Application for Student Computer and Technology Fee
Innovative Project Grant1

Unit. College/School/Department:

School of Art

In Cooperation with (Optional):
	(Name of Cooperating Unit)

Name of Project Director:

Associate Professor Carl Twarog

Campus Address:

Jenkins Rm. 202

Phone Number:

X 1309

E-Mail:

twarogc@mail.ecu.edu

Total Funding Request:

$96,017.50

Project Title:

ECU ART GOES HI-DEF.

Please obtain the appropriate authorization to submit this proposal (unit head), which includes acknowledging the conditions specified below. Identify the person authorizing submission of the proposal. That person will be contacted to confirm the authorization.

The unit accepts the following responsibilities and obligations if full or partial funding of its Student Computer and Technology Fee proposal is awarded:

1. The Student Computer and Technology Fee monies fund proposals which are for departmental facilities for student use in instructional settings. Any faculty use must be incidental, such as in a student laboratory setting.

2. The project or items of a project cannot be substantively changed once the award is made.

3. The unit is to provide insurance for the hardware or technological equipment.

4. The unit is responsible for repairs to hardware or technological equipment that are beyond the warranty period.

5. The unit is to provide security and adequate supervision for the hardware or technological equipment and software.

6. The unit is to maintain the hardware or technological equipment and software in the area described by the proposal.

7. No unit is permitted to submit more than one proposal in a given year.

Name of Unit Head:

Interim Director Art Haney

Campus Address:

Jenkins Bldg Art Office

Phone Number:

X 6563

Goal Statement

This proposal, if funded, will upgrade the School of Art video editing suite from analog input, non-linear editing to HDTV. High Definition Television offers a larger, more detailed canvas on which to explore and convey their ideas in video, enabling students to create video art at a a level of refinement, precision and detail which rivals film.

The technological advancement described in this proposal also looks to the future. The existing School of Art video art courses have been offered for several years now and have consistently filled to or near capacity every semester, serving mainly art students but also students from Communications & Broadcasting, English, Biology and Psychology. The creation of the College of Fine Art and Communication offers a new environment for collaboration between the School of Communication & Broadcasting and the School of Art. As a result, an interdisciplinary program in Experimental Film is already in the planning phase, combining courses from art, communications, music, and theater and dance.

Students and Courses Affected

ART 3080 Introduction to Video Art is taken by approximately 27 students per year. The course caps at 9 students due to the technical limitations of the equipment. Studio art courses cap at 15 – 17 students and as a result of ART 3080’s low cap, it has been in jeopardy of being cancelled several times in order to free up a faculty member. This proposal will enable the expansion of its capacity to the standard School of Art studio course limit of 17 students. The proposal will also enable the course to be offered in the SOA computer lab.

ART 3081 Intermediate Video Art is taken by approximately 9 – 18 students per year and has an equipment based imposed capacity of 9 students per semester. This proposal would expand the capacity to 12 students.

Current Facilities

The School of Art video editing suite contains three identical work stations. Each is comprised of an Apple G4 with 512Mb of Ram, a Formac video signal digitizer, a commercial VHS recorder/player, a TV monitor, a Lacie 200Gb external hard drive, and a DVD recorder. The primary software packages in use include Apple Final Cut Pro version 3, DVD Studio Pro version 1, Adobe After Effects version 4, Toon Boom Studio version 1, Adobe Photoshop version 9. There are no internet jacks in the video editing suite and this is by design. Active internet connections cause video editing systems to drop frames during recording, thus all of the SOA video editors are configured to not have internet access.

Materials Obtained by Routine SCTR Request

The proposal has been submitted to the SCTR and awaits a response.

Equipment and Software Requested

3 HDTV cameras kits (camera, batteries, ac adapter, hard case) $14,580.

3 HDTV Non-linear Video Editing Stations $63,300.

-includes CPU, monitor, RAID storage, parts kit for RAID,

HDTV editing monitor, HDTV recorder/player

20 copies of video editing software for SOA computer lab and video editing suite $27,000.

-includes Apple Final Cut Pro and Apple DVD Studio Pro

2 Plasma TV 50” and mounting hardware for viewing of final work in full format $20,660.

2 HDTV recorder/players for viewing/critique of final work in final full format $ 2,000.

1 HDTV projector for viewing/critique of final work in full format $ 7,038.

In the event that the proposal must be truncated, reducing the number of copies of software to 3 and reducing the number of editors, is recommended. These reductions are mentioned in the recommended order.

Support for the Project

The School of Art currently supports the video editing suite by providing trained graduate lab attendants who are on call to assist students. Each student registered for a video art course receives a key to the editing suite and an account on one of the editors. This support is expected to continue. If funded this proposal will require that some new custom countertop spaces be constructed in the editing suite. The School of Art has the staff to design and fabricate such countertops and typically has the funding to afford materials for such needs.

Assessment of the Educational Impact of the Project

Success of this proposal can be expected based on precedent. Art students express themselves with the technology at hand. When handed charcoal and paper, they draw. When handed video cameras, they expressed themselves in time based media. When the School of Art expanded video to non-linear systems their work improved in quality and depth. However, it was limited by technical constraints on detail and quality of image. HDTV offers students a level of detail that they explore in all other of their art forms. When our students need not compromise quality in their video art we have every reason to expect quality in their video art. In short, they have proven themselves quality artists. When we stop inhibiting their work for technical reasons, we can expect the quality to be high.

Budget: Submit quotes for the materials requested, using as much space as needed, starting on page 4 of this form.

Deliver one electronic copy of the application as an attachment to email to: FacultySenate@mail.ecu.edu. In the subject line of the email enter “Innovative Project Proposal from <name of unit, name of director>.”

This proposal was funded in the amount of $32,000.