Balancing the Education of Soft and Hard Skills in a Houdini-Centered Production | BYU | Houdini...

In Brigham Young University's Animation, a production experience is the culmination of students' BFA degree. A large group of 10-20 senior collaborate to set up a production pipeline and create a high-quality animated short film. This not only provides and environment for students to create demo-reel worthy work (hard skills), but it also gives them important experience communicating, leading, and making sure their work fits into a larger production (soft skills). A big question we ask is what is the right balance or trade off between focus on hard and soft skills in this experience, that properly adds value to a student's education and ability to get hired in the industry? As we present our approach to this, the role that Houdini plays is also a key factor in building multiple skills and opening industry doors for students.

Seth Holladay is an Associate Professor in the Animation program at Brigham Young University. He studied both Animation and Computer Science in college, which allowed him to move into the role of Effects Artist at Pixar Animation Studios on Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Up. Now he is teaching 3-D animation art classes at BYU and doing research in physical dynamics simulations for film. He has mentored students on short animated films that have won over 10 College Television Awards and 4 Student Academy Awards. He also helped start up the video game capstone projects at BYU that have also won several national awards.