Sten McKinzie Headshot

Sten McKinzie

Lecturer

School of Interactive Games and Media
Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences

Office Hours
Meeting Online (https://rit.zoom.us/my/semigm) Mon, Tues, Wed 9am-11am Wed, Thur 3pm-5pm
Office Mailing Address
n/a

Sten McKinzie

Lecturer

School of Interactive Games and Media
Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences

Education

BS, MS, Rochester Institute of Technology

Bio

Sten Erickson McKinzie is an award-winning Animator/Interactive Media Developer whose industry career and experience spans nearly two decades.

Since receiving his Bachelors of Fine Arts from the School of Film and Animation at RIT, Sten has worked as an animator, a multimedia designer and Creative Director in the Interactive Media and Games industry, primarily in Chicago and LA.

Sten has always had a passion for teaching. He feels a responsibility to share his experience and knowledge with future generations of animators and developers. To this end, during his time in industry, he worked as an adjunct lecturer and regularly took on co-ops and interns.

In 2010, Sten decided to leave industry and return to graduate school so that he could pursue his passion, full-time. He received his Master of Fine Arts from RIT in Computer Graphic Design/Visual Communication Design. Sten now enjoys a full-time faculty position in the School of Interactive Games and Media at RIT.

Currently Teaching

IGME-110
3 Credits
This course provides an overview of media in historical, current and future contexts. Incorporating lectures and discussion with hands on work involving written and interactive media assets, students examine the role of written and visual media from theoretical as well as practical perspectives. The course also provides an introduction to interactive media development techniques, including digital media components and delivery environments. Students will be required to write formal analysis and critique papers along with digital modes of writing including collaborative editing and effective presentation design.
IGME-119
3 Credits
This course provides a theoretical framework covering the principles of animation and its use in game design to affect user experience. Emphasis will be placed upon principles that support character development and animations that show cause and effect. Students will apply these principles to create animations that reflect movement and character appropriate for different uses and environments.
IGME-219
3 Credits
This course provides an overview of 3D game asset production. Basic ideas learned within the first asset production course are also revisited within the 3D environs. Topics covered include modeling, texturing, skinning and animation. Emphasis is put on low polygon modeling techniques, best practices in game art production, and effective communication strategies between artists, programmers and designers.
IGME-220
3 Credits
This course examines the core process of game design, from ideation and structured brainstorming in an entertainment technology context through the examination of industry standard processes and techniques for documenting and managing the design process. This course specifically examines techniques for assessing and quantifying the validity of a given design, for managing innovation and creativity in a game development-specific context, and for world and character design. Specific emphasis is placed on both the examination and deconstruction of historical successes and failures, along with presentation of ethical and cultural issues related to the design and development of interactive software and the role of individuals in a team-oriented design methodology. Students in this class are expected to actively participate and engage in the culture of design and critique as it relates to the field.
IGME-320
3 Credits
This course continues to examine the core theories of game design as they relate to the professional field. Beginning with a formalized pitch process, this course examines the design and development paradigm from story-boarding and pre-visualization through rapid iteration, refinement, and structured prototyping exercises to further examine the validity of a given design. Specific emphasis is placed on iterative prototyping models, and on methodologies for both informal and formal critique. This course also explores production techniques and life-cycle in the professional industry.
IGME-420
3 Credits
This course introduces level design theory and best practice through game level analysis, evaluation, and creation. Students will learn by analyzing game levels from existing games and discussing what made those levels successful or unsuccessful. Through their analysis and hands on experience, students will gain an understanding of overall level design including layout, flow, pacing, and balance. They will enhance their understanding of level design principles by creating their own game levels.
IGME-424
3 Credits
This course will build upon concepts introduced in IGME-420 Level Design to produce new game content, including quests, NPCs, and environmental structures for existing games. It will explore the process, planning, and implementation of existing games through modification. Students will develop content that will include new in-game objects, NPCs, environments, and quest lines. This modified content will be designed and tested to ensure seamless integration with the existing game, and ultimately published to online distribution networks where real players can experience that new content within existing games.
IGME-430
3 Credits
This course provides students the opportunity to continue the exploration of Media Rich Internet Applications (MRIAs). Topics include communications for media ecologies, distributed web application frameworks, advanced interactivity, data transformation, representation, automation, persistence, and large scale systems deployment. In addition, students are exposed to concepts and technologies related to the next generation of MRIA development.
IGME-588
3 Credits
This course is designed to engage the New Media major in a capstone production experience. The instructor will form interdisciplinary student teams that will design, plan, prototype, and implement new media projects. Student groups are required to test their product with users and provide written feedback and analysis. Students will be evaluated on individual contributions and their team’s final capstone project.
IGME-590
3 Credits
This is intended to allow for special one-time offerings of undergraduate topics or to allow faculty to pilot new undergraduate offerings. Specific course details (such as the course topics, format, resource needs, and credit hours) will be determined by the faculty member(s) who propose a given special-topics offering.
IGME-599
1 - 6 Credits
The student will work independently under the supervision of a faculty advisor on a topic not covered in other courses.
IGME-742
3 Credits
This course introduces level design theory and best practice through game level analysis, evaluation, and creation. Students will explore the history of various game genres and the design of their levels, analyze game levels from existing games, and discuss what made those levels successful or unsuccessful. Through their analysis and hands-on experience, students will gain an understanding of overall level design including layout, flow, pacing, narrative, and balance. They will enhance their understanding of level design principles by creating their own game levels.
IGME-799
1 - 6 Credits
The student will work independently under the supervision of a faculty adviser on a topic not covered in other courses.

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