COURSES TAUGHT

This is a comprehensive list of courses and workshops that Tad has taught (and in most cases designed) at various universities and studios. Most recent courses are at the top of the page, which is arranged by company/institution. Future classes and events can be found at Upcoming Courses.

University of California, Santa Cruz

Foundations of Video Game Design	This required introductory course explores how video games (and games broadly) shape experiences and express ideas. Students develop novel games, interpret games, and survey related topics.
Foundations of Play	Understanding the foundations of play through reading influential texts; in-class lectures and activities; designing and playtesting games; and the ethnographies of players in both the physical world and in remote play.
Game Systems	Presents game design as the interplay of multiple interacting game systems. Surveys various game systems: movement, combat, reward, economic, logistics, quest, information visibility, narrative. Students explore systems via study, design, and play of board, card, and computer games.
Game Design Experience	Teaches the concrete skills associated with making a digital game, from start to finish. Activities include establishing a team, concepting, storyboarding, prototyping, producing, and testing a game for release. Students are organized into groups and work together to create and produce a playable game. Taught in tandem with programming-focused Game Development Experience course.
Game Design Studio I	First of a three-course capstone sequence for the computer game design program. Students work in teams to develop a comprehensive game design for a substantial computer game, including detailed storyline, level design, artistic approach, implementation technologies, and art-asset pipeline. Emphasis placed on creating novel, artistic game design concepts. Includes design reviews and formal presentations. Companion lectures cover advanced topics in game design, game programming, and software project management.
Game Design Studio II	Second of a three-course capstone sequence for the computer game design program. Students work in teams on the software design, implementation, and testing of the computer game designed in Game Design Studio I. Includes design reviews, progress reviews, and formal presentations. Companion lectures cover topics in software engineering, including design, testing, and project management. Game design and game programming also covered.
Game Design Studio III	Third of a three-course capstone sequence for the computer game design program. Students work in teams on the software design, implementation and testing of the computer game designed in courses 170 and 171. Includes progress reviews and formal presentations. Companion lectures cover topics in software engineering, including user and software testing, release engineering and project management; also covered are game design and game programming.
Camera and Lighting for Game Developers	An overview of cinematography fundamentals including camera optics, movement, composition, editing and lighting with an emphasis on application to in-game and cinematic cameras.
Professional Development for the Arts	An MFA professional art practices practicum that focuses on researching opportunities and developing practical strategies and skills to ensure success outside an academic environment.
Adventure Design	Students work together in small groups to research, prototype, playtest and develop a multi-session tabletop roleplaying adventure. Adventures will share a common setting, theme, tone and ruleset. Topics explored in the course include, but are not limited to: narrative structure, encounter design, creature design, non-player characters, mapping, level design, environmental storytelling, narrative and instructional writing.
Digital Enhancements for Tabletop Games	Students will work together to research, prototype and develop a variety of digital enhancements for tabletop games (role-playing games, tactical miniature games, boardgames, card games, etc.). Possible technologies to be explored include, but are not limited to: projected video, computer vision, natural language processing, real-time visual effects, procedural audio and music generation.
Critical Gameplay	Students will examine game mechanics, systems, loops, genre, theme, and meaning through focused analysis of a small number of tabletop games. Working in small groups, students will play, dissect, modify and remix games while writing critically about their discoveries.
Game-Based VR Learning	Students will work together as teams to research and prototype variety of virtual reality and augmented reality games to meet specific learning objectives. Each project will follow a specific design brief from a client, and will work with them throughout the process.

Cabrillo College Extension

Enter the Dungeon – Demystifying Tabletop Roleplaying Games	Whether you are new to tabletop role playing games, or you’ve played once or twice; whether you are 19 or 99; or whether you haven’t played for a long time and want to come back to the hobby, this will give you the chance to learn and play in this creative environment with a group of like minded folks. Over two three-hour sessions, you will learn the basic concepts of role playing games and having shared adventures, both as a player and as a Game Master.
Hands-On Game Design and Prototyping	A exploration of the foundations of game design. Modification, remixing, designing and playtesting card and board game prototypes over two three-hour sessions.
Star Wars Crash Course – Original Trilogy Edition	A fast-paced, three-session multimedia exploration of the cultural and cinematic influences that informed George Lucas’s original blockbuster trilogy, exploring the impact that the movies have had on our culture.

Activision|Blizzard

Game Dev 101	A five-part, hands-on workshop designed to introduce the game development process and roles to Activision\|Blizzard corporate employees new to the game industry
Game Taxonomy and Genre	A stand-alone lecture introducing some of the ways that games are categorized with emphasis on the differences between “literary genere” and “gameplay genre”
Asking for Help	An interactive workshop for game developers at King to encourage asking for, and offering help, with an emphais on “secret skills” that may not be part of a Kingster’s current role.

Riot Games

Course Development	A structured course in which Riot artists could define and refine courses which they intended to run internally for fellow developers or externally in a university setting. Topics covered included: course structure, learning outcomes, assignments and assessment.
Intro to Learning & Development	An overview of professional learning and development in a studio environment, including topics such as durable learning, feedback, mentorship, and assessment.

Blizzard Entertainment

Camera Crash Course	An intensive, 12-part lecture series covering motion picture camera physics, formats, movement, shot length and weird cameras. Visual Language of Motion Pictures – A six-part lecture covering the basics of shot composition, editing, lighting, camera placement, screen direction and cheating.
Visual Language of Motion Pictures	A six-part lecture covering the basics of shot composition, editing, lighting, camera placement, screen direction and cheating.
Story Development Program	This comprehensive program was designed to support an internal animated short program within the Cinematics team. Built around an active “writers room” format, in which students pitched and refined scripts for their proposed scripts, the program also included screenings and interviews with award-winning animated short directors, weekly short film analysis sessions, and culminated in pitching their scripts to Blizzard creative leadership.
Writing Workshops	Open to all Blizzard employees, these weekly sessions were a mix of impromptu writing from prompts, collaborative story “breaking” and other exercises designed to foster creative ideation.

Escape Studios

Introduction to Maya	A ten-session introduction the main functionality of Maya including navigating in 3D, basic modeling, animation, camera, and rendering
Introduction to Visual Effects	A project-based, hands on course for students with basic 3D and compositing skills. Topics included: storyboarding and planning, background plate photography, 2D and 3D camera tracking, modeling from reference, multi-pass lighting and compositing.
Camera and Lighting	An overview of motion picture camera physics, blocking and movement along with a basic exploration of the importance of lighting to creating, mood, space and composition

Lucasfilm Singapore

Introduction to Visual Effects	This weekly, 10-part lecture series was designed to introduce university faculty to visual effects and its history. Examples and break-downs included miniatures, compositing, vfx cinematography, matte painting, creatures, and the differences and similarities between practical and digital effects.
Practical Modelmaking	Apprentices in this one week, hands-on course, re-created a real-world electrical junction box, in 1/12 scale, using sheet styrene. Each apprentice took detailed measurements and reference photos of their subject and creates scale plans to work from. Following the completion of this project, apprentices modeled and textured their junction box in 3D using Maya,
Camera and Lighting	Taught alongside a practical, hands-on lighting course, this lecture series provided an overview of motion picture camera physics, blocking and movement along with a basic exploration of the importance of lighting to creating, mood, space and composition
Digital Production	Using examples from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and various ILM projects, this 2-hour lecture provided an overview of the digital production process used in visual effects and naimation, including development, pre-production production and post-production.
Studio Onboarding Orientation	This 2-hour presentation was designed to give new-hires an overview of Lucasfilm, its various divisions, and their history. This included examples of Lucasfilm’s legacy in film and television production, visual effects, animation, games and sound design, with special attention to franchises including Star Wars, Indiana Jones.
Star Wars Crash Course	Some of Lucasfilm Singapore’s were not very familiar with the Star Wars franchise, its history or lore. So this fast-paced, humorous talk was designed to introduce major characters, themes, influences and some deep-cuts along the way.

Savannah College of Art and Design

Previsualization and 3D Layout	Students apply their knowledge of camera, blocking and editing to create both animated 2D story reels and animated 3D layout sequences. Skills reinforced include, script and storyboard interpretation, lens choice, camera placement, perspective, continuity, and cinematic motion.
Preproduction	A project-based, hands on course to introduce students to ideation, concept design, storyboarding, and previsualization in order to prepare them for their own individual and collaborative projects.
Visual Effects Cinematography	An overview of motion picture camera physics, blocking and movement along with a basic exploration of lighting, with special attention to techniques useful in the production of visual effects. The course included hands-on, on-set demonstrations in collaboration with the film department.
Practical Visual Effects Modelmaking	In this hands-on course, students re-created a real-world USPS mailbox, in 1/12 scale, using sheet styrene. Students took detailed measurements and reference photos of their subject and created scale plans to work from. As a final project, students collaborated on the creation and photography of a large-scale miniature.
Visual Effects Concept Development	MFA students define their personal vision for a visual effects thesis project. Concentrating on the design of visual effects sequences, specific attention is directed toward the development of scripts, storyboards, shot breakdowns, animatics, technical direction documents, estimates and schedules in the planning process. As preparation for thesis work, this course is flexible with a strong emphasis on critique.
Visual Effects Studio I	In this course, undergraduate students are introduced to the preproduction phase including analysis and critique, organization and scheduling, in preparation for their Visual Effects Studio II projects.
Visual Effects Studio II	Students collaborate to produce a visual effects product from start to finish that includes analysis and critique, organization and scheduling. The goal is to create a coherent body of work expressing students’ personal artistic visions through their acquired skills.
Visual Effects Portfolio	Students are prepared for professional careers by developing a strategic self-promotion plan through investigation of current visual effects industry practices. Professional quality demo reels, résumés, and websites are created in support of career aspirations and professional development.

Academy of Art University

Introduction to Game Development	Students learn the fundamentals of game development focusing on the various disciplines and roles involved in professional video game production. They are exposed to industry-standard tools, workflows, and best practices that drive successful studios.
Game Development Senior Collaborative	Working under the guidance of professional Art Directors, Concept Artists, and Character Artists, students collaborate to create a vertical slice of a single game level. For example, a themed map for a MOBA including multiple modeled characters and selected animation cycles and representative realtime effects.
Introduction To Computer Graphics For Animation	Students explore the different disciplines that collectively contribute to computer graphics production. Students learn the basic concepts and terminology of computer graphics used in film, visual effects, games, and animation.
Previsualization and 3D Layout	Students apply their knowledge of camera, blocking and editing to create both animated 2D story reels and animated 3D layout sequences. Skills reinforced include, script and storyboard interpretation, lens choice, camera placement, perspective, continuity, and cinematic motion.
History And Technology of Visual Effects	This survey course provided an overview of the history of visual effects both practical and digital, with emphasis on the evolution of core techniques from the dawn of cinema to contemporary film and television.
Visual Effects Collaborative Project	In this multi-semester course, selected graduate and undergraduate students collaborate on all aspects of a short visual effects project. The first semester focuses on concept design, storyboarding, previsualization and testing. During the second semester, students bring this preproduction work to life from asset creation, to look development, animation, lighting and compositing. This course was often taught in conjunction with Visual Effects Cinematography, whose students would shoot plates and elements for the project.
Spaceship Design and Construction	Students apply their hard-surface modeling skills to the creation of details spaceship models of their own design. Topics covered include, creating a sense of scale, adapting to story requirements, borrowing from industrial design, applying physics, researching prior art, and building 3D models to facilitate animation, lighting and rendering.
Careers In Animation & VFX	This course, taken midway through the program, introduces students to the various roles and career paths available in animation and visual effects, to help them choose the focus of their studies and electives. Students also create their first portfolio, resume and demo reel as a container for future student and professional work.
Senior Portfolio For Animation & VFX	This companion course to Careers In Animation & VFX provides a space for students in their penultimate semester to review their body of work, identify holes and weaknesses, and work with senior faculty on a plan to elevate their portfolio in preparation for applying for jobs. Each section of this course is made up of students with a shared focus, such as character animation, modeling, compositing, or digital matte.
Visual Effects Cinematography	This hands-on course introduced students to the use of digital and film cameras, lights and various tool on stage and on location to capture background plates and various elements to be used in final composited shots. Project work for this course was often coordinated with the needs of collaborative project courses or MFA thesis projects.
Preproduction Principles	A project-based, hands on course to introduce students to ideation, concept design, storyboarding, and previsualization in order to prepare them for their own individual and collaborative projects.
Introduction to Digital Compositing	Students are introduced to compositing moving footage using layer-based tools, including keying, rotoscope, blending, tracking, and color correction.
MFA Thesis Preproduction	Graduate students conceive and refine their thesis topics while learning about preproduction, project planning and scheduling. Working one-on-one with the instructor, students prepare to present their projects at their midpoint reviews, which include a written thesis plan, concept art, character studies, storyboards, and story reels as appropriate to their visual effects, animation or modeling project.

NYU Center for Advanced Digital Applications

Making a Digital Movie

This three-week, intensive class covered all aspects of making a short, digital live-action movie with visual effects. Students came to the class with experience with 3D modeling, animation, lighting and compositing, and had access to CADA’s computer lab and resources. Students also shot footage, with permits, at various locations in Manhattan.

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