Series of Multimedia Classes Being Offered

UC Irvine said it is introducing a new series of extension courses on interactive multimedia.

It wasn’t so long ago that few people even knew what those words meant, but about 300 people turned out for a recent UCI Extension open house to learn about the new program, said Molly Schneider, director of the program.

“I’ve been here three-and-a-half years,” she said, “and I’ve never seen that kind of response.”

The program is designed to teach people the skills to combine computer graphics, audio and video to make such things as CD-ROMS and Internet Web sites. There are courses in animation, video editing, sound design and, starting in the winter quarter, classes on emerging computer languages such as Java.

These skills are at the heart of a rapidly growing industry, and UCI’s program was put together with the help of some of Orange County’s prominent multimedia companies, including Graphix Zone and Toshiba.

Individual courses cost between $350 and $650, Schneider said, and include access to computer labs and other university resources. For those seeking to pursue careers in multimedia, there is a certificate program that includes 10 required courses and takes about a year to complete.

UCI’s extension program is designed for people who work full time, and many of the courses are offered in the evening, said Schneider, who added that some of the classes start this week.

For more information, call UCI Extension at (714) 824-5592, or visit the university’s Web site at https://www.unex.uci.edu/~unex

Greg Miller covers high technology for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7830 and at greg.miller@latimes.com