Facilities

Each lab station is equipped with a Mac computer (Mac Pro, Mac mini, or iMac), an 88-key MIDI keyboard and a 24"–27" colour-calibrated display. The Main Lab has 20 stations while the Small Lab has 10.

Other hardware available includes large- and medium-format colour inkjet printers, flatbed and film scanners, digital audio recorders, digital video camcorders, and drawing tablets. See the Services portion of the web site for more details

We offer a full range of creative production and educational software, including video editing (e.g., Final Cut Pro), 2D graphics (e.g., Photoshop, Illustrator), 3D modelling & animation (e.g., Cinema 4D), motion graphics and animation (e.g., Motion, iStopMotion), CAD (e.g., Vectorworks), music/audio sequencing (e.g., Logic Pro, GarageBand), music notation (e.g., NoteAbility Pro, Finale), and interaction design & authoring (e.g., Max).

These labs are adminstered by professional and student staff in the Fine Arts disciplines. The Labs provide a number of additional services. To find out more details about accessing our labs, click on the Lab Access submenu at below.

In general, our facilities are for the use of students registered in degree programs in Art, Music, Drama or Dance. Check individual space policies for any exceptions to this.

User access to these spaces can be categorized in three ways:

1. Class Bookings,
2. Drop-in Access (with or without card access), and
3. Individual or Group Bookings.

At this time, we do not allow individuals or non-class groups to book individual computers within our spaces. When access conflicts arise, these are resolved using our Priority Usage policy.

All spaces can be booked by classes for use. Two detailed policies exist:

• Small Lab Class Booking Policy
• CPI Spaces Booking Policy. (not currently in force due to reassignment of space for other purposes)

Booking policies for the Main Lab are similar to the Small Lab policy, but have not been converted to this new policy format. For questions, please ask the Head Technician.

Main Lab

• At the discretion of Lab staff, the Main Lab may be open without need of card access. Current practice is to leave the door open 09:00–16:00 weekdays when a class is not booked in the Lab.
• At other times, eligible users may obtain card access subject to the policies below.

Small Lab

• Drop-in users must have card access, regardless of the time of day. Eligible users may obtain card access subject to the policies below.

After-hours access is available to the following individuals:

Who Main Lab Access Hours Duration of Access Undergraduate students enrolled in a degree programme in Art, Drama, Dance, or Music 07:00–23:00 daily while enrolled in degree programme Graduate students enrolled in a degree programme in Art, Drama, Dance, or Music 24h daily while enrolled in degree programme Students enrolled in a class that requires use of our facilities for completion of assignments (e.g., MUSI 351, Art 331) 07:00–23:00 daily duration of class Faculty and Staff members in Art, Drama, Dance, and Music 24h daily while on staff

 

• For most degree students, access will be automatic as long as you have a University ID Card ("UniCard") that works with the proximity card system when we request access for you. Other users need to make a request to the Lab staff. For more details, see our Help page on card access procedures.
   
• Persons outside of this group who require access need to send us a request from a Department Head in order to be considered (see the Head Technician for details).
   
• Those who are not a major in Art, Drama, Dance or Music will require a lab orientation before being granted card access. (This often happens when the class first meets in one of our Labs.)
   
• Note that the Art Building is only open from 07:00-22:00 daily, so your card access does not guarantee that you will be able to get into the building.
   
• Persons who have an academic need for access to the Small Lab should make a request to Lab staff to extend card access to that space. You should be prepared to explain the academic need and (preferably) have the support of a professor in Art, Drama, Dance or Music.
   
• Undergraduates who have card access to one or both labs but require 24-hour access due to academic need may obtain such access by having a professor in Art, Drama, Dance or Music make a request on their behalf.
   
• Access to the labs is a privilege, and as such may be withdrawn for reasons of misconduct. Letting people into the lab when they knock on the door is one example of misconduct.

When The Lab is Booked

• The Labs are not always available for drop-in use since they are both used for teaching purposes. See Bookings for more information.

Camera and Printing Access

• See Services

We do not allow food or drink in the labs. Should you be carrying such items when you enter the lab, either put them away in your book bag or place them near the door on the floor or on the shelves provided at the back of the Main Lab. While we tolerate water bottles, we would prefer that you keep them away from the computers themselves. Please be considerate.

Do not open the door after hours for people who knock. Not only is this likely to trigger an alarm with Campus Security, we believe our previous large thefts occurred in this manner. Since you cannot see who is on the other side of the door, this is also an issue of personal safety. If you have any concerns about whether a user is authorized for access or not, you may contact Campus Security at 403.220.5333 — they have a list of people who have access.

Users are reminded that the labs are primarily a workspace for individuals, not a lounge or a social area. Conversations (such as calls on your cellular phone) that last longer than 30–60 seconds should be moved outside the lab (some grace is extended to those doing collaborative work related to lab courses). Users should not initiate a cell call from within our Labs. We trust that you will be considerate.

Users should not leave computers unattended for extended periods of time, especially when they are on a specially-equipped computer (e.g., scanner station) or if the lab is quite full. If you intend to be gone for more than 10 minutes, please pack up your stuff when you leave so that another person may use that station. Exception: Some multimedia programs, such as movie editing and 3D modelling, require long “rendering” times (i.e. the computer needs to work on its own for minutes or hours at a time). It is acceptable to leave the machine unattended while the computer does its work — the user should place a “do not disturb” note on the computer in that instance. Users needing access to files stored on a busy machine can get access remotely from any machine in the Labs using the apps shown when you click on the Connect icon in the right side of the Dock. (Ask Lab Staff if you require more help.)

When a lab is busy with users, the following priority for computer usage is in effect (from highest to lowest):

1. Classes scheduled into the lab.
2. Students working on course work applicable to classes held in either lab.
3. Other course work.
4. Accessing research resources via the Internet.

(Notice that non-course work is not even mentioned on this list.)

This priority order also applies to deciding who should have access to the fastest computers in the Labs. Please be considerate of other users and limit your time on our machines when doing low-priority tasks or tasks that don't depend on the IAML's special resources.

If necessary, students wishing to do high priority tasks may "bump" lower priority users, but we ask that you also be considerate by bumping the people who are lowest on the priority list first. Also, please give the bumpee a minute or two to finish up their work.

Finally, in those rare cases where a user would like to use more than one computer at a time (e.g., to render multimedia files), they may do so if there are machines free. However, they must vacate all but one station if demand from other users require it — no person shall be guaranteed access to more than one computer.

Personal information is collected when you use or enter our computer labs as well as when you use some of our services (e.g., equipment loans, paid services). This information is collected under the authority of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act and is used for the purposes of controlling access to the Labs and its equipment and ensuring appropriate use of same. In the event of a security incident or inappropriate use, the information collected may be shared according to the terms of the University Video Surveillance Policy. For more information on card access or surveillance, see the University Video Surveillance Policy or contact the IAML Head Technician.

There are also public aspects to the Labs of which you should be aware:

• Lab staff have access to software that can remotely install software, monitor software usage, view user displays, monitor any network video cameras, and control any Lab machine.
   
• Files stored on Lab machines and/or servers may be viewed by all users, often without a password.
   
• The history of web sites and files that you view on Lab machines may be visible to all users. (The web browser Safari offers a Private Browsing mode that can cause this information not to be retained.)
   
• Printouts sent to our printers may be visible to other users and/or could be picked up by others (accidentally or otherwise).

In order to make it very clear to all users how we deal with your personal information, here is a list of the ways we collect information, what information we collect, the purpose for the information collection and who to contact if you have any questions.