and character creation.

LSU offers the video game design class in collaboration with University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC. In the class, which students attend via high-definition video streaming broadcast from Chicago to Baton Rouge, participants learn core concepts to develop and design video games, from storyline to character development to coding.

Jason Leigh, a computer science professor at UIC and director of the university’s Electronic Visualization Laboratory, teaches the course from UIC in collaboration with LSU’s Robert Kooima, adjunct faculty in the LSU Department of Computer Science and a post-doctoral researcher with the Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research, or AVATAR, Initiative in digital media. Kooima worked with Leigh at the UIC Electronic Visualization Laboratory before coming to LSU in 2008.

The video game design course will be part of the curriculum for the AVATAR minor in digital media, which will begin in the Fall 2010 semester, allowing students to take courses in different departments to prepare for careers in digital art, animation, electronic composition, video game design and related fields.

“The video game design class has been popular since we first offered it, and its success at LSU was one of many reasons we worked to create the digital media minor,” said Stephen David Beck, Derryl and Helen Haymon Professor of Music and AVATAR lead. “Many college students want to learn the necessary skills to work in these emerging industries, and we hope many of the students who have participated in the video game class will sign up to take other, related courses toward the digital media minor.”

This year, the video game design course had record participation, with 53 students between the two universities. At LSU, there were nine computer science students, 11 art students and one education student participating. The students divided into 12 teams to form companies and, with the exception of one all-UIC group, the companies had an equal balance of LSU and UIC members, who worked together all semester to create an original video game.

Beginning with the 2009 course, Leigh and Kooima began emphasizing games with multi-player, multi-touch capabilities. To give the class a place to experiment with multi-touch gaming, Kooima began building a 52-inch TacTile LCD touch table with high-definition video. The students were able to use this table in rough form to play and display their video games in 2009, but it was completed and available for the 2010 students.

“We always try to emphasize new trends and possibilities in the gaming industry with this course, and a current one is allowing people to touch and interact directly with the game,” Kooima said. “This table gives the students a platform to develop these types of popular games. In the coming semesters, we hope to try other new gaming techniques, such as super-high resolution gaming on tile displays, which occurs on multiple screens simultaneously. We definitely want to keep doing things that are unique.”

As in previous semesters, students spent the final class period of the semester, on Friday, April 30, playing and presenting the video games their “companies” created.
Kooima and a judging panel comprised of representatives from the Baton Rouge Area Digital Industries Consortium, Louisiana Tech Park and the Electronic Arts Video Game Test Center in Baton Rouge evaluated the games, which constituted a large component of each student’s final grade. The students had a special guest judge, Tom DeFanti, Ph.D., an internationally recognized pioneer in visualization and virtual reality technologies. DeFanti, who was Leigh’s dissertation adviser and helped establish the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at UIC, was at LSU to speak as part of the AVATAR Lecture Series. He participated in the video game class competition during his visit.

The judges awarded prizes for Best Audio Design; Best Visual Design; Best Technical Achievement, which looked at the computer science elements included in the game; Best Interaction Design, which evaluated how well players could touch and experience the game; Best Bookends, which focused on the titles, sequences and conclusion, elements that Kooima said are important but often overlooked in gaming; and Best Game Play (overall).

With the exception of Best Technical Achievement, which the all-UIC team won, teams with LSU members won in all the other categories, and the LSU students developed and implemented many of the winning techniques in these games, Kooima said.

The winning LSU-led companies and their games are:

Best Audio Design and Best Visual Design:
Dark Tide Software for the game “Rise of the Urchins”
Participating LSU students: Keaton Robinson and Michael Davis
In this game, players are underwater and must throw sea urchins at pirate ships to sink them and steal their gold. “This product just went above and beyond,” Kooima said. “The custom music blended in some nautical elements in keeping with the theme, and the overall playing experience was extremely good.”

Best Interaction Design
B2 Bomber Games for the game “Power Putt”
Participating LSU students: Kevin Cherry and Katherine Herrin
This was a miniature golf game, but the team added the unique element of allowing other players to push their hands on the touch table and tilt the golf course, making it more challenging for the golfing player, and allowing more touch points in the game. “This was an extremely clever way of drawing in the audience,” Kooima said.

Best Bookends
Kenchi Games for the game “Reach”
Participating LSU students: Jason Kincl and Sara Fradella
This company won for adding “very clever and funny” introductions and endings to the game, in which players must grab objects to build a ladder that allows their characters to climb out of a pit, give them a high five, and win. At the end, the winning player can choose how to destroy the remaining players’ characters in the pit, with options such as “Raptor Attack,” which adds an extra creative sequence to the play, Kooima said.

Best Overall Game Play
Magnetic Enigmatic for the game “POL”
Participating LSU students: Jason Meador and Lee Vanderlick
This two-player game is similar to the popular online game “Bejeweled,” but is more interactive and created for the touch table. Balls fall down from the top, and players must stack like items in rows to make them disappear. Extra and discarded balls push toward the other player, who loses when so many balls pile up that they hit the side of the display. “The interaction in this game was complex, deep and well-thought out,” Kooima said. “Overall, all their elements just led to a good game.”

The university plans to continue offering this course once a year, and it will return in the Spring 2011 semester.

For more information about the AVATAR Initiative and the upcoming minor in digital media, please visit www.avatar.lsu.edu.

http://appl003.lsu.edu/unv002.nsf/9faf000d8eb58d4986256abe00720a51/fd2e1bbdd03a217986257721005c06f1?OpenDocument


Ashley Berthelot
LSU Media Relations
225-578-3870

SC10 Faculty/student opportunities

The LSU Center for Computation and Technology encourages YOU to participate in this year's SC10 Conference in New Orleans (November 13-19, 2010). See below several opportunities for faculty and students.

SC is the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis. SC10 will feature the latest scientific and technical innovations from around the world. Bringing together scientists, engineers, researchers, educators, programmers, system administrators and managers, SC10 will be the forum for demonstrating how these developments are driving new ideas, new discoveries and new industries. SC10 will feature three special focus areas this year: Climate Simulation, Heterogeneous Computing, and
Data Intensive Computing.

http://sc10.supercomputing.org/?pg=conference.html

An Animated Career: LSU’s Stacey Simmons Selected as Technology Leader of the Year

Creating the largest animation festival in the United States, forming a professional consortium to attract new businesses to the state’s capital, working with different state and local agencies to lure EA Sports to Baton Rouge and helping develop a new digital media curriculum for college students might seem like a tall order for one person’s day job.

But these are among the achievements for Stacey Simmons, who was named Louisiana’s Technology Leader of the Year at the Governor’s Technology Awards earlier this spring.

Simmons, who is associate director for economic development at LSU’s Center for Computation & Technology, or CCT, has spent her career finding innovative ways to highlight the intersections between art and technology.

A native of the New Orleans area, Simmons moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of working in the film industry and held production roles with different studios. But after several years there, she decided to return to Louisiana and help establish the film industry in her home state.

After working as an adjunct professor with Tulane University, Simmons came to LSU in 2003 to develop strategic initiatives for the CCT. She wanted to find a way to make high-performance computing technology understandable and accessible to members of the Baton Rouge community. This idea became the Red Stick International Animation Festival.

Red Stick, which Simmons created along with Professor Stephen David Beck in 2005, has grown into the largest animation festival in the United States in only five years and has become a draw for both scientists and artists who are interested in seeing the latest developments in digital media.

Through her work on the festival, Simmons realized the city could benefit from a consortium of local business and government agencies that worked specifically at attracting digital media industries to the state. She founded the Baton Rouge Area Digital Industries Consortium, or BRADIC, which encompasses LSU, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and the East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President’s Office. It is the only organization of its kind in the nation, an innovation that was one of the key reasons she was nominated for the highest technology honor in the state.

BRADIC promotes the state’s lucrative tax credit program, talented workforce and teamwork between education and business to animation studios, video game development companies, visual effects houses and other digital media industries to entice them to Louisiana.

These tax incentives for digital businesses and the strong partnerships among key agencies in the area are the primary factors that convinced EA, the world’s leading independent video game developer and publisher, to locate their North American Test Center in Baton Rouge, at LSU South Campus in late 2008.

Another factor in EA’s decision to locate here was the Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research, or AVATAR, Initiative to create a new curriculum and research opportunities in digital media. LSU created AVATAR in spring 2008, and Simmons is one of the professors working to develop this program, which will help students learn the skills they need for careers in this exciting and emerging field.

The AVATAR Initiative will launch the university’s first minor in digital media in the fall 2010 semester. To promote the program, Simmons created a lecture series for the spring and fall semesters, which will bring in professionals from various areas of digital media to campus.

“As a professional working in digital media, I often get approached by college students who want jobs as video game developers, animators, artists and much more,” Simmons said. “I am excited to be part of the group that created this new curriculum so we can give students a chance to learn how they can get jobs in this field. And because the digital industry in our state is growing, this program will train students for jobs they can get in this area, which will make them more likely to stay here after graduation.”

Kristen Sunde | Public Relations Manager | LSU Center for Computation & Technology
May 2010

SIGGRAPH Research Demonstrations - May 17th

CCT's SIGGRAPH 2010 Committee is hosting a SIGGRAPH Research Demonstrations & Talks session in the CCT Training Room (Johnston 338) on Monday, May 17, from 11:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Anyone interested in presenting research for inclusion in CCT's exhibit at SIGGRAPH 2010 is invited to participate. Please plan to spend about 15-20 minutes conducting a demonstration or giving a talk that shows what you are working on and how it relates to the conference's key topics. As this session takes place in the afternoon, the SIGGRAPH Committee will provide pizza for attendees.

If you are interested in participating, please e-mail Kristen Sunde at ksunde@cct.lsu.edu by this Thursday, May 13, indicating your preferred time to present your research. This will help us schedule participants for May 17 and ensure we have enough pizza for everyone.

Thank you in advance for your interest and enthusiasm as we progress with plans for SIGGRAPH 2010!

Check out LSU's LOL

http://www.225batonrouge.com/blogs/record-crate/2010/may/05/recordcrate5510/

Calit2 Researcher, Computer Graphics Expert Tom DeFanti to Speak at LSU April 30

Beyond Digital Cinema: Globally Shared Visualization And Virtual Reality
Apr 30, 2010 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Johnston Hall 338

John Worthington to Speak in AVATAR Lecture Series Monday, April 19

Digital Media Pioneer John Worthington to Speak in AVATAR Lecture Series Monday, April 19



LSU's Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research (AVATAR) Initiative is hosting a series of lectures in the spring and fall semesters, bringing professionals from various areas of digital media to campus to talk with students about what skills they need for careers in video game design, electronic music composition, animation, digital art, scientific visualization, and more.

On Monday, April 19, John Worthington of Worthington Designz will give a lecture on “Digital Media and the Personal Computer – 30 Years and Counting.” Worthington has worked in many areas of film and electronic music production throughout his career, including leading the original development of QuickTime at Apple, developing an online music sales platform for Music Net, and creating professional film effects technology that can be rendered with a regular desktop computer.

In his lecture, Worthington will describe how computational science technology is changing how artists and musicians approach the creative process, and how it affects what people expect from media.

Worthington’s lecture will take place at 3 p.m. in the LSU Center for Computation & Technology Training Room, 338 Johnston Hall. This lecture is free and open to the public. Seating is limited, so guests are advised to arrive early.

A reception will follow Holt’s lecture at 4 p.m., and faculty members with the AVATAR Initiative will be available to discuss how students can take classes toward a minor in digital media starting in the Fall 2010 semester.



WHAT: AVATAR Lecture Series

WHO: John Worthington, Worthington Designz

WHEN: Monday, April 19 at 3 p.m.; reception following at 4 p.m.

WHERE: Center for Computation & Technology Training Room, 338 Johnston Hall

Free and open to the public


For more information: www.cct.lsu.edu or http://avatar.lsu.edu.

Laptop Orchestra of Louisiana to Debut Wednesday, April 14

Laptop Orchestra of Louisiana to Debut Wednesday, April 14

The Laptop Orchestra of Louisiana, a group of musicians who compose, conduct and play music using ordinary office laptop computers, will have its debut performance Wednesday, April 14 at 8 p.m. in the Claude L. Shaver Theatre, LSU Music & Dramatic Arts Building.

The ensemble will perform group pieces with up to five laptops at a time, and also will showcase some individual performances during the debut. In addition to the laptops, some of the pieces involve Nintendo “Wii Mote” controllers as virtual musical instruments.

Tickets to this event are $10, with $5 tickets for students. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis, so guests are advised to arrive early.

For more information on the concert or to purchase tickets, contact the Shaver Theatre Box Office at 225-578-3527 or visit www.cmda.lsu.edu.


WHAT: Laptop Orchestra of Louisiana Debut Performance
WHEN: Wednesday, April 14 at 8 p.m.
WHERE: Claude L. Shaver Theatre
LSU Music & Dramatic Arts Building – Dalrymple Drive
Tickets are $10, with $5 tickets for students

Media Fest at LSU

Check out Media Fest happening this month at LSU at http://www.digitalmediafest.com/schedule.asp.

RED STICK International Animation Festival - 2010

CALLING ALL ENTRIES!!

Red Stick is seeking work from students, amateurs and professionals to consider for the 2010 “Best of the Fest” competition. Red Stick will take place Nov. 10-13, 2010, and will accept Best of the Fest entries through July 1, 2010.

Red Stick International Animation Festival is seeking work in eight categories for the Best of the Fest competition:

• Animated Short Film (student and professional categories)
• Music Video
• Scientific Visualization
• Animation for Commercials
• Animation for Games
• Animation for Young Audiences
• Experimental Animation/Visual Music (student and professional categories)
• Storyboard Competition

There is no entry fee for the competition. Animations should be no longer than nine minutes, and the work must have been created within the past two years. The festival accepts 2-D, 3-D and hand-drawn animation, and participants must submit work in DVD or DV (NTSC only) format. Further details about the submission process are available at http://redstickfestival.org/entries.asp.

Participants must register their work online using the registration form available at http://redstickfestival.org/entries.asp. Participants can send materials and inquiries to Red Stick International Animation Festival – LSU, 216 Johnston Hall, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803.

The “Best of the Fest” competition is an annual part of festival events, and Red Stick jurists award a “Red Baton” to the top work in each category, announcing winners on-site during the festival. Top Best of the Fest entries will be screened throughout Red Stick for audiences to enjoy.

For more information on Red Stick, please contact the festival office at 225-389-7182 or visit www.redstickfestival.org.

Red Stick International Animation Festival
Phone: +1 225-578-8904 or +1 225-389-7182
E-mail: rsiaf@cct.lsu.edu
Web site: www.redstickfestival.org
Twitter @ RedStickFest

DIGITAL MEDIA MINOR

DIGITAL MEDIA MINOR CURRICULUM (Total 21 hours):

Two digital media minors have been approved: Digital Media-Arts (DMART) and Digital Media-Technology (DMTEC). Both are effective with the beginning of the 2010 fall semester. The DMART will be housed in the College of Art and Design and the DMTEC will be housed in the College of Engineering.

The following will be printed on the student’s transcript:

Digital Media AVATAR Arts
Digital Media AVATAR Technology

Faculty with the University’s Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research, or AVATAR, Initiative, are debuting a new academic program that will allow students to obtain an interdisciplinary minor in digital media, preparing them for careers in emerging fields such as animation, video games, electronic music and digital art.

The University approved the AVATAR Initiative in Spring 2008 as one of its multidisciplinary hiring initiatives, bringing together faculty, researchers and professionals to create a concentrated academic research program in digital media.

Faculty with the AVATAR Initiative have spent the past two years developing a program that would allow students to minor in digital media. The University approved this academic program in Fall 2009, and students will be able to declare the minor and take classes toward the degree in the Fall 2010 semester.

“Students regularly express to us an interest in working as a video game developer, animator, or other profession involving interactive digital media. We crafted the AVATAR minor to address the needs of these students as well as the needs of the digital media industry,” said Stephen David Beck, Derryl & Helen Haymon Professor in the LSU School of Music and AVATAR Initiative lead. “The faculty who are part of AVATAR Initiative have developed an interdisciplinary curricula that we feel prepares students to work in these fields and provides them with an enriching educational experience during their time at LSU.”

Students can enroll in the minor through one of two thematic tracks: an arts-oriented track through the College of Art & Design, or a technology-oriented track through the College of Engineering. Courses from computer science, electrical and computer engineering, music, art, English and mass communication are part of the curriculum, along with a new capstone course, where students from both tracks will work collaboratively on group projects.

Interested students can learn more about the program and see a list of required courses at http://avatar.lsu.edu. Students who are interested in obtaining the digital media minor should contact AVATAR Initiative Coordinator Lea Anne Couvillion at 225-578-5433 or leaanne@cct.lsu.edu.

To officially kick off the minor, AVATAR Initiative will host a series of lectures in the spring and fall semesters, bringing distinguished leaders from the field of digital media to campus, who will discuss the latest developments and help students understand the skills they need for careers in these disciplines.

AVATAR Lecture Series Information

LSU's Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research (AVATAR)
Initiative will launch the University's first minor degree program in digital media in
the Fall 2010 semester.

To help students learn what skills they need for careers in this exciting and
emerging field, AVATAR Initiative will host a series of lectures in the spring and fall
semesters, bringing professionals from various areas of digital media to campus.

The AVATAR Lecture Series speakers will discuss their own career paths in areas
such as video game design, electronic music composition, animation, digital art,
scientific visualization, and more, and advise students on what they need to learn
to get jobs in digital industries.

AVATAR Lecture Series

Spring 2010 Semester

March 25, 2010 Daryl Holt
Chief Operating Office, EA Sports Tiburon
Atchafalaya Room in LSU Student Union, 3 p.m.

April 19, 2010 John Worthington
Worthington Designz
CCT Training Room (Johnston 338), 3 p.m.

April 30, 2010 Tom Defanti
California Institute for Telecommunications and Information
Technology (Calit2) at the University of California, San Diego
CCT Training Room (Johnston 338), 1 p.m.

* Lectures are open to any interested faculty, staff or students who wish to attend.
Seating is limited, so guests are advised to arrive early.

If you are interested in minoring in digital media through AVATAR, please contact
Lea Anne Couvillion at 225-578-5433 or leaanne@cct.lsu.edu to arrange a
meeting.

More information about the minor and the AVATAR Lecture Series is available at:
http://avatar.lsu.edu.

LSU Day * Saturday, April 24 * 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.

Save the Date: LSU Day * Saturday, April 24 * 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.

Experience Your University

This year, LSU is marking its 150th anniversary. As part of that commemoration, we are proud to invite students, alumni, faculty and staff, and citizens and representatives of Louisiana to explore and experience first-hand the benefits of Louisiana’s flagship, public, research university—your university.



Join us for a free, fun-filled day of interactive exploration and discovery throughout campus, highlighted by performing arts showcases, tours, and exhibitions showing off LSU's history and achievements in athletics, research, the arts, academics, and community engagement.





Take a walk through the human body; learn the art of stage combat or improvisation; visit a petting zoo; try your hand at firefighting; meet your favorite local authors; learn how to spell your name in Chinese; plant a tree for coastal restoration; and more than 150 other experiences!



Events are subject to change. Check out www.LSUDAY.com for the most up-to-date information and plan to spend Saturday, April 24, with us!



LSU Day is part of the LSU sesquicentennial celebration and is made possible through donations from: AT&T, BlueCross BlueShield of Louisiana, Campus Federal, Raising Cane’s, Coca-Cola, Entergy, and ExxonMobil.



Interested in volunteering?

Hosting such a large event means that a lot of volunteers are needed and, as a member of the LSU community, your expertise is just what we are looking for. Volunteer opportunities include, but are not limited to: providing directions and information to guests, assisting LSU Day staff, and various other tasks. For a full list of volunteer opportunities on this exciting day, visit http://www.lsu.edu/lsu150/lsuday/volunteer.shtml for more information and to sign up.





LSU Communications & University Relations

3960 W. Lakeshore Drive

Baton Rouge, LA 70808

225-578-8654

225-578-3860 FAX

AVATAR's Stacey Simmons is awarded the 2010 Technology Award

Corridor firms dominate technology awards

The 10/12 corridor dominated the Governor's Technology Awards honoring individuals and companies in Louisiana for their innovation and progress in the past year. The winners, from 42 nominations statewide, were announced at a recent ceremony in Baton Rouge. Technology Company of the Year is NiFTv of Ruston, which brings television-style broadcasting to the Internet by developing a distributed broadcast technology that allows its viewers to broadcast to other viewers. Innovator of the Year is Louisiana Immersive Technology Enterprise of Lafayette, which helps diversify Louisiana's economy by application and technology development, testing, training and research for industry, education and government. Rising Star of the Year is obdEdge of Baton Rouge, a tech start-up that is leading the industry in the development of innovative and effective solutions to deter the deadly habit of distracted driving. Technology Leader of the Year is Stacey Simmons, Director for Economic Development at the Center for Computation & Technology at LSU, who helped bring the digital media industry to Louisiana by co-founding the Red Stick International Animation Festival and serving as its director since its inception. University Leader of the Year is Steven Ceulemans of Louisiana State University in New Orleans, who has taken a leadership role in the commercialization of local universities' world-class research.

Laptop Orchestra of Louisiana Debut Concert - April 14th

The LOLs will present their debut concert April 14, 2010 at 8 PM in the Shaver Theatre, in the Music & Dramatic Arts building on LSU's campus. This unique ensemble will present new music by Jeff Albert, Stephen David Beck, Nick Hwang, and Jeff Lipscomb, along with new realizations of music by John Cage and Thea Musgrave.

The ensemble is a project of the LSU School of Music, the CCT Lab for Creative Arts & Technologies and the AVATAR Initiative in Digital Media at LSU.

Tickets are $10, $5 for students.


Making music five laptops at a time

Date:	Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Time:	8:00pm - 10:00pm
Location:	Shaver Theatre - LSU
Street:	Music & Dramatic Arts Building
City/Town:	Baton Rouge, LA

Daryl Holt, COO of EA Sports Tiburon, to Speak with LSU Students March 25

LSU's Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research (AVATAR) Initiative, part of the LSU Center for Computation & Technology, will host a series of lectures in the spring and fall semesters, bringing professionals from various areas of digital media to campus to talk with students about what skills they need for careers in video game design, electronic music composition, animation, digital art, scientific visualization, and more.

The first AVATAR lecture will take place Thursday, March 25, featuring Daryl Holt, chief operating officer of EA Sports Tiburon Studios in Orlando, Florida. Holt will discuss his own career path in the video game industry and will advise students on what skills potential employers will expect them to have to work as game designers or developers.

Holt’s lecture will take place at 3 p.m. in the Atchafalaya Room of the LSU Student Union, and is free and open to the public. Seating is limited, so guests are advised to arrive early.

A reception will follow Holt’s lecture at 4 p.m., and faculty members with the AVATAR Initiative will be available to discuss how students can take classes toward a minor in digital media.

WHAT: AVATAR Lecture Series
WHO: Daryl Holt, COO of EA Sports Tiburon Studios
WHEN: Thursday, March 25 at 3 p.m.; reception following at 4 p.m.
WHERE: LSU Student Union, Atchafalaya Room
Free and open to the public

For more information: www.cct.lsu.edu or http://avatar.lsu.edu.

LSU Day * Saturday, April 24 * 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.

Save the Date: LSU Day * Saturday, April 24 * 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.

Experience Your University

This year, LSU is marking its 150th anniversary. As part of that commemoration, we are proud to invite students, alumni, faculty and staff, and citizens and representatives of Louisiana to explore and experience first-hand the benefits of Louisiana’s flagship, public, research university—your university.



Join us for a free, fun-filled day of interactive exploration and discovery throughout campus, highlighted by performing arts showcases, tours, and exhibitions showing off LSU's history and achievements in athletics, research, the arts, academics, and community engagement.





Take a walk through the human body; learn the art of stage combat or improvisation; visit a petting zoo; try your hand at firefighting; meet your favorite local authors; learn how to spell your name in Chinese; plant a tree for coastal restoration; and more than 150 other experiences!



Events are subject to change. Check out www.LSUDAY.com for the most up-to-date information and plan to spend Saturday, April 24, with us!



LSU Day is part of the LSU sesquicentennial celebration and is made possible through donations from: AT&T, BlueCross BlueShield of Louisiana, Campus Federal, Raising Cane’s, Coca-Cola, Entergy, and ExxonMobil.



Interested in volunteering?

Hosting such a large event means that a lot of volunteers are needed and, as a member of the LSU community, your expertise is just what we are looking for. Volunteer opportunities include, but are not limited to: providing directions and information to guests, assisting LSU Day staff, and various other tasks. For a full list of volunteer opportunities on this exciting day, visit http://www.lsu.edu/lsu150/lsuday/volunteer.shtml for more information and to sign up.

AVATAR debuts new digital program

http://www.1012corridor.com/archives/1012-corridor-weekly/latest/

AVATAR debuts new digital program

LSU students who are studying the arts or technology can now get in on the digital media revolution. The AVATAR Initiative is debuting a new academic program that allows students to earn a minor in digital media, preparing them for careers in emerging fields such as animation, video games, electronic music and digital art. LSU approved the AVATAR Initiative in 2008, and AVATAR faculty have spent the past two years developing the program. Students will be able to declare the minor and take classes toward the degree in the Fall 2010 semester. "Students regularly express to us an interest in working as a video game developer, animator, or other profession involving interactive digital media," says Professor Stephen David Beck. "We crafted the AVATAR minor to address the needs of these students as well as the needs of the digital media industry." Students can enroll in the minor through one of two tracks: an arts-oriented track through the College of Art & Design, or a technology-oriented track through the College of Engineering. Courses from computer science, electrical and computer engineering, music, art, English and mass communication are part of the curriculum, along with a new capstone course, where students from both tracks will work collaboratively on group projects. For more information, go to http://avatar.lsu.edu/.

University to offer digital media minor in fall semester

http://www.lsureveille.com/news/university-to-offer-digital-media-minor-in-fall-semester-1.2192280


University to offer digital media minor in fall semester

By Grace Montgomery

Staff Writer

|

Published: Monday, March 15, 2010

Updated: Monday, March 15, 2010

Students will soon be able to obtain an interdisciplinary minor in digital media through the University’s Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research Initiative.

A digital media minor will educate students in digital art such as video games, electronic music and animation, according to a University press release.

To promote the new minor, the AVATAR initiative will host a series of lectures throughout the upcoming fall and spring semesters given by professionals in the digital media field.

Daryl Holt, chief operating officer of EA Sports Tiburon Studios in Orlando, Fla., will speak at the first AVATAR lecture March 25.

Holt will discuss his experiences in the video game industry and give advice to students interested in game development and design.

The lecture will be held at 3 p.m. in the Atchafalaya Room of the Student Union and will be followed by a reception at 4 p.m. The event is open to the public.

The developers of the AVATAR initiative will attend the lecture to provide more information about the minor, according to the release.

Students will be able to declare and take classes for the minor beginning in the fall 2010 semester, according to the release.

Students will choose between two tracks within the minor. One will feature an art-oriented curriculum through the College of Art and Design, and the other will focus on technology through the College of Engineering.

Music, art, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, English and mass communication courses are all parts of the curriculum, according to the release.

Students from each track will be required to work together on a capstone project as part of the minor.

The AVATAR initiative was approved in spring 2008. The initiative brings together faculty and researchers in multiple fields to develop a program in digital media.

The University approved the academic program in fall 2009, according to the release.



-----
Contact Grace Montgomery at gmontgomery@lsureveille.com

Digital Program to Begin at LSU

Digital Program to Begin at LSU: http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/87735042.html

• By CHAD CALDER
• Advocate business writer
• Published: Mar 16, 2010 - Page: 4B

LSU students will be able to minor in digital media beginning with the fall semester, the result of a two-year effort by the university to prepare students for careers in emerging fields such as animation, video games, electronic music and digital art.

LSU approved the Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research Initiative in spring 2008 as one of its multidisciplinary hiring initiatives, bringing together faculty, researchers and professionals to create a concentrated academic research program in digital media.

Stephen David Beck, a professor in the LSU School of Music and leader of the AVATAR Initiative, said a week hasn’t gone by over the years the group has been working on the initiative that a student hasn’t asked if there was a gaming curriculum at the school. Also, he said, the game design class LSU has been doing with the University of Illinois at Chicago for two years and a beginning computer music course have always filled up.

“I have absolutely no doubt that this will be a very popular program,” he said.

With the exception of the capstone course at the end of the program, the classes that make up the minor are all already taught across five or six departments, including digital arts, computer programming and engineering, digital signal processing and screenwriting. The initiative even resurrected a few computer graphics courses that haven’t been taught in a while.

Beck said the curriculum will be valuable to the economy and make LSU more competitive as well, with digital media becoming more and more a part of business activity in general. He noted it is one of the top sectors pegged for development in the state’s “blue ocean” economic development strategy of targeting industries with greater potential.

Also important, he said, is that when he and others involved in the effort interviewed people in the gaming industry, they said one of the most important things is finding people who can work together with other people.

“Digital media is all about the interdisciplinary approach to solving problems,” he said, noting the classes often have computer science students, musicians, artists and computer engineers, for example, all working together on a project.

He said that while the goal is to have students join the industry, preferably at a company in-state, much of what they learn has benefits beyond the confines of the gaming world.

Students can enroll in the minor through one of two thematic tracks: an arts-oriented track through the College of Art & Design or a technology-oriented track through the College of Engineering. Courses from computer science, electrical and computer engineering, music, art, English and mass communication are part of the curriculum, along with a new capstone course, where students from both tracks will work collaboratively on group projects.

Information about the program and a list of required courses are at http://avatar.lsu.edu. Students who are interested in obtaining the digital media minor should contact AVATAR Initiative Coordinator Lea Anne Couvillion at (225) 578-5433 or leaanne@cct.lsu.edu to arrange a meeting.

To officially kick off the minor, AVATAR Initiative will host a series of lectures in the spring and fall semesters, the first taking place March 25 featuring Daryl Holt, the chief operating officer of EA Sports Tiburon Studios in Orlando, Fla.

Holt will discuss his own career path in the video game industry, and will advise students on what they need to learn if they want to pursue jobs as game developers or designers.

LSU starts AVATAR DM minor

LSU starts AVATAR digital media minor: http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/87677507.html?showAll=y&c=y

LSU students will be able to minor in digital media beginning with the fall semester of 2010, the result of a two-year effort by the university to prepare students for careers in emerging fields such as animation, video games, electronic music and digital art.

LSU approved the Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research Initiative in spring of 2008 as one of its multidisciplinary hiring initiatives, bringing together faculty, researchers and professionals to create a concentrated academic research program in digital media.

“Students regularly express to us an interest in working as a video game developer, animator, or other profession involving interactive digital media,” said Stephen David Beck, a professor in the LSU School of Music and leader of the AVATAR Initiative. “We crafted the AVATAR minor to address the needs of these students as well as the needs of the digital media industry.”

Information about the program and a list of required courses are at http://avatar.lsu.edu. Students who are interested in obtaining the digital media minor should contact AVATAR Initiative Coordinator Lea Anne Couvillion at (225) 578-5433 or leaanne@cct.lsu.edu to arrange a meeting.

To officially kick off the minor, AVATAR Initiative will host a series of lectures in the spring and fall semesters, the first taking place March 25, featuring Daryl Holt, the chief operating officer of EA Sports Tiburon Studios in Orlando, Fla.

Holt will discuss his own career path in the video game industry, and will advise students on what they need to learn if they want to pursue jobs as game developers or designers.

LSU launches digital media minor through AVATAR

LSU launches digital media minor through AVATAR

A lecture series that kicks off next week will inaugurate LSU’s AVATAR Initiative, a minor in digital media that is open to students in any major program starting in the fall. In the first lecture, COO Daryl Holt of EA Sports Tiburon in Florida will discuss his career in the video-game industry at 3 p.m., March 25, in the Atchafalaya Room of the LSU Student Union. Holt will advise students on what they need to learn in order to enter careers as game developers or designers, one of the aims the AVATAR program is designed to address. Short for Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research, the university’s program will provide two tracks for students: an arts-oriented one through the College of Art and Design and a technology-oriented one through the College of Engineering. “Students regularly express to us an interest in working as a video-game developer, animator, or other profession involving interactive digital media. We crafted the AVATAR minor to address the needs of these students as well as the needs of the digital media industry,” says Stephen David Beck, a professor in the LSU School of Music and AVATAR Initiative lead. —Todd R. Brown

Daryl Holt, COO of EA Sports Tiburon, to Speak with LSU Students March 25

Daryl Holt, COO of EA Sports Tiburon, to Speak with LSU Students March 25

BATON ROUGE – LSU's Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research (AVATAR) Initiative will host a series of lectures in the spring and fall semesters, bringing professionals from various areas of digital media to campus to talk with students about what skills they need for careers in video game design, electronic music composition, animation, digital art, scientific visualization, and more.

The first AVATAR lecture will take place Thursday, March 25, featuring Daryl Holt, chief operating officer of EA Sports Tiburon Studios in Orlando, Florida. Holt will discuss his own career path in the video game industry and will advise students on what skills potential employers will expect them to have to work as game designers or developers.

Holt’s lecture will take place at 3 p.m. in the Atchafalaya Room of the LSU Student Union, and is free and open to the public. Seating is limited, so guests are advised to arrive early.

A reception will follow Holt’s lecture at 4 p.m., and faculty members with the AVATAR Initiative will be available to discuss how students can take classes toward a minor in digital media.

WHAT: AVATAR Lecture Series
WHO: Daryl Holt, COO of EA Sports Tiburon Studios
WHEN: Thursday, March 25 at 3 p.m.; reception following at 4 p.m.
WHERE: LSU Student Union, Atchafalaya Room
Free and open to the public

For more information: www.cct.lsu.edu or http://avatar.lsu.edu.

AVATAR Initiative Launches Digital Media Minor at LSU

AVATAR Initiative Launches Digital Media Minor at LSU

Daryl Holt, EA Sports Tiburon, to speak with student about careers in gaming March 25

BATON ROUGE – Faculty with the University’s Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research, or AVATAR , Initiative, are debuting a new academic program that will allow students to obtain an interdisciplinary minor in digital media, preparing them for careers in emerging fields such as animation, video games, electronic music and digital art.

The University approved the AVATAR Initiative in Spring 2008 as one of its multidisciplinary hiring initiatives, bringing together faculty, researchers and professionals to create a concentrated academic research program in digital media.

Faculty with the AVATAR Initiative have spent the past two years developing a program that would allow students to minor in digital media. The University approved this academic program in Fall 2009, and students will be able to declare the minor and take classes toward the degree in the Fall 2010 semester.

“Students regularly express to us an interest in working as a video game developer, animator, or other profession involving interactive digital media. We crafted the AVATAR minor to address the needs of these students as well as the needs of the digital media industry,” said Stephen David Beck, Derryl & Helen Haymon Professor in the LSU School of Music and AVATAR Initiative lead. “The faculty who are part of AVATAR Initiative have developed an interdisciplinary curricula that we feel prepares students to work in these fields and provides them with an enriching educational experience during their time at LSU.”

Students can enroll in the minor through one of two thematic tracks: an arts-oriented track through the College of Art & Design , or a technology-oriented track through the College of Engineering. Courses from computer science, electrical and computer engineering, music, art, English and mass communication are part of the curriculum, along with a new capstone course, where students from both tracks will work collaboratively on group projects.

Interested students can learn more about the program and see a list of required courses at http://avatar.lsu.edu. Students who are interested in obtaining the digital media minor should contact AVATAR Initiative Coordinator Lea Anne Couvillion at 225-578-5433 to arrange a meeting.

To officially kick off the minor, AVATAR Initiative will host a series of lectures in the spring and fall semesters, bringing distinguished leaders from the field of digital media to campus, who will discuss the latest developments and help students understand the skills they need for careers in these disciplines.

The first AVATAR lecture will take place Thursday, March 25, featuring Daryl Holt, the chief operating officer of EA Sports Tiburon Studios in Orlando, Florida. Holt will discuss his own career path in the video game industry, and will advise students on what they need to learn if they want to pursue jobs as game developers or designers.

Holt’s lecture will take place at 3 p.m. in the Atchafalaya Room of the LSU Student Union, with a reception following at 4 p.m. This event is open to any students, faculty or staff who wish to attend. Seating is limited, so guests are advised to arrive early.

AVATAR Initiative faculty and staff will be available at Holt’s lecture to speak with interested students and provide more information about how they can enroll for the digital media minor.

AVATAR Lecture Series - John Worthington, Worthington Designz

AVATAR Lecture Series

Digital Media and the Personal Computer - 30 Years and Counting

Speaker: John Worthington

Date: 2010-04-19 15:00:00

Place: 338 Johnston Hall

There will be a reception with refreshments at 4:00 pm.

More Info: http://www.cct.lsu.edu/events/talks/511

CxC accepting entries for Digital Media Festival

CxC accepting entries for Digital Media Festival

http://www.lsureveille.com/news/cxc-accepting-entries-for-digital-media-festival-1.2188072

EA Games Events at LSU

* Living Expo @ LSU Union Ballroom - Wednesday, 3/10
* Battlefield 2 tournament @ LSU Student Union - Thursday, 3/11 - 6pm - 9pm
* LSU baseball game - Friday march 19th @ 6pm

AVATAR Lecture Series - Daryl Holt COO of EA Games

AVATAR Lecture Series

From Concept to Reality: Making Past, Present, and Future Video Games for EA Sports

Speaker: Daryl Holt, Chief Operating Officer

Date: 2010-03-25 15:00:00

Place: Atchafalaya Room Union

There will be a reception with refreshments at 4:00 pm.

More Info: http://www.cct.lsu.edu/events/talks/510

LSU Get Animated! Summer Camp

LSU Get Animated! Summer Camp (for high school students in the Baton Rouge Area)

Hosted by LSU's Center for Computation & Technology, Red Stick International Animation Festival and the LSU Arts, Visualization, Advanced Technologies and Research [AVATAR] Initiative

June 7-11, 2010

Location: Shaw Center for the Arts, downtown Baton Rouge (9:00 A.M.- 3:00 P.M.)

For more information: www.cct.lsu.edu/animate

LSU Get Animated! Summer Camp will work hands-on with students, teaching them basic techniques to create art for animated films. By the end of the camp, students will have worked in groups to produce an original, animated film they are welcome to submit to festivals or film competitions. The films students create during the camp will be screened at the 6th annual Red Stick International Animation Festival, Nov. 10-13 in downtown Baton Rouge.

LSU Get Animated! Summer Camp is part of the AVATAR Initiative, a LSU initiative to create a digital media academic program at the University. This camp is among the first opportunities LSU is offering that gives students a chance to learn skills for careers in animation, video game design, electronic composition, and more.

The LSU Get Animated! curriculum is based on the Red Stick Animation Festival’s successful Animation Collaboration for a Cause project, an annual event in which artists from AnimAction, a company that focuses on youth expression, work closely with school-age children to create animation about their experiences with various social issues. AnimAction projects emphasize working collaboratively and expressing creativity.

Qualifications: Baton Rouge and Surrounding Area High School Students, grades 9-12 with an interest in digital media and/or animation.

Registration & Submissions: Students wishing to register must submit 1) the registration form, 2) a short statement describing your interest in digital media and/or animation, how you are engaged in this activity already, if you are considering digital media as a career option, etc. and 3) a sample of your creative output and/or artistic ability (drawing, writing, music composition, short animation, etc.).

Fee: $250.00 registration fee. Please do not send money when registering. You will be notified if you have been accepted into the camp. At that time, your fee will be due. Students should bring their own bag lunch, sketchbook and sketch pencils.

Deadline: Submissions must be received by close of business Friday, March 19, 2010.

Submissions should be emailed to: kjones@cct.lsu.edu (fax: 225-578-8902) or mailed to: LSU CCT, Attn: Karen Jones, 216 Johnston Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803.