In this 12 month portion of the diploma in visual effects, students learn Pre- Production skills followed by Computer Graphics and Imagery, Motion Graphics and 3D Animation fundamentals using Autodesk Maya. This sets a foundation for the students to pick a specialization track of their choice and pursue a dedicated study which turns them into a specialist.

These 8 Month Career Specialization tracks are designed to propel your skills to the next level. These tracks have been carefully designed to address to the unique demands of the industry. We offer 7 Career Specialization tracks as follows:

1. CG Asset Development | Modeling & Texturing: In this track, students learn advanced level skills in 3D Modeling, Digital Sculpting & Integration, Shading & Texturing. As a part of the diploma in visual effects, the study in this track also involves research, observation and a practical project based approach which ensures that the students develop an all-around skill and become specialists. The software components of this track include Autodesk Maya and Pixologic Z-Brush. At the end of the track, students create a demo reel which is graded internally before being sent for our integrated campus placement drives which are organized throughout the year.

2. CG Asset Development | Texturing, Lighting & Rendering: In this track, students learn advanced level skills in Shader development, texture painting, UV Layouts, Lighting, Rendering in Passes and Bringing it all together, Managing Rendering in 3ds max & Maya. As a part of the diploma in visual effects, the study in this track also involves research, observation and a practical project based approach which ensures that the students develop an all-around skill and become specialists. At the end of the track, students create a demo reel which is graded internally before being sent for our integrated campus placement drives which are organized throughout the year.

3. Rigging & Animation: In this track, students focus on Animation, especially Character Animation. Beginning right from an in-depth study of traditional animation and going all the way of up to developing acting skills and pure character animation (includes Character Rigging). This track involves in-depth study and analysis of characters, motions, timing, developing a character’s animation style and approaching it from the POV of production. The software components of this track include Autodesk 3ds max & Maya. At the end of the track, students create a demo reel which is graded internally before being sent for our integrated campus placement drives which are organized all throughout the year.

4. Compositing & Post FX: In this unique visual effects oriented career track, students get to learn about the visual effects industry in-depth. Thereafter, students learn about Cameras and Principal Photography for VFX, Matchmoving using The Pixel Farm’s PFTrack and Rotoscoping within a variety of environments such as AfterEffects, Fusion, Nuke and Silhouette/Mocha, Paint & Cleanup, Digital Compositing using Fusion & Nuke, Matte Painting Development and Camera Projection. Top everything with Assignments, Activities & More.

5. 3D Visual Effects: In this unique visual effects oriented career track, students get to learn about the visual effects industry in-depth. Thereafter, students learn about Cameras and Principal Photography for VFX, Matchmoving basics using The Pixel Farm’s PFTrack, Digital Compositing Basics using Fusion & Nuke, Particles & Dynamics using 3ds max and Maya and Hydrodynamics with Realflow. We’ve even included a handful of top notch plugins in both 3ds max and Maya to create this the most advanced Visual Effects course in India. Top everything with Assignments, Activities & More.

6. Generalist Track: The generalist track covers Autodesk 3ds max and Maya in greater detail from all aspects of production, be it Modeling, Texturing, Lighting, Rigging, Animation & Rendering. This track is designed for those who want a taste of all aspects of production without specializing in a macro skill to expand their general employability.

7. Architectural Pre-Visualization: This is an on-demand track and is designed to develop an expertise in creating photorealistic stills and animation for the Architectural pre-visualization industry.

8. Elective | CG Rendering Specialization

Description: 3D Animation & Visual Effects using Autodesk Maya [4 months]

This module introduces the students to 3D Animation & Visual Effects techniques using Autodesk Maya where they stand to taste the sheer power of this application and understand the various nuances that go into creating an animated masterpiece. This module sets the ground for specialization tracks to follow.

Description: 3D Animation & Visual Effects using Autodesk 3ds max [2 months]

This module introduces the students to 3D Animation & Visual Effects techniques using Autodesk 3ds max where they stand to taste the sheer power of this application and understand the various nuances that go into creating an animated masterpiece. This module sets the ground for specialization tracks to follow.

Description: Generalist Training using 3ds max and Maya [6 months @ 3 Lectures/week]

– Importance & Role of a Generalist in Industry
– Project : Create & Develop a Complete CG Shot – Script to Screen
– Assignments : Pre Production
– Beginning with an Idea to Story to Script
– Designing & Developing : Characters & BGs & Props
– Understanding Film Grammar & Developing a Storyboard
– Pre-Visualization : Creating An Animatics with Basic Audio
– Assignments : Production
– Modeling : Characters | BG Sets | Props | Misc. Assets
– Modeling : Advanced Details – Digital Sculpting
– UV Layout :All The Assets
– Rigging : Character Rigging Setups
– Rigging : Skinning & Animation Control Setups
– Animation : 3D Animatics – Basic Animation Blocking
– Animation : Animating Shot by Shot in Stages
– Animation : Refining Shots
– Scene Setup : Preparing Shots for Rendering -3D Layers
– Texturing : Basic Texture Maps Setup
– Basic Light Setup & Advanced Texture Maps – Digital Texture Painting – Advanced Shading : Mental Ray Shaders Setup
– Applying 3D Effects Animation -Dynamics & Particles
– Final Light Setup for Shots
– Assignment : Post Production
– Composition Setup -Template for the Final Video Output
– Compositing, Render Passes & Blend Modes
– Applying Post Effects & Rendering Shots
– Aligning Render Shots & Audio Sync
– Final Video Edit – Final Media Release

– Revisiting Fundamentals of Perspective
– Drafting Shapes & Forms : Props
– Drafting Shapes & Forms : BG layouts
– Revisiting Fundamentals of Anatomy
– Drafting Shapes & Forms : Humans
– Drafting Shapes & Forms : Animals
– Revisiting Fundamentals of Sculpting
– Sculpting Shapes & Forms : Props
– Sculpting Shapes & Forms : Characters
– Revisiting Fundamentals of Graphics
– Preparing Model Sheets
– Drawing Guidelines & Shapes for Model Sheets
– Creating Digital Textures Maps
– Capturing Real Life Textures
– Final Assignments : Prop
– Modeling :Basic Block
– Modeling :Mid Level Details
– Modeling : Advanced Level Details – Digital Sculpting
– UV Layout & Basic Texture Maps Setup
– Texturing : Advanced Texture Painting & Sculpting
– Texturing : Mental Ray Shaders Setup & Rendering
– Compositing Render Passes & Post Effects
– Final Asset Turntable Production
– Final Assignments : BG – Interior | Exterior | Landscape
– Final Assignments : Characters – Human | Animal | Creature
– Modeling : Basic Body Blocking
– Advanced Texturing & Shading Properties & Basic Rendering
– Advanced Mental Ray Shaders Setup & Advanced Rendering
– Case Studies : National & International

Total Duration: 8 months
Format: 3 lectures per week (2 Hours/lecture) + supervised assignments throughout the week
Skill Sets Acquired for Job Profile: 3D Modeler –BG & Props, 3D Modeler – Characters, Texture Artist

– Revisiting Fundamentals of Perspective & Forms
– Drafting Shapes & Forms
– Understanding & Working with Color Principles
– Understanding 3D Forms via Still Life – B&W
– Understanding 3D Forms via Still Life – Color
– Revisiting Fundamentals of Photographing Details
– Objects & Its Details
– Places & Its Details
– Characters & Their Details
– Revisiting Fundamentals of Texture & Light
– Light Setups – Props/Objects
– Light Setups – Places in Various Light Conditions
– Light Setups – Characters in Various Light Conditions
– Revisiting Fundamentals of Graphics
– Creating & Composing Various Digital Textures
– Creating & Composing Textures from Real Life Objects
– Enhancing Texture & Details
– Final Assignments : Texture | Shading | Light Setups – Props
– Basic Light Setups & Basic Rendering
– Advanced Light Setups & Advanced Rendering
– Basic Texture Maps Layouts
– Advanced Texture Maps Layouts
– Rendering & Passes
– Render Passes Composition & Effects
– Final Asset Presentation Video
– Final Assignments : Texture | Shading | Light Setups – BG Exterior
– Model Checkup & Optimization
– UV Layout : Creating UV Sets
– Texturing : Assigning Basic Texture Maps
– Basic Light & Advanced Shading Properties & Rendering Setup
– Advanced Light & Rendering Setup & Rendering Passes
– Advanced Mental Ray Shaders & Rendering Setup
– Re-Lighting & Mental Ray Rendering & Advanced Passes Setup
– Compositing Passes & Post Effects
– Final Video Production
– Final Assignments : Texture | Shading | Light Setups – BG Interior
– Final Assignments : Texture | Shading | Light Setups – Characters
– UV Layout : Full Body & Clothing & Accessories
– Texture : Creating & Painting Texture Maps
– Basic Light & Advanced Shading Properties & Basic Rendering
– Advanced Light & Shading & Render Passes Setup
– Advanced Mental Ray Shaders & Render Passes Setup
– Final Asset Turntable Video Production

Total Duration: 8 months
Format: 3 lectures per week (2 Hours/lecture) + supervised assignments throughout the week
Skill Sets Acquired for Job Profile: 3D Texture Artist & Lighting Artist

– Introduction to The Process of Animation
– Understanding Principles of Animation
– Working with Animation Fundamentals – Obstacles
– Acting Workshop
– Character Animation : Walk | Run | Jump
– Character Animation Body Mechanics : Upper Body | Lower Body | Head & Hands
– Character Animation Fundamentals : Facial Expressions
– Character Animation Fundamentals : Lip Sync & Dialogues
– Character Animation Fundamentals : Character & Prop
– Final Assignments -Human
– Developing an Idea for the Animation Shot
– Thumb nailing Basic Action Plan & Video Referencing
– Basic Blocking Full Body Action & Sound
– Refining Full Body Action & Sound
– Animating Facial Expressions
– Animating Lip Sync & Dialogues
– Enhancing with Secondary Animations – Accessories / Clothing/ Etc
– Final Assignments -Animal
– Enhancing with Secondary Animations – Tail / Ears / Etc
– Final Assignments -Mechanical
– Thumbnailing Basic Action Plan
– Basic Blocking Main Parts & Sound
– Refining Animation & Sound Sync (Optional)
– Enhancing with Secondary Animations – Parts / Accessories /Etc
– Final Assignments : Rigging – Props
– Final Assignments : Rigging – Mechanical
– Final Assignments : Rigging – Basic Character Controls
– Final Assignments : Rigging – Advanced Character Controls
– Final Assignments : Rigging – Animal
– Case Studies

Total Duration: 8 months
Format: 3 lectures per week (2 hrs/lecture) + supervised assignments throughout the week
Skill Sets Acquired for Job Profile: Rigger & Character Animator

– A Look Back in Time | Evolution of Visual Effects
– Cameras 101
– The Visual Effects Process
– Matchmoving Basics
– Camera Match in 3D
– PFTrack | Basics
– PFTrack | Advanced
– Matchmoving Lab
– History & Technique of Rotoscopy
– Rotoscoping using Adobe After Effects
– Basics of Eyeon Fusion
– Rotoscoping using Eyeon Fusion
– Basics of The Foundry Nuke
– Rotoscoping using The Foundry Nuke
– Rotoscoping in Mocha & Silhouette
– Paint & Cleanup using Adobe Photoshop & Fusion/Nuke
– Tips and Tricks to speed up your workflow
– Rotoscoping for 2D – 3D Conversion
– Digital Compositing Basics
– Compositing with Eyeon Fusion
– Compositing with The Foundry Nuke
– Matte Painting Development
– E-On VuexStreamBootcamp
– Camera Projection & Mapping in a Compositing Environment
– Integrating Particles & Dynamics Effects
– Set Extensions
– Assignments & Presentations

Total Duration: 8 months
Format: 3 lectures per week (2 hrs/lecture) + supervised assignments throughout the week
Skill Sets Acquired for Job Profile: Rotoscoping Artist, Matchmoving Artist, Cleanup Artist, Matte Painter, Compositor

– A Look Back in Time | Evolution of Visual Effects
– Cameras 101
– The Visual Effects Process
– Matchmoving Basics
– Camera Match in 3D
– PFTrack | Basics – Basics – Intermediate | Eyeon Fusion
– Basics – Intermediate | The Foundry Nuke
– Camera Projection & Mapping in 3ds Max & Maya
– E-On VuexStreamBootcamp – Introduction to Particles & Dynamics using Autodesk 3ds max
– Particle Flow | Basics – Advanced
– Using PFTools Box 2
– Using Thinkbox Frost
– Using Krakatoa
– Digital Destruction using Rayfire
– Digital Pyrotechnics using FumeFX
– Introduction to Particles & Dynamics using Autodesk Maya
– Fluid Effects
– nParticles and the nDynamics System
– Digital Destruction using PullDownIt Pro
– Using nCloth
– Hydrodynamics using Realflow
– Rendering 101 for Visual Effects
– Bringing it all together
– Assignments & Presentations
– Camera Projection & Mapping in a Compositing Environment
– Integrating Particles & Dynamics Effects
– Set Extensions

Total Duration :8 months
Format: 3 lectures per week (2 hrs/lecture) + supervised assignments throughout the week
Skill Sets Acquired for Job Profile: Particles & Visual Effects Artist, CG Cloth Specialist, CG Hair & Fur Specialist, Compositor.

– Importance & Role of a Generalist in Industry
– Project : Create & Develop a Complete CG Shot – Script to Screen
– Assignments : Pre Production
– Beginning with an Idea to Story to Script
– Designing & Developing : Characters & BGs & Props
– Understanding Film Grammar & Developing a Storyboard
– Pre-Visualization : Creating An Animatics with Basic Audio
– Assignments : Production
– Modeling : Characters | BG Sets | Props | Misc. Assets
– Modeling : Advanced Details – Digital Sculpting
– UV Layout :All The Assets
– Rigging : Character Rigging Setups
– Rigging : Skinning & Animation Control Setups
– Animation : 3D Animatics – Basic Animation Blocking
– Animation : Animating Shot by Shot in Stages
– Animation : Refining Shots
– Scene Setup : Preparing Shots for Rendering -3D Layers
– Texturing : Basic Texture Maps Setup
– Basic Light Setup & Advanced Texture Maps – Digital Texture Painting
– Advanced Shading : Mental Ray Shaders Setup
– Applying 3D Effects Animation -Dynamics & Particles
– Final Light Setup for Shots
– Assignment : Post Production
– Composition Setup -Template for the Final Video Output
– Compositing, Render Passes & Blend Modes
– Applying Post Effects & Rendering Shots
– Aligning Render Shots & Audio Sync
– Final Video Edit – Final Media Release

Total Duration: 6 months
Format: 3 lectures per week (2 hrs/lecture) + supervised assignments throughout the week
Skill Sets Acquired for Job Profile: Animation & Visual Effects Generalist | Team Lead | Supervisor

– Project Setup
– Reference Layouts Setup
– Scene Setup -Measurements | Grid | Shortcuts | Etc
– Modeling : Basic Blocks Structure
– Modeling : Supporting Structural Elements
– Modeling : Accessories Room by Room
– UV Layout : Structure & All The Elements
– Texturing : Basic Shader & Texture Maps
– Texturing : Environment Setup HDRI
– Texturing : Advanced Shaders & Texture Maps Setup
– Camera Setup & Rendering Passes
– Animation : Walk Through Setup – Vray :Shaders & Texture Maps Setup
– Vray : Environment & Render Setup
– Vray : Render & Render Passes
– Compositing : Render Passes & Post Effects
– Video Edit : Audio & Video Sync
– Final Media Release

Total Duration: 6 months
Format: 3 lectures per week (2 hrs/lecture) + supervised assignments throughout the week
Skill Sets Acquired for Job Profile: 3D Architectural -Modeling | Texturing & Lighting Artist

Description: Non Linear Editing & DVD Authoring [3 months]

In this module, students are introduced to Non Linear Editing using Adobe Premiere followed by Media Encoding for various Web & Broadcast Formats using the Adobe Media Encoder. Students then move on to Editing on the Apple Final Cut Pro platform. Once they are able to learn the nuances of Editing, we move on to DVD Authoring with Adobe Encore DVD where students learn to create interactive DVD playback menus and organizing videos as chapters and playback sequences leading to creating a master DVD.

Description: Motion Graphics using Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional [3 weeks]

This module introduces the students to Motion Graphics techniques using After Effects CS3. As a result, students get to understand frame size, composition, frame rates, motion, key framing and basic timing as well as a good deal about colour sense.

Description: Digital Compositing [2 months]

This module introduces the students to Digital Compositing:
a. Render Layers, Compositing & Colour Correction using Adobe After Effects CS3
b. Node Based Digital Compositing using Eye on Fusion Need More

Description: Introduction to Digital Compositing with Nuke

In this module, you are introduced to the Nuke compositing environment as you take your first few steps at understanding the User Interface, building trees, viewing and using clips, animation and stills. You also learn how to use Channels in Nuke, reformatting footage and stills and merging operations. The module ends by a look at drawing shapes, colour correction basics and image transformations.

Description: Intermediate Compositing Skills with Nuke

After a firm grip on Nuke, we move on to more serious techniques such as colour management, expressions, image analysis, image math’s, motion tracking, warping and keying including the innovative IBK keyer. We end this module by jumping into Nuke’s 3D System.

Description: Advanced Compositing with Nuke

We’re finally witnessing the real power of Nuke by now and warming up to a shockwave of advanced techniques such as using 3D geometry and the bi-cubic card, using materials and lights, pan and tile shots to full blown 3D production shots including set extensions and finally witnessing Nuke’s recently added stereoscopic workflow.

The Foundation module equips you with skills in three unique domains namely Graphic Design, Web Design and Motion Graphics. At each stage, the emphasis is on building professional skills that will empower you to kick start your career even before hitting Level 2. At the end of Level 1, students can actually start working as Junior Artists and Designers.

Introduction Stage

The first stage of this programme brings enlightenment about the following industries :

1. Graphic Design & Print Technology
2. Web Design, Technology & New Media
3. Digital Media & Entertainment

Fundamentals of Graphic Design & Print Technology

This module introduces you to the basics of Graphic Design and Print Technology. You will learn about creating your own graphics as well as enhancing and manipulating existing images and artwork. In addition to this you will learn about layouts and designing elements in popular software applications.

1. Fundamentals of Graphic Design with Adobe Photoshop
2. Vector Art & Graphic Design using Adobe Illustrator
3. Graphic & eMedia Design Layouts using Adobe InDesign

Fundamentals of Web Design

This module introduces you to the art of Web Design & Development. At the end of this module, you would be able to design and host a basic website.

1. Elements of Web Page Design & Layout
2. Basics of HTML & CSS
3. Using elementary Javascript for enhancing interaction
4. Designing a Website using HTML, CSS & Javascript
5. Using WordPress and Setting up a WordPress Site

Fundamentals of Motion Graphics & 3D

This module introduces you to the art of creating Motion Graphics and 3D. At the end of this module, you would be able to create title animations, montages, 3D Animated graphics and lots more.

1. Non Linear Editing using Adobe Premiere
2. Motion Graphics using Adobe After Effect
3. 3D Graphics and Animation Basics using Autodesk 3ds max

Track 1 | Web Technologies & Design

Element 1 | The Evolution of the World Wide Web & The Next Revolution

This module introduces you to the World Wide Web and encourages you to look into the future as we trace progress from the first few days of the Internet to an understanding of standards and technologies. We will take a look at the processes that go into building a great web presence and how recent developments are shaping the future on the Web. We look at devices and platforms where your website and/or application needs to work and key strategies to get there successfully. Additionally, we will revisit essential rules of Programming as a primer to get started with the next level of development.

Element 2 | Front End Website, Application Design & Development

The purpose of this module is to train the student on all technologies associated with developing a state of the art front end interface for a website, a web application etc. Using Web 2.0 conventions, we’ll be using HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript to craft highly responsive and intelligent User Interfaces that not only stand out but are active and dynamic in use and application. So, whether you’re looking at becoming a User Interface (UI) designer, a Web Designer, a Web Application Front End Developer or a Software Design engineer, this module will get you up to speed with all the relevant skills needed to achieve an apex career position. This module is broken down into the following capsules.

A. The Presentation Layer & Its Importance

In this capsule, we examine, we examine the importance of User Interface and Experience development. We then look at the following topics :

• The Evolution of HTML5
• Browsers 101
• The Document Object Model (DOM)
• Web 2.0
• HTTP/HTTPS/FTP/SFTP
• The Importance of Color
• Placement of Key Elements

B. Typography for the Web

Just as in Graphic Design & Print, great typography plays a critical role in setting the right visual tone for your readable content. We look at Imageless typography, Web Fonts and how you can integrate them into your project.

C. UXD | User Experience Design

Designing a User Interface (UI) for a website, an application or even a game requires an indepth understanding of human psychology and various other contributing factors. We take an indepth look into the following factors & processes here and come up with unique and intuitive User Interfaces in this module.

• Usability
• Accessibility
• Information Architecture Design
• Interaction Design
• The Human Psychology | Human Computer Interaction
• Ergonomics
• UI Design
• From Concept to Delivery
• Designing UX for Websites, Web Applications, Mobile Apps and more…
• Designing Elements such as Icons, Logos, Infographics

D. Setting up your development environment

To actually get started with building web apps and sites, you need to setup a development environment first. We create our development sandbox using the most popular server + scripting + database combination of Apache + MySQL + PHP with the WAMP stack. We also look at configuration options for the Apache server as well as the numerous tricks with the .htaccess file.

E. HTML5 & CSS3

Now that you’re set up for design and coding, we will jump straight into HTML5 and CSS3 and create magic. There is a lot to learn here as we touch upon almost everything that goes into creating a rock solid HTML5+CSS3 front end.

• Using Editors/Tools
• Using GITHUB | The X1 programme is hosted on GITHUB and access is provided to all students exclusively for all code samples, project and assignments.
• HTML5 vs. HTML 4.0/XHTM
• CSS3
• DOM Revisited
• Browser Engines & Compatibility
• New Features of HTML5
• Design & Code in HTML5 & CSS3
• Animation
• Responsive Web Design | Desktop, Mobile, Tablet and Large Screen TVs
• Using Boilerplates, Frameworks
• Using LESS
• Using Modernizr
• Best Practices and Tips’n’Tricks
• Websockets

F. Landing Pages for Online Marketing

Landing pages are essential for online marketing such as campaigns on Google Adwords. However, a lot goes into creating a really worthy landing page. We dive straight in and create a handful of landing pages for various products and services and examine the why and the how of a great online marketing campaign.

• Key Components of a Landing Page
• Effective Landing Pages
• Tracking Conversions
• Security Issues and Solutions

G. Javascript Time

Javascript is the engine that drives applications and logic within your web browser. Over the past few years, Javascript has seen meteoric rise in usage scenarios, owing to its unique capabilities and relative ease of use. As a result, with HTML5 & CSS3, Javascript has emerged as the binding logic that has resulted in modern applications being moved from the server to the client side with the server only being used for data push and pull. In this module, we’ll cover Javascript in extensive detail as we go right back in time and see how it all began to what you can do with it today.

• A Lesson in History
• Variables, Flow Control & Structure
• Objects & Arrays
• Functions & Prototypes
• Error Management
• Object Oriented Programming
• Regular Expressions (REGEX)
• Event Listeners
• JSON
• Cookies
• AJAX
• Unit Testing with Jasmine

H. Using Javascript Libraries & Plugins

Javascript is awesome, but what is even better are the tons of libraries that are aimed at creating rapid solutions. For instance, the uber popular JQuery library comes with thousands of useful features that save you from creating functionality yourself and streamlines application development. Moreover, there are plugins which extend JQuery itself! We will examine JQuery and lots more in this module.

• JQuery & its Plugins
• Animation
• Using JQuery UI
• Interacting with a Backend Server
• Lots more…

I. Web Application Design & Development

Today, more and more applications are moving into the browser and the cloud. This means that you can now create full blown applications, just as how developers created for Windows and Linux back in the middle ages, only now they run in your web browser. So, all you need is access to the internet and you’re good to go. This paradigm shift in how applications are created and deployed has spawned a whole new movement – Into the Cloud. In this module we will examine how apps are structured, how they are built and how the cloud fits into this picture.

• Conceptualizing an App
• From Concept to Execution
• Security Concerns & Solutions

J. Designing Themes for WordPress

WordPress is a popular blog and content management system used worldwide. Themes are templates which describe the presentation of the site and these can be hand crafted. We’ll be creating our own templates here.

K. Project : Designing a Web Application Frontend

Element 3 | Backend Functionality Design, Coding & Deployment

Once we’ve created our functional front end, its time to build the server side functionality so that we can interact with the database and perform functions that make our application alive, agile and smart.

A. Server Side Coding with PHP & MySQL

PHP and MySQL represent the most widely used combination of server side scripting language & database engine. And we’re not just skimming over the basics here, we’ll go deep down to the core of this server side ecosystem and create logic that pairs with our frontend apps and websites.

• Fundamentals of PHP | Syntax, Variables, Control Flow, Conditionals
• Functions & Objects
• Arrays and Array Operations
• Classes
• Handling Date & Time
• File Handling
• Error Handling
• Session/Cookie Management
• Security Issues such as Javascript Injection attacks, XSS etc.
• Introduction to MySQL
• SQL Fundamentals – Intermediate Skills
• Database Design
• Relationships & Transactions
• MySQL Functions
• Using phpMyAdmin
• Getting everything to work together
• Best Practices & Lots more…

B. PHP Frameworks & MVCs with Codeigniter & Laravel

Frameworks are fun. They turn coding nightmares into a highly enjoyable exercise. By dividing logic, presentation and database transactions into separate modules, frameworks like Codeigniter and Laravel turn even the most complicated of applications into a manageable and structured project. In this module, we create structured server side code to power our dynamic front end apps.

C. Web Services

Using Web Services and APIs such as Facebook API, Twitter API, Paypal API and lots more we can extend functionality of our application as well as integrate it with major third party service providers and systems.

D. Cloud Deployment Strategies and Services

The whole world is moving into the Cloud. What that basically means is that applications are no longer confined to desktops, closed group servers and clients and are now available on the web with universal access. This also means that storage and computing is spread across a network of servers and not just one macro unit. In this module, we’ll look at the Cloud revolution and how this affects your applications and projects.

E. Integrated Project

What good are skills if they are not applied to a challenging project. Therefore, in this module, we apply skills learnt so far and create a state of the art Web 2.0 applications and sites that look great and perform well. So, be it a social network or a webapp that simplifies your daily routine, we’ll cook up a real world project here.

Element 4 | Social Media

Social Media is revolutionizing the way we interact and communicate and it goes beyond that. In this module we will examine Social Media intricately and create a proper place for it for our projects.

Element 5 | Search Engine Optimization Fundamentals

Track 2 | Graphic Design & Print

Element 1 | Brief History of Graphic Design & Print

To understand the essence of any industry, it’s important to know the history & evolution as passed on by generation to generation in terms of art, methods and techniques. Its very crucial for creative aspirants to explore the historical developments to understand the future course of evolution.

Element 2 | Evolution of Graphic Design & Print

With new technologies & change of ideologies, design kept improving and changing forms to evolve and to meet the creative needs of designers & the industry.

A. Master Designers & Their Creations

B. Past, Present & Future of Graphic Design

Element 3 | Fundamentals of Graphic Design & Industry

To build a strong base in design, fundamentals play a very important role. Strong fundamentals will not only broaden the vision of a good designer but enlighten the artist with endless possibilities to create wonderful designs.

A. Foundation in Sketching

Sketching / Drawing is quick freehand drawn rough artwork that is not intended for concept development for a project / story. With fundamentals in practice its super useful to layout any concept on paper which later can be formalized into fully functional artwork.

• Traditional Drawing & Color Materials
• Popular Drawing & Color Bases
• Still Life Study
• Prospective Study
• Compositions
• Type Study

B. Foundation in Sketching

To begin with any visual design process, the designer needs to familiarize himself/herself with fundamentals of creative arts & industry standards.

• Elements of Design
• Color Theories & Applications
• Typography & Mysteries
• Principles of Design & Layouts
• Art of Framing
• Perspective World
• Film Grammar
• Experimental Arts

C. Foundation in Digital Photography

Digital Photography has revolutionized how we capture and process photographs. Photography is also an excellent medium for creative expression and learning.

• Photography v/s Digital Photography
• Technical Jargon : DLSR
• Basic Photographing Skills
• Type of Photography & Usages

D. Foundation in Print & Publishing

Printing is a process of reproducing graphics using ink on various mediums such as paper, plastic, cloth, etc. This process is carried out as small scale to large scale industries. We take a sneak peek at various print & publishing techniques and their origins.

• Origin of Print & Publishing
• Evolution of Printing Techniques
• Types of Printing – Hard Surface Media
• Origin of Digital Print & Publishing
• Evolution of Digital Printing
• New World of 3D Printing

E. Foundation in Broadcast Media

Broadcast Design involves creation of graphics for television or film production companies. A Broadcast Designer works with a variety of creative & media people to produce interesting graphics for television broadcast programs, advertisements, motion graphics, opening credits and montages.

• Technical Jargon & Broadcast TV Standards
• Creative Fundamentals for Broadcast Design
• Design Creatives : News | Entertainment | Other Media Programs

Element 4 | Foundation in Design

Design is the soul of any visual graphics. Its imperative for any designer to understand & practice principles essential to create efficient, effective and attractive graphic designs for a brand / product.

A. Brand, Identity & Logo

Brand, Identity & Logo designs have three different roles in corporate identity creation of any organization. Together they form a visual branding to be recognized as a known brand or product.

• Logo
• Symbols
• Office Stationery
• Leaflet
• Brochure
• Hoardings / Banners / Signages

B. Layout Designs

Layout in any graphic design deals in style treatment, placement and management of its design elements & Its areas. Each element will have its own proportional area layout as per the creative choice of designer. Layouts can be formed after considering principles of design for any product.

• Calendar Layout
• Newspaper Layout
• Magazine Layout
• Books Layout

C. Typography Designs

Typography is an art of creating, designing or manipulating typefaces into wonderful effective visual form of graphics. Most of the times type itself is arranged using properties of text editors and fonts, but under extreme conditions, designers tend to manipulate & reinvent typefaces to create different form of visual communication of art.

• Understanding Typefaces & Industry
• Evaluating & Designing Typography
• Typography – Colors, Effects & Illustrations

D. Advertising

Advertisement is an old but very popular form of communication using visual form of elements to persuade, convince, encourage and manipulate consumers behaviour for commercial or other interests.

• Good & Bad Advertising
• Print Ads
• Banner / Hoarding Ads
• eMedia Ads
• Broadcast Media Ads

E. Poster Designs

Poster design is an art of creating and arranging elements of design in a visual form so as to attract the attention of viewer with a visually empowered message. Poster art is executed to communicate for a variety of purposes such as social, festivals, promotions, campaigns, art, photography, advertising and lot more.

• Designing Social Campaigns
• Designing for Advertisements
• Designing for Festivals

F. Instructional Designs

Instructional design is creating systematic development of instructional specifications which makes acquisition of knowledge and skill more efficient, effective and appealing.

• Analysis
• Design & Development
• Implementation
• Evaluation

G. Instructional Designs

Packaging design is a sought after skill. A nicely packaged product has increased sellability than a poorly packed one. Designers are responsible to create graphics, connecting form & structure, materials, colors, images and other design elements with product information.

• Single Side & Double Side
• Fold Based Multiple Areas
• Fold & Cut Based Multiple Areas

H. Information/Data Design

Information design or data design is also known as Data Visualization. It is the practice of presenting data information graphically in a way that fosters efficient and effective understanding.

• Bar / Stacked Charts
• Dot / Line Charts
• Pie Charts
• Terrains Charts
• Custom Design Illustration Shapes

I. Industrial Design

The art of Industrial design involves around the skill of applied science & art to create a product design with aesthetics, ergonomics, architecture, functionality and usability. Its the job of designer to manage the proportions among various forms of elements.

J. eMedia Design

eMedia design is the youngest of all other design industries. Since the Digital revolution took place, designers have been passionately in love with digital design applications & creating wonderful electronic media arts.

• UI / UX Interface Layout Design
• Icons & Buttons
• Scrollers / Navigators
• Patterns & Effects
• Art of Color Management
• Align & Spacing Basics
• Interactive States & Designs
• Fonts Management
• Handling Color Profiles & Document Palettes
• Gamma, Gamut & Calibration
• Importance of File Extensions

K. Digital Photography

Digital photography is one of the forms of design. It is being employed by designers to capture real life moments or raditionally created artwork into digital form with or without editing, effects and manipulations.

• Portrait Photography
• Product Photography
• Places Photography
• Low Light Photography
• Visual Artwork Photography

L. Traditional Media Arts Design

Design using traditional media reflects to forms of arts prevalent before the origin of digital age that may include experimental media in nature. This art form is the base of visual art design and will continue to persist under various traditional media such as Pencil, Paint, Clay, Paper, Printmaking.

• Crafts and many more.
• Pencil & Paper
• Paints
• Paper Crafts
• Experimental Media

M. Traditional Media Arts Design

Broadcast designer’s job is to create graphics for TV & broadcast media, brand, identity, promos and other program sequences.

• Channel Branding : News | Entertainment | Lifestyle
• Promos : TV Broadcast Program Shows
• Concept Graphics : Regular TV Broadcast Shows

N. Copywriting

Copywriting is an act of writing a copy of text for the purpose of selling advertisement, product, business, idea etc. The reader should get persuaded by what’s being conveyed.

Element 5 | Technical Tool Applications & Graphic Design

Beside traditional tools, the method of presentation is equally important to the process of design. Graphic Arts software applications introduced a generation of designers to digital graphics manipulation & creation that had previously been performed via traditional techniques of publishing such as paper, ink, pencil, colors etc.

A. Adobe Photoshop : Raster Graphics

Adobe’s Photoshop is a powerful tool to create, enhance and manipulate digital graphics & art for photographers, designers, web designers, videographers and 3D artists.

• Adobe Camera Raw
• Colors, Design & Illustrations
• Type, Typography & Effects
• Adv. Image Color Corrections & Re-Touch
• Working with HDRs & Alignment
• Managing Color Profiles, Prepress, Print & Publishing
• Automation & Actions
• Working with 3D Media
• Working with Video Media
• Working with Web Media
• Working with Animations
• Secrets of Creative Cloud Services

B. Adobe Illustrator : Vector Graphics

Adobe’s Illustrator is a digital application to create scalable vector graphics to be used for print, web and video. It is employed by various artists for designing illustrations, type, effects and all sorts of visual elements.

• Digital Design, Colors, Patterns & Illustrations
• Image Tracing Techniques
• Type & Typography Effects
• Working with Filter & Effects
• Working with 3D Media
• Working with Video Media
• Working with Web Media
• Secrets of Creative Cloud Services

C. Adobe InDesign : Layout Designs

Adobe’s InDesign is an industry standard publishing application for print publications, digital magazines, web designs, interactive PDFs and EPUBs. It is one of the best page layout program with effective set of controls.

• Liquid layout & functionalities
• Content Collectors & Linking
• Working with EPUBs
• Type & Typography
• Working with Web Design Layouts & Forms Functionalities
• Managing Color Profiles, Prepress, Print & Publishing
• Secrets of Creative Cloud Services

D. CorelDraw : Vector Graphics

CorelDraw is a trusted long standing industry design application used by designers. Its a content rich application used by masses to produce professional graphic designs, photo editing, web contents and illustrations.

• About Graphics & Adobe InDesign
• Understanding Interface, Workspace & Document Setups
• Technical Tools & Usages
• Digital Design, Colors, Patterns & Illustrations
• Image Tracing Techniques
• Type & Typography Effects
• Working with Filter & Effects
• Managing Color Profiles, Prepress, Print & Publishing

Optional for Students who have successfully completed Level 2 | Web Technologies & Design track.
(Available at Select Locations Only)

Level 3 is an optional super specialization module available to students who have completed the Level 2 – Web Technologies & Design Track. This level raises the bar further and introduces you to amazing Javascript frameworks and technologies that are reshaping the Mobile & App space.

Element 1 | Structured Web Applications with BackboneJS
BackboneJS gives structure to a web application by following a Model-View-Collection scheme and minimizing spaghetti code which can result in poorly written inefficient javascript applications. BackboneJS is powering some of the most popular applications today.

Element 2 | The very useful UnderscoreJS
UnderscoreJS adds a lot of frequently used functions to Javascript and enables rapid development of apps by minimizing the need for writing custom code for common functions.

Element 3 | AngularJS and AngularUI
AngularJS brings dynamism to HTML5 apps by letting developers create expressive code that enables rapid creation of multi-view web apps. AngularJS is by Google and has been used on several major web applications such as Youtube on Playstation 3. The AngularUI is a companion library that extends UI capabilities of AngularJS.

Element 4 | Realtime Awesomeness with NodeJS
Built on the Javascript V8 engine that empowers Chrome, NodeJS brings the goodness of Javascript to server side scripting and enables creation of lightweight data driven realtime applications that run across distributed devices.

Element 5 | MongoDB & Mongoose
MongoDB is a scalable, high performance and open source NoSQL database. A NoSQL database differs from traditional SQL Database engines like MySQL and effectively enables creation of highly scalable applications that need to handle very large sets of data efficiently. Mongoose adds elegant support for MongoDB in NodeJS.

Element 6 | EmberJS
Ember is yet another popular framework for writing HTML5 + Javascript web applications. The result is faster development with less code.

Element 7 | D3JS
D3.js is a JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data. D3 helps you bring data to life using HTML, SVG and CSS.

Element 8 | PaperJS
Paper.js is an open source vector graphics scripting framework that runs on top of the HTML5 Canvas. It offers a clean Scene Graph / Document Object Model and a lot of powerful functionality to create and work with vector graphics and bezier curves, all neatly wrapped up in a well designed, consistent and clean programming interface.

Element 9 | Intel XDK
The Intel XDK is an online development environment that allows developers to create high performance applications using Javascript, HTML5 & CSS3 and then test and deploy on a multitude of mobile devices, all at the same time. This effectively means that you write one set of code and deploy the apps natively on iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other platforms. Intel has recently upped the ante on HTML5 acceptability and development and the Intel XDK is yet another step in this direction.

Element 10 | PhoneGap
PhoneGap is a free and open source framework that allows you to create mobile apps using standardized web APIs for the platforms you care about. Phonegap allows you to build applications that seamlessly deploy across iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry OS, Symbian and BadaOs.