3D Computer-Generated Imaging and Technical Communication Classes Nikki Ann Agee University of Texas at El Paso, [email protected]
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University of Texas at El Paso DigitalCommons@UTEP Open Access Theses & Dissertations 2016-01-01 Animating Composition: 3D Computer-generated Imaging and Technical Communication Classes Nikki Ann Agee University of Texas at El Paso, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd Part of the Rhetoric Commons Recommended Citation Agee, Nikki Ann, "Animating Composition: 3D Computer-generated Imaging and Technical Communication Classes" (2016). Open Access Theses & Dissertations. 795. https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd/795 This is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UTEP. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UTEP. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ANIMATING COMPOSITION: 3D COMPUTER-GENERATED IMAGING & TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION CLASSES NIKKI A. AGEE Doctoral Program in Rhetoric and Writing Studies APPROVED: Beth Brunk-Chavez, PhD, Chair Lucia Dura, PhD Vince Burke, MFA Charles Ambler, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School Copyright © by Nikki A. Agee 2016 Dedication For Mom, Dad, and Nat, who love, support, and encourage me & For Beth and Helen, whose classes challenged me and changed my life Thank you. ANIMATING COMPOSITION: 3D COMPUTER-GENERATED IMAGING & TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION CLASSES by NIKKI A. AGEE, BA, MA DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at El Paso in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY English Department THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO May 2016 Acknowledgements Many Obi Wans guided my passage through this project. I am most indebted to my dad, Douglas; my mom, Rosario; and my sister, Natalie. During the course of this project (and throughout my life) they provided loving support, wise counsel, words of encouragement, and positive energy. They embody Good and are my life Force. I am indebted to both Dr. Beth Brunk-Chavez and Dr. Helen Foster, whose courses challenged me to think deeply and inspired me to see the world, and my place in it, very differently. Their optimism, encouragement, and mentorship will always stay with me. Additionally, I am grateful to both Dr. Anita August and Dr. Lucia Dura for their encouragement. Of course, I would like to thank my entire committee, Dr. Beth Brunk-Chavez, Dr. Lucia Dura, and Professor Vince Burke, for their insightful feedback. I greatly appreciate their continual support, patience, and positivity throughout this endeavor. Many other individuals played an important role in this project’s development. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Sunay Palsole, who recommended using Blender and whose final remark to me -- “Everything’s possible; the impossible just takes longer” – became a personal mantra. I am deeply obliged to Saul Gutierrez, from InRadius Systems, who helped me to understand what students with no 3D experience could reasonably create in a semester. I would also like to thank Dr. James Salvador (from Chemistry), Dr. Rebecca Reed-Jones (from Kinesiology), Dr. Rodrigo Romero (from Computer Science), and Adrian Hernandez (from Ysleta high school), and Profs. Vince Burke and John Dunn (from Art) who took the time to speak to me about how they integrated 3D CGI into their classes. Additionally, I would like to thank David Espalin and Jorge v Ramirez, from the W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation, for allowing me to observe engineers at the center and for helping me to better understand the additive manufacturing processes. Of course, I am further indebted to many individuals in cohorts before mine including Dr. Brian McNely, Dr. Anita August, Dr. Scott Lunsford, and Dr. Christina Ramirez, who greatly inspired me. Thank you. Finally, I would like to thank the students in my technical communication classes. You make the world a better place, and I’m honored to have taught you. vi Abstract This project examines the rhetorical nature of 3D computer-generated imaging (CGI) and investigates how technical communication instructors can integrate it into their classrooms to foster rhetorical awareness of digital and multimodal composing practices; to foster technical communication competencies; and to teach technical communication genres. To justify 3D CGI’s study and use in technical communication classes, the dissertation first overviews 3D CGI’s complex, interdisciplinary history; discusses how professionals across disciplines rhetorically use it; and reviews the lack of scholarship on 3D CGI in Rhetoric and Writing Studies. 3D CGI is next conceptualized as a rhetorical information ecology with micro-, meso-, and macro-levels, and its logics and interface are rhetorically analyzed. Finally, this study reports the results of integrating 3D CGI into three sections of technical communication and offers guidance on best teaching practices. vii Table of Contents Dedication...................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements..........................................................................................................................v Abstract......................................................................................................................................... vii Table of Contents......................................................................................................................... viii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. xi List of Figures............................................................................................................................... xii Introduction......................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: Situating 3D CGI Historically, Across Disciplines, and in RWS..................................5 1.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................................5 1.2 Situating 3D CGI Historically ..........................................................................................7 1.2.1 The 1950s..............................................................................................................7 1.2.2 The 1960s..............................................................................................................8 Interdisciplinary Developments in CGI Hardware ...............................................9 Interdisciplinary Developments in CGI Software.................................................9 Interdisciplinary Developments in Scientific Visualization ...............................10 Interdisciplinary Developments in Entertainment and Art .................................11 1.2.3 The 1970s............................................................................................................11 CG Developments Emerging from Academic Research ....................................12 CG Developments Emerging from National Research Labs ..............................13 CG Developments Emerging from Commercial Companies..............................14 Interdisciplinary Developments in CG Gaming .................................................14 1.2.4 The 1980s and Beyond........................................................................................15 CGI Companies Focus on Advertising, TV, Movies, and Gaming ....................16 CGI Software Development................................................................................18 1.2.5 In Conclusion......................................................................................................19 1.3 Situating 3D CGI Rhetorically in Research Across Disciplines.....................................20 1.3.1 Persuasive and Informative Uses of 3D CGI......................................................20 1.3.2 Uses of 3D CGI as an Inventional Strategy in Design Processes.......................24 viii 1.3.3 3D CGI’s Use as Visual Data .............................................................................25 1.3.4 In Conclusion......................................................................................................27 1.4 Situating 3D CGI in Rhetoric and Composition Studies ................................................28 1.4.1 Scholarship on 3D CGI and Animation in Writing Classes ...............................28 1.4.2 In Conclusion......................................................................................................30 Chapter 2: Conceptualizing 3D CGI Using Ecological Models ....................................................31 2.1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................31 2.2 The Ecological Framework: Usefulness and Limitations as a Research Method...........33 2.3 Information Ecologies: Considering the Larger 3D CGI Ecologies...............................37 2.4 Rhetorical Ecologies & 3D CGI .....................................................................................40 2.5 Blender’s Rhetorical Information Ecologies ..................................................................44 2.5.1 Blender’s Technological Rhetorical Ecology .....................................................44 2.5.2 Blender’s Micro-Rhetorical Level ......................................................................45