ID391 CGI system error Paschalis Paschalis Multimedia education University of Nicosia, Cyprus Keywords: CGI, Multimedia, Education, Digital Entertainment, Stop Motion Animation Abstract The paper addresses an important issue on teaching creative arts for multimedia and the entertainment industry. There is a misconception amongst students that the more software they learn the better the chances they will have in obtaining a career in the entertainment industry. In actuality however, in order for one to succeed in such a highly competitive industry they have to be able to combine their technical knowledge with creativity, artistic skills, and problem solving abilities. This tendency is supported by our own alumni success stories. From animators in highly regarded animation studios, to game designers and special effects specialists, in each one of these student cases, their strong suit lays in their creative and artistic abilities. The investigation focuses on the benefits and limitations in conducting courses through software and technical learning, and presents a case study on the introduction, outcome and effectiveness of a course in handmade stop-motion puppet animation, where students were required to employ a variety of artistic skills, including storytelling, set and character design, movement coordination and animation, direction of photography, lighting and video and sound editing, to produce short films. Introduction As the digital entertainment industry advances and develops, the education needed for a successful career in the field, necessarily needs to evolve to match the industry’s current needs. A great advantage of the multimedia field of studies is its multidisciplinary nature. Contemporary multimedia is defined as the development, integration, and delivery of any combination of text, graphics, animation, sound, or video through a digital processing device. 1 In order to comply with the high demands of an ever-changing industry, multimedia academic programs have to incorporate in their curriculums specialized courses to cover the creation and manipulation of several media elements, as well as software and techniques to equip students with the ability to combine and integrate media into single digital information environments. Although the curricula of such educational programs usually incorporate specialized modules on the creation and manipulation of a variety of media elements, it often leans more towards technical knowledge and skills. This concentration towards the technical side of multimedia can often discourage creative students as they are less often attracted by complex software and programming languages. For this reason it is essential to introduce courses where students are encouraged to create with their hands, allowing them to tap into and explore their artistic impulses, whilst discouraging reliance on software techniques and special effects.