Integrated Arts Media Labs

End of Fall Term 2024 and New Year

Here are some things to be aware of as we wrap up the Fall Term and prepare for the Winter Term.

File Clean-Up

All files on Lab stations will be subject to deletion as of December 19. Files on the Lab Server are also be subject to deletion at that time (except for Art 336, which will be extended into the New Year).

Service Hours

We plan to run (mostly) regular service hours through December 19 (09:00–16:00 weekdays, excluding lunch). There will be no services after December 20 at 14:00. Services should be available again on Thursday, January 9 at 09:00, although we may be able to offer services sooner than that, depending on how well out technical work goes. The following days are the exceptions to those times:

Wed., Dec. 18: 09:00–11:45.
Fri., Dec. 20: 10:00–14:00 excluding lunch break.

As we will be doing some technical work during this period, not all stations or services may be available at all times. Please contact us in advance if you have time-sensitive work.

Card Access

During the holiday closure, Art/Music/Drama/Dance majors should still be able to access the Labs with your Unicard. (Students who had access for the Fall Term due to a class will have their access removed on or after December 20.)

5K All The Way

The Main Lab now features all 5K 27-inch displays. We’ve recently added 4 Apple Studio Displays with Nano-texture glass to give a matte-like finish that is particularly good for photographers. These are located at Stations 10, 15, 21, and 22.

Also, the Small Lab will be receiving a number of 4K displays in the next week or so that include a built-in colour calibrator. We are very pleased with the modern, high-quality experience we can now offer in our Labs.

Service Hours Exceptions in October and Early November

There will be some exceptions to our normal service hours in the coming weeks. Here are the specifics (updated 2024-10-17):

Fri., Oct. 18: In-person services begin at 10:30
Tue., Oct. 22: Service hours 09:00–12:15, 13:45–16:30
Wed., Oct. 23: Services limited to 08:45–09:45*
Thu., Oct. 24: No services. Card Access Only.*
Fri., Oct. 25: No services. Card Access Only.*
Mon., Oct. 28: Services begin at 10:45.
Fri., Nov. 1: Service hours 09:00–11:00, 13:00–16:00
Fall Break (Mon., Nov. 11 – Fri., Nov. 15): No services. Card Access Only.*

* On these days, if you have issues with Card Access, speak to the Pod Team Office in CH D100. If there are technical problems in the computer labs, contact Arts IT. Equipment loans and printing will not be available.

What’s New for 2024–25

Welcome (or Welcome Back, as the case may be)! We’ve made some improvements to our Labs over the Summer and more are coming in the near future. Here’s our Fall 2024 update:

All Apple Silicon in the Labs

We recently replaced all the computers in the Small Lab, meaning that every computer in both the Main and Small Labs runs on Apple Silicon. Almost all the computers in the Main Lab are running on Apple M2 or M3 processors for maximum performance. The three iMacs in the hallway outside the Main Lab still run on Intel processors, but they feature a minimum of 32 GB of RAM and Station 28 features a higher-end graphics processor and Nano-texture glass on the display.

More Main Lab and Services Access

This year’s booking schedule is a little less busy that normal, which means you will have better access for drop-in use, such as all Monday and Wednesday morning in the Fall Term. You can see the schedule for the current Term on our home page. It is also posted outside the main door of each Lab.

Temporary Small Lab Closure for Updating

We are also updating the Small Lab, but because the computer displays we wanted for that space are no longer available, we are still sourcing alternatives. Thus, for the short term, the Small Lab will either be closed for drop-in use or will have only a few stations available. (The Instructor station can be used as a drop-in computer.) We expect this situation to be resolved by late September or early October. When it is done, the Small Lab will be filled with 27-inch displays and Mac mini M1 computers.

Important Dates in April and May

As we come to the end of the Winter Term and begin the Spring/Summer Term, you will want to pay attention to these important dates:

Week of April 22: All student files will be deleted from Lab computers and server.
April 26: Card access deleted for students granted access due to a Winter class (i.e., non-majors).
April 29 – May 14: No services. Computers available by card access only.
May 6: Spring classes begin.
May 15: Spring/Summer service schedule begins: in-person services Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays or by appointment; support via email Tuesdays and Fridays.

Lab staff will take additional vacation time in June, July, and August. These dates will be announced in late May. If you need services during those months (we’re looking at you, graduate students), let us know as soon as possible what your deadlines are so that we can create a schedule for all students to access our lab services in a timely manner.

Reading Week 2024

The University is closed on Monday, February 19 and there are no classes for the rest of that week. Your technical staff will also be taking that week off, but you can still gain access to the Labs with your Unicard. If you require services such as equipment loans or photographic printing, you should arrange those by February 15 so as to avoid disappointment.

End of Fall Term Information

Yes, Lab staff are still working between the end of classes and the holiday closure of the University. Here are the details:

File Clean-Up

All files on Lab stations will be subject to deletion as of December 15. Files on the Lab Server are also be subject to deletion at that time, but we will try to keep those available until December 20.

Service Hours

We plan to run (mostly) regular service hours through December 21 (09:00–16:00 weekdays, excluding lunch). We will be closed from December 22 through January 1 and will reopen on January 2 at 09:00. The following days are the exceptions to those times:

Fri., Dec. 8: 09:30 start
Mon., Dec. 11: 11:15 start
Tue., Dec. 12: 09:00–12:00, 14:15–16:00
Wed., Dec. 13: 10:30 start

As we will be doing some technical work during this period, not all stations or services may be available at all times. Please contact us in advance if you have time-sensitive work.

Printing Week of December 4

Here are the hours for services (including printing) for the last week of classes, December 4:

Monday: 11:00–12:00, 13:00–14:00
Tuesday: 09:00–14:00
Wednesday: 11:00–14:00

If additional times become available, we will post that on Mastodon and will try to update this page as well.

Adobe Creative Cloud Black Friday Deal

If your classes this Term have made you interested in paying Adobe to use their products, then now would be the time to subscribe. As part of their Black Friday Sale (which ends Friday, Nov. 24), you can get all Creative Cloud apps for $21/month on a one-year contract (there are penalties for cancelling early, as we describe on our help page on the topic, so just assume you’ll be paying the $262+tax). This is a savings of $5 per month.

If all you want are Photoshop and/or Lightroom, the regular Photography (20 GB) plan priced at $13/month for a year is a better bet. (They have tried to hide this option in favour of the $26/month plan with 1 TB of cloud storage, but click on the Compare Plans link and it will show up.)

Fall Break Services

We will have limited services during Fall Break. Here are the details:

Monday, Nov. 13 — University Closed, Card Access to Labs available
Tuesday & Wednesday, Nov. 14 & 15 — No services, Card Access to Labs available
Thursday & Friday, Nov. 16 & 17 — Services available 09:00–12:00, 13:00-16:00, Card Access at other times