Keeping in view the necessity to meet the latest developments in Information Technology, NCA established the PostGraduate Centre in Multimedia Arts (PGCMA) in 2001 with financial assistance from the Punjab Information Technology Board to prepare graduates for multi-faceted careers in multimedia industry. The Post Graduate Centre of Multimedia Arts prepares students to come at par with prevailing international standards of Visual Arts education in the wake of phenomenal development in Information Technology all over the world. Multimedia art is an innovative discipline which seeks to unify a large range of art forms. It encourages students to complement their previous studies and work experience with knowledge and skills in design for development of multimedia products.

The Postgraduate Center for Multimedia Arts strives to be the embodiment of traditional and contemporary arts practice with reference to theoretical and historical backgrounds. The Centre, with its interdisciplinary and collaborative approach, endeavors to address gaps within the fields of Fine Art, Design, Art History, and Theory, and imagines it to be a new dynamic space of learning and artistic encounter. More than just a space for design discipline, the Postgraduate Center for Multimedia Arts seeks to inspire students to tell their own stories of the region, Pakistan in particular and Asia in general. We take pride in offering the only programme in Pakistan with a unique focus on Indigenous themes in all forms of digital media.

The Centre offers a Master in Multimedia Art, a Post Graduate Diploma in Multimedia Art and several shorts courses. The master’s programme, developed with the technical assistance from the French Government and the EcoleSupérieure D’art D’Aix-en-Provence, has been designed to produce multimedia professionals. These graduates possess advanced capabilities to apply professional skills creatively and ethically for problem-solving through applied research and comprehension of theoretical and philosophical underpinning. PGCMA is committed to raise the level of multimedia application in all professional areas such as digital production, visualization and simulation, multimedia authoring, animation and game design etc. The center provides students with the opportunities to develop and apply their teamwork; project management and business planning expertise through the execution of industry based multimedia projects.

→ Master of Multimedia Art (Morning/Evening)
→ Post-Graduate Diploma in Multimedia Art

• Diploma ( 1 year)

  → One-year Diploma in Game Design

• Certificate Courses ( 6 Months)

  → Certificate course in Game Design
  → Certificate course in Vide Production
  → Certificate course in Animation
  → Certificate course in Multimedia Art

• CAREER OPTIONS

  Career options include positions in digital media, information architecture, interaction design, new media, web design, web development and web project management, animation, including animation for the Internet, architecture, character design, computer game software design, experimental animation, feature film production, film and television graphics, special effects and storyboard. Various events are organized throughout the year to give students the opportunity to speak with industry professionals, including recruiters.

• FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE:

  Limited loans and scholarships will be available. Students may apply on attached forms.

• MASTER OF MULTIMEDIA ART

  This graduate programme introduces students to multimedia techniques and methods for an in-depth understanding of development lifecycle and sequencing in relation to animation and game design along with management, marketing and entrepreneurship. The program is project based, in which students work individually or in team using knowledge and skills acquired to develop a product. The students are required to obtain 42 credit hours with a minimum GPA of 2.5 for degree eligibility. These credit hours are distributed over 4 semesters in a period of 2 years. The credit hours are structured as per HEC requirements and criteria for the Master Degree program with proficiencies in Animation, Game Design, Digital production, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Social Media and Viral Media project production etc.

AIM

→ To produce culturally aware multimedia professionals who can apply professional skills creatively and ethically for problem-solving through applied research and comprehension of theoretical and philosophical underpinning.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

The programme has been designed with following objectives in view, catering both the student’s expectations and disciplinary requirements within artistic, cultural and industry-oriented perspectives:
→ To design and implement new digital products, responding to social, urban, environmental, cultural issues.
→ To address the demands of the market in relation to ever changing technologies, creation of new platforms and development of new services in creative industry.
→ To invoke critical approach through the concepts, theories and methodologies of multimedia art with emphasis on visual culture for bridging gap in the realm of cultural representation.
→ To establish the Pakistani image in multimedia industry from both cultural and economic perspectives.
→ To explore new avenues of collaboration with other disciplines and invent new modes of integration and appropriation of arts and crafts, modern or traditional.

Total Number of Credits	42
Taught Subjects (Credits)	36
Thesis (Research & Design Credits)	06
Total Number of Semesters	04
Semester Duration	18 Weeks
Classwork	16 Weeks
Testing and Evaluation	02 Weeks
Course Load /Semester	9-12 Credits
Studio Courses	70 %
Theory / Seminar Courses	30 %

Semester 1

Course Code	Courses	Contact Hours	Studio / Theory	Credit Hours
MMA-5101	Multimedia Studio-I	8	Studio	4 (2+2)
MMA-5102	Basics of Animation	6	Studio	2
MMA-5103	Drawing-I	6	Studio	2
MMA-5104	Introduction to Media Technologies-I	2	Theory	2
MMA-5105	Digital Production I	6	Studio	2
			Total	12

Semester 2

Course Code	Courses	Contact Hours	Studio / Theory	Credit Hours
MMA-5201	Multimedia Studio-II	8	Studio	4 (2+2)
MMA-5202	Think, Edit, Create-I *Animation-I / *Digital Production-I / *Game Design-I	12	Studio	4
MMA-5203	Drawing-II	6	Studio	2
MMA-5204	Introduction to Media Technologies-II	2	Theory	2
MMA-5105	Digital Production II	6	Studio	2
			Total	12

*Select one of the course

Semester 3

Course Code	Courses	Contact Hours	Studio / Theory	Credit Hours
MMA-6101	Multimedia Studio III	6	Studio	2
MMA-6102	Think, Edit, Create-II *Animation-II / *Digital Production-II / *Game Design-II	12	Studio	4
MMA-6103	Introduction to Digital Culture	2	Theory	2
MMA-6104	Research Method	4	Theory	4
			Total	12

*Select one of the course

Semester 4

No	Course Title	Credit Hours
1	Multimedia Thesis	6
	Total	6

MULTIMEDIA STUDIO-I
The course discusses Graphic Concepts, Multimedia Design, Theory & Practice of Interactive design in a step by step manner. It also takes into account a brief introduction to elements and the principles of design, which are studied alongside Design process, from research till design Layout.

BASICS OF ANIMATION
This course is designed to introduce students to basic methods and practices in animation. It will provide an overview of techniques including Cell Animation, Stop Motion, 2D and 3D animation. The course will engage the students to explore different forms, stages and techniques in animation and use them in multimedia applications. The students will also be informed about various methods in animation design and research.

DRAWING-I
This course is about the understanding of form and its identity while learning basic drawing, perspective, and sketching techniques using various media. The course will introduce character drawing, creating light and dark shading, and use of perspective to represent still life and figures.

INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES-I
This course provides the skills and knowledge to individuals to become digital media and web designers, game designers, app designers and developers. The course develops an understanding of mediums as art forms, multimedia concepts planning and implementation, research methodologies for new media projects, critique and evaluation of technology in academic and artistic scopes.

DIGITAL PRODUCTION
The course involves hands on practical study of interactive film production with basic introduction to the use of Audio/Video recording. Through ‘hands on’ learning, student will explore creative and technical aspects of the medium and will learn basic working techniques of pre-production steps, production flow and post production. At the end of the course students will produce a short film in small groups.

MULTIMEDIA STUDIO-II
The course has been designed to provide students with the opportunity to generate a group multimedia project. Students will organize and develop production technique similar to that experienced in industry. Emphasis is placed on the development of a project/production schedule and adherence to the schedule, problem solving and working effectively as a production team. Students will demonstrate their abilities as individual leaders at times throughout the production and as team members who can follow directions at other times.

THINK, EDIT, CREATE-I (ANIMATION-I)
The course objective is to introduce students to preproduction process of creating animated short film. Main goal of this course is to teach them to develop unique visual vocabulary for animated content. Students will develop an advanced knowledge of design concepts, storyboard, Concept art, characters development and environment. This course will deal with the cultivation of ideas and problem-solving strategies for the individual/group project. Students will produce inspirational sketches, descriptive character sketches, object and environmental design. The use of composition and frame, color and shape and other design elements will be explored.

THINK, EDIT, CREATE-I (DIGITAL PRODUCTION-I)
The course aims to train students in pre-production and post production of digital interactive video and give those hands on experience of all three phases of digital interactive video production. The projects will emphasize brainstorming, story concept & development, storyboards and animatic / pre-visualizations, edited with sound FX, dialogue and music.

THINK, EDIT, CREATE-I (GAME DESIGN-I)
The course examines practices and methods involving game design and offers a contemporary perspective with reference to fundamental components involved in game design and human perspective as opposed to a technologycentric one. The general aims of this course are to develop an appreciation for concepts and sensibilities of user experience design and nurture skills in the use and application of specific methods and techniques. Furthermore, it will improve individual and collaborative skills in design problem solving. The focus of the course is to develop effective solutions based on the needs of users.

DRAWING-II
This course is designed to introduce students to the basics of Drawing for animation spanning over 16 weeks with 1 studio class per week. This is a foundation course for the animation student that is aimed at developing the drawing skill sets required for animating in 2D and 3D workflows. Students will also be expected to participate in critique sessions as well.

INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES-II
The course instills an appreciation of the technical and artistic contributions of animators throughout history and builds a critical vocabulary by encouraging reflective works of animation. The course also imparts an understanding of the economic, social, and technological contexts that have shaped the development of animation around the world and through various lectures discovers lesser-known work from under-represented genres and cultures, and the value of their diversity. The course also explores the varied potential of animation as an entertaining, expressive and meaningful art form.

MULTIMEDIA STUDIO-III
The objective of this course is to impart the knowledge of basic needs for digital production; students will learn to collect the data for their final project. This project will make realization, culmination and consolidation of studies. The content of the course will be a resolved piece or body of theoretical work demonstrating evidence of advanced conceptual and technical capability over an extended period of self-directed study. This outcome should show coherence and innovation at a professional level thesis proposal of a final production. Students will make presentations of their conceptual concern in this course which will be concluded for their thesis work.

THINK, EDIT, CREATE-II (ANIMATION-II)
This course will focus on creating 2D & 3D spaces, and 2D & 3D animations. Students will learn to use Animate CC/ Toonboom/anime studio pro(Moho), Autodesk Maya/Max, Zbrush and After effects. The course aims to introduce students to 2d and 3d tools and their pipeline to produce animations, which they will use to develop a short animated film.

THINK, EDIT, CREATE-II (DIGITAL PRODUCTION-II)
Students will be introduced to the concepts of sequential art and visual storytelling. The course will elaborately introduce the process of constructing the linear and non-linear visual narratives. It will develop the skill-set of sequentially arranging and distributing the varied images in a functioning and communicative format. The course will include overviews of classic and contemporary narrative techniques applied in photography and comics, film and animation. The course will focus on developing the ability of students to apply the learned techniques during the course and will encourage them to explore the new narrative formats through exercises.

THINK, EDIT, CREATE-II (GAME DESIGN-II)
This course aims to help students understand how computer games are evolving as global phenomena in the world and what are the latest dynamics of the field that they need to follow. The topics covered include an advanced understanding of game design / level design and process including pitching of one’s ideas, preparation of a design document and basic game design principles. The course will equip the students with rudimentary skills in game technology and game prototyping tools, allowing prototyping their own game ideas.

INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL CULTURE
The content covers definition of digital culture, cyber culture and mobile/net society. The course also discusses identity and embodiment in network life to explore virtual worlds, games, online communities, social cohesion, and social life. The principal aim of the course is highlighting the cultural and sociological aspects of digital media. The students will also be informed about differences between culture and digital culture, tangible and intangible media environments, etc. The course will also cast light upon roles and impacts of digital culture on individual and communal levels.

RESEARCH METHODS
The course will focus on methods of scholarly research and critical evaluation of research and writing in the field. The students will be introduced to the thesis proposal writing process and conducting research. Emphasis will be placed on preliminary research, applied, and analytical aspects of design projects and processes. Students will develop design research prototypes and evaluate the effectiveness of designed projects using appropriate research strategies.

REQUIREMENT FOR AWARDING OF MASTER OF MULTIMEDIA ARTS DEGREE
1. A body of work presented for the degree (Thesis Project)
2. Research Report (10,000 words)
3. Coursework: theoretical & practical with Cumulative GPA 2.5

(i) Applicants with minimum 16 years of education or equivalent qualification in the relevant fields with minimum 60% marks from an HEC recognized institute are eligible to apply.
(ii) Candidates must pass NCA’s own aptitude test at par with GAT.

• 1. In theory courses, which comprise of 10 credits, the students will be required to work on assignments and presentations which will count for 50% of the total marks. The rest of the 50% marks will count Final exam. The students will be assessed according to the following criteria:
  • Knowledge and Understanding of the Subject
  • Research Skills
  2. In Studio courses (26 credits), students are required to work on individual/group projects, which will consist of a body of work to be progressively marked. The assessment criteria will be as follows:
  • Communication
  • Skills
  • Originality
  • Coordination
  • Production Management
  • Idea, Time and Resources Management
  3. By the end of the programme, students will be required to produce a body of work and write a Research Report (8000-10000 words), which will be assessed on the basis of 1) Conceptual Clarity, 2) Idea Development, 3) Comprehension and Understanding, 4) Critical and Analytical abilities, 5) Originality and Creativity, 6) Consistency in Style (Chicago)