New York University Tisch School of the Arts Tech Art Studio (GAMES-GT 205) Spring 2025 1/21/25 - 5/6/25 11:00 AM - 1:45 PM, M W 370 Jay St Room 313
Instructor: Ramsey Nasser <rn47@nyu.edu> TA: Oyku Yamakoglu <oy2046@nyu.edu>
Tech Art is shorthand for realtime computer graphics used for visual effects in video games and other interactive software. Tech Art Studio is an introduction to the tricks, techniques, theory, and practice that go into pulling off these effects. The goal is to empower students to be able to turn concepts and mockups and ideas into running, high performance code by giving them an intuition for how computer graphics work at a fundamental level. We will combine working at a low-level to learn from first principles with working in conventional game engines and taking advantage of their ecosystems and conventions.
The class has a technical component, focusing on the programming and problem solving that goes into executing realtime visual effects. This is is complemented by the studio component wherein designs are critiqued and aesthetic sensibilities are developed.
At the completion of this course, students will be able to:
The course meets twice per week.
By appointment.
The lecture portion of class will introduce the necessary concepts to work with the guided exercises.
The assignments will comprise weekly challenges based on the guided exercises, detailed below. The focus of the assignment will be the creative implementation of the concepts covered in lecture, allowing students to develop tools for their personal workflows while inspiring their peers.
At the beginning of each class, students will discuss readings assigned the week before and briefly showcase their work from previous weeks.
Students will submit all work via Google Drive. Entire Unity project files SHOULD NOT be submitted. Instead, the relevant C# scripts, shaders, 3D models, textures, and exported Unity packages will be included as a SINGLE ZIP FILE. Additionally, unless instructed otherwise, students will be expected to submit documentation in the form of a single paragraph write up of the projects, and GIF files/video links. Alternatively, a link to a portfolio containing said documentation is also acceptable.
| Week | Date | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | 1/22 | Introduction |
| 02 | 1/27 | The GPU Pipeline, GLSL Hello World, 2D SDF |
| 03 | 2/03 | Textures and Sampling Effects |
| 04 | 2/10 | Geometry, Loading GLTF, Vertex Shader Manipulation |
| 05 | 2/18 | 3D SDF, Matcaps |
| 06 | 2/24 | Particle Systems |
| 07 | 3/03 | Render Textures and Post Processing |
| 08 | 3/10 | Work Day |
| 09 | 3/17 | Midterm Crit |
| 10 | 3/24 | Spring Break |
| 11 | 3/31 | Unity Materials |
| 12 | 4/07 | Unity Post Processing |
| 13 | 4/14 | Unity Coroutines |
| 14 | 4/21 | Unity VFX Graph |
| 15 | 4/28 | Work Day |
| 16 | 5/05 | Final Crit |
Attending and arriving on time to all class sessions is required and expected. If you will be missing a class due to illness, or unavoidable personal circumstances, you must notify your instructor in advance for the absence to be excused.
Unexcused absences and being late to class will lower your final grade. Three unexcused absences will lower your final grade by a full letter. Each subsequent unexcused absence will lower another letter grade. Two tardies will count as one unexcused absence. Arriving more than 15 minutes late to class will also count as an unexcused absence. If an ongoing medical situation will make attending class on time difficult for you, please visit the Moses Center at NYU and they can work with you and your instructor on a solution. Contact the Moses Center at mosescsd@nyu.edu or (212) 998-4980.
The final grade for the class will be calculated as follows:
| Participation | 20% |
| Final Project | 20% |
| Weekly Assignments | 60% |
Participation is graded on a weekly basis. Students are expected to participate in the critiques, lectures, and exercises. Each assignment will be graded on a point scale, and these points will be added up to determine the final letter grade, according to the following:
| Range | Grade |
|---|---|
| 93-100 | A |
| 90-92 | A- |
| 88-89 | B+ |
| 83-87 | B |
| 80-82 | B- |
| 77-79 | C+ |
| 73-76 | C |
| 70-72 | C- |
| 67-69 | D+ |
| 63-66 | D |
| 62 or less | F |
The goal of the assignments is to challenge you and stretch your brain. As such they are assessed primarily in terms of effort and ambition. While you should always try and make things work, a broken assignment is preferred to a missing assignment.
Starting Spring 2024 NYU is moving away from ‘Midterm Grades’ and using a new ‘Midterm Progress’ system. These evaluations will take place in week 7-8 of the semester. You will receive one of three progress statuses:
| Strong Progress | Satisfactory Progress | Concerns about Progress |
|---|---|---|
| You are following the class well and producing good work, on time. You’re engaged in class. | You are following the class well, and doing the necessary work, but may be missing smaller assignments and less engaged in class. | You have not completed or are showing no progress on at least one major assignment and have multiple unexcused absences. |
Plagiarism is not allowed in the class. Presenting someone else’s work as your own and copying sources without proper attribution can be a very serious offense. Confirmed plagiarized work can result in failing the assignment; depending on the seriousness and deliberateness, it could also mean failing the course. For more information on what is and is not plagiarism, please read: http://nyu.v1.libguides.com/friendly.php?s=plagiarism.
This includes code. You are free to use the Internet and peers for assistance, but you are required to be able to demonstrate understanding of how and why the code functions as it does. Do not take this lightly. If you do not understand what plagiarism means, please do not hesitate to ask. Please read NYU’s statement of Academic Integrity: http://guides.nyu.edu/c.php?g=276562&p=1844738.
Your health and safety are a priority at NYU. If you experience any health or mental health issues during this course, we encourage you to utilize the support services of the 24/7 NYU Wellness Exchange 212-443-9999. Also, all students who may require an academic accommodation due to a qualified disability, physical or mental, please register with the Moses Center 212-998-4980. Please let your instructor know if you need help connecting to these resources.
Tisch School of the Arts is dedicated to providing its students with a learning environment that is rigorous, respectful, supportive and nurturing so that they can engage in the free exchange of ideas and commit themselves fully to the study of their discipline. To that end Tisch is committed to enforcing University policies prohibiting all forms of sexual misconduct as well as discrimination on the basis of sex and gender. Detailed information regarding these policies and the resources that are available to students through the Title IX office can be found by using this link. https://www.nyu.edu/about/policies-guidelines-compliance/equal-opportunity/title9.html