By Darissa Townes
It feels like it was only yesterday that the Digital Media Center was under construction. I remember back in Spring 2015, I was clicking away at a Mac for a motion media class at the DMC when a horrendous banging thundered throughout the building. Whatever the racket was, it was enough to shake the whole room I was in. And for the longest time, such a startling noise was normal at the DMC.
For any SCAD students who don’t visit the DMC often, I’ll explain what happened. For as long as I’ve been at SCAD, the first and second floors of the DMC were not used for anything. The first floor was obviously the entrance, but other than that, students always skipped it and the second floor on their way to the third floor. Every major stationed at the DMC was situated on that third floor, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that space was highly limited.
After months of construction and a whole summer with the DMC being closed, this fall gave the students a big surprise with the completion of the first and second floors. With dozens of new computers, recording studios and green-screen sets, returning students have a lot to take in and I went around to ask a few of them what they thought of the changes.
Piya Pahwa, a third-year animation major with a technical direction minor told me, “I think the new DMC is really cool. They’ve got a lot more equipment which is going to be amazing for students to use. I’m almost nervous because once we get out of SCAD, it’s going to be like ‘Where did all the amazing equipment go?’ and that’s really worrisome. I think it’s just a really good use of space. It’s really beautiful and well-organized and I can’t wait to mess around with all the stuff.”
Dhimanth D. Rao, a third-year motion media student said, “The DMC’s second floor is really impressive, like the sound studio. I’ve heard that they also have a green screen room for the motion capture studio. It sounds super nice. There’s so much more classrooms and space and I think we’re going to fit a lot more people.”
Carla Tanchico, a fourth-year animation student, happily chimed in with her thoughts. “I’m really glad that the DMC is done. Now I don’t have to trek all the way to the main building to get a PC.”
Sasha Escarciga, another fourth-year animation major, said, “The new sound rooms are amazing looking. It’s nice to have more equipment.”
Overall, the addition of more computers and labs is a big game changer to the students at the DMC and they’re quite satisfied with it all. The days of skipping the first and second floors are over. So if you’re having a hard time finding a computer at the main building, feel free to come over to the DMC. We’ve got plenty of room now!