Certificate III in Media (Digital Compositing)

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* Please note fees are current till December 2009 and may change thereafter.

Overview

The Certificate III in Media (Digital Compositing) is a nationally accredited course designed to introduce students to techniques in digital composition and film post production effects using Discreet Combustion software.

The course teaches students fundamental skills in foreground/background composition, compositing in a 3D workspace, render passes, special effects (fog, rain and blur), motion tracking, stabilising film footage, colour correction, greenscreen editing techniques and particle systems such as fire, rain, smoke and explosions.

For examples of work created during the Certificate III in Media (Digital Compositing) course, click here.

Structure of the course

The Certificate III in Media (Digital Compositing) is made up of the modules in the table below. You may enrol in all modules or you may opt to enrol in each module separately. If you opt to enrol in the whole course the cost will be $1200, a saving of $75 compared to enrolment in each module separately.

Modules	Module Name	Hours involved	Cost
Module 1	Introdction to combustion, foreground & background composition, colour correction and particle effects	35hrs	$425.00
Module 2a (for 3D artists)***	Compositing and computer graphics, 3DS Max render elements, setting up a 3D scene for rendering in passes, integrating 3D into combustion	35hrs	$425.00
Module 2b (for film makers)***	Compositing for the film makers, stabilising and tracking footage, wire removal and extracting mattes from green/blue screen footage.	35hrs	$425.00
Module 3	Production. In this module, students apply knowledge learnt throughout the course to develop a short animation/film project	30hrs	$425.00
	TOTAL	100hrs	$1275.00

* for individual module enrolment
** an additional 20 hours will be employed as directed by the tutor in self-directed creative and research activities
*** Students can choose to complete either Module 2a OR 2b, depending on their interests & previous skills, to complete the Certificate III course.

Tutorials for the Certificate III in Media (Digital Compositing) are mostly delivered online. Due to the size of some files, additional course material will also be posted to students on CD-ROM.

Course Costs

Total course fees $1275 ($1200 if enrolling in all 3 module groups at once). This cost does not include software requirements.

Pre-requisites

For Module 2a, some experience using 3D Studio Max is required. For Module 2b, experience using a digital video camera or digital still camera is required.

Software & Hardware requirements

Students will require the following to complete the online course:

• Discreet Combustion 4
• Adobe Photoshop 5.5+ or Gimp (free from www.gimp.org)
• Adobe PDF reader, free download from www.adobe.com
• Word processing software (MS Word, OpenOffice, etc)
• CD/DVD writer (optional)
• Video editing software (Adobe Premier, Ulead Media Studio or similar)
• For Module 2A Only, 3D Studio Max 7,8 or 9
• For Module 2B Only, a Digital Video Camera or Digital Still Camera

Tutorials are written specifically to address the software listed above. Unfortunately we cannot support students using different software from those listed.

Please note that most of the software required for the course is available as academic or student versions, at significantly lower costs. Discreet Combustion, 3D Studio Max and Adobe Photoshop are available online from Storm FX, www.stormfx.com.au. Ulead Video Studio, Internet Explorer and word processing software (MS Word, OpenOffice etc) are available from most software retailers.

How to Apply

Download the application form here

* Please note fees are current till December 2009 and may change thereafter.