For a one-time enrollment price, I guide you through everything from the very basics of equipment and how to use it, all the way through my full animation workflow. I use step-by-step exercises you can learn and apply in your own animation projects. You can take these lessons in any order and at your own pace.
This is the ultimate guide to getting started in 2D animation, with a curriculum of over 110+ training videos (19+ hours) with exclusive downloadable material to complement your learning.
Course Curriculum
1) Introductions and Context
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- 1. Opening message (3:26)
- 2. About this course - What you will learn (28:19)
- 3. COURSE MATERIALS, USEFUL BOOKS AND RESOURCES (0:56)
- SELF MOTIVATION #1 (new) (8:52)
- 4. What is animation? A Context (4:17)
- 5. The 6 Types of Animation (3:29)
- 6. Our specific focus (2:03)
- 7. The limits of FBF (2:20)
- 8. Glossary of Animation Terms
- Part 1 Quiz (new)
- SELF MOTIVATION #2 (5:10)
2) Tools of the Trade
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- TVPaint 20% discount (5:22)
- 1. 2D Animation SOFTWARE compared side by side (1:24)
- 2. Software Horoscope - Choose what is right for you
- 3. Using Krita as a free alternative
- 5. Software PIPELINES Explained (1:54)
- 6. One Program is all you need to start (0:35)
- 7. Bitmap vs Vector (2:25)
- 8. Hardware recommendations (Tablets) (43:36)
- 9. Hardware recommendations (Computer) (11:57)
- 10. Setting up your tablet for animation (8:50)
- 11. How to import source files and VIDEO footage into any software (16:23)
- Part 2 Quiz (new)
3) The Basics of Adobe Flash / Animate
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4) The Basics of TVPaint
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- 1. Interface and shortcuts (14:28)
- 2. Brushes and other tools (11:07)
- 3. Customizing your brush (5:18)
- 4. Adding textures to your animation frames (4:30)
- 5. Demonstrating the timeline #1 (12:01)
- 6. Demonstrating the timeline #2 (6:49)
- 7. Demonstrating the timeline #3 (9:57)
- 8. Motion tweening (10:12)
- 9. Colouring frames (11:38)
- 10. Repeating actions - the hidden power of TVPaint (8:49)
- Part 4 Quiz (new)
5) Drawing Fundamentals
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- SELF MOTIVATION #3 (new) (6:06)
- 1. Drawing exercises for animation (26:51)
- 2. Perspective and the Cube - Part 1 (18:05)
- 3. Perspective and the Cube - Part 2 (22:47)
- 4. Perspective and the Cube - Part 3 (17:58)
- 5. New: Drawing organic objects with form - exercise (25:28)
- 6. Drawing the body from imagination - part 1 (13:37)
- 7. Drawing people from imagination - part 2 (15:12)
- 8. What is Gesture - part 1 (22:25)
- 9. Figure drawing exercises to start off - part 2 (19:46)
- 10. Figure drawing demos and observations - part 3 (22:43)
- 11. Figure drawing demos and observations - part 4 (23:02)
- 12. Tips for drawing natural landscapes (5:03)
- 13. Tips for drawing urban environments (6:15)
- Part 5 Quiz (new)
6) Principles Introduction
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7) Animation Exercise 1: SWARM in Flash
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- 1. Recap: How to use ONION SKIN in Flash (6:36)
- 2. Creating a moving particle (Particle 1) (7:44)
- 3. Varied spacing with slow-in-slow-out (Particle 2) (8:21)
- 4. Adding a motion streak (Particle 3) (5:19)
- 5. Starting a swarm with secondary action (7:13)
- 6. How to build complexity in your swarm (13:14)
- 7. How to EXPORT your animation (6:11)
- 8. How to ENCODE your animation (7:54)
- 9. How to use SYMBOLS in Flash/Animate (11:35)
- SELF MOTIVATION #4 (2:55)
- SELF MOTIVATION #5 (1:57)
8) Animation Exercise 2: Bouncing Ball in Flash
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- 1. Introducing gravity and the bouncing ball (3:47)
- 2. The bouncing ball explained (21:34)
- 3. EXTRA - timelapse of making ball bounce examples + commentary (10:24)
- 4. Setting the trajectory (6:51)
- 5. Drawing the keyframes (7:29)
- 6. Drawing the breakdowns (7:24)
- 7. Timing the keyframes (7:05)
- 8. Inbetweening (16:40)
- 9. Making adjustments on the go (22:38)
- 10. How to edit multiple frames at once (12:05)
- 11. Adding a tail (11:56)
- 12. How to animate a ball in 3D perspective (optional / advaced demo) (11:42)
- 13. Animating a bouncing ball in 3D perspective - (optional / advanced demo) (21:10)
- SELF MOTIVATION #6 (1:30)
- SELF MOTIVATION #7 (1:34)
9) Animation Exercise 3: Walk Cycle in TVPaint
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- 1. Introducing the walk cycle concept (16:58)
- 2. Simple robot walk cycle (12:16)
- Full Body prep - Human construction from side angle (NEW) (53:31)
- Full body prep - The Frame order of drawing poses (20:05)
- 3. full body legs walk (13:52)
- 4. Annotating the poses (14:02)
- 5. Adding the arms (18:31)
- 6. Walk cycle at a 3d angle (advanced) (28:26)
- 7. Walk cycle moving forward (11:25)
- 8. Advanced walk cycles - beyond the mechanics
- SELF MOTIVATION #8 (1:32)
10) Animation Exercise 4: Turn and Aim in TVPaint
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- 1. Inbetweening recap: direct inbetweens and timing (19:07)
- 2. Inbetweening recap: favoring and spacing (23:47)
- 3. Introduction to the turn and aim demo (1:12)
- 4. Thumbnailing and studying reference (4:38)
- 5. Starting strong with some good key poses (2:30)
- 6. Information rich animation + what not to do (8:47)
- 7. Adding extra keys and breakdowns (7:06)
- 8. The order of drawing your frames (1:58)
- 9. Adding subtlety and detail to your animation (6:27)
- 10. Timing your animation after keys and breakdowns (4:29)
- 11. Dramatic anticipation and distorting your frames (6:25)
- 12. Making Exaggerated - Cartoony Movement (3:59)
- 13. About timing charts (4:36)
- 14. Timelapse process with explanation (Part 1) (12:50)
- 15. Timelapse process with explanation (Part 2) (14:58)
- 16. Bonus - how to add motion blur (13:46)
- 17. How to research and choose colour for your animation (13:59)
- 18. Painting a background for the scene (15:34)
- 19. How to cel-shade your animated character (21:14)
- 20. How to fill your animation frames with colour (in record time!) (19:29)
- 21 - colouring lines (11:16)
- SELF MOTIVATION #9 (3:26)
11) Animation Production
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- 1. The 10 steps of animation production (9:29)
- 2. How to make a SHOTLIST for your animation (10:38)
- 3. Compositing in After Effects (part 1) (34:13)
- 4. Compositing in After Effects (part 2) (20:01)
- 5. Compositing in After Effects (part 3) OPTIONAL 3D background trick (11:33)
- 6. How to add SOUND to your animation (lesson 1) (21:56)
- 7. How to design the SOUND of your animation (lesson 2) (28:48)
- 8. Hiring and working with VOICE ACTORS
- 9. Hiring and working with MUSIC COMPOSERS
- 10. How to paint BACKGROUNDS for your animation
12) Reference and Inspiration
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13) Story
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14) Storyboarding Fundamentals
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- 1. The 180 degree rule (lecture 1) (20:20)
- 2. The 180 degree rule (lecture 2) (32:20)
- 3. The 30 degree rule (4:52)
- 4. Composition for storytelling 1 (24:55)
- 5. Composition for storytelling 2 (31:47)
- 6. Composition for storytelling 3 (33:19)
- 7. Camera angles and camera movement in Animation
- 8. Creating atmosphere in your animation
- 9. Montage Theory Explained (25:57)
15) Conclusion
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This $200 course is better than the $4000 uni course I took.
Would highly recommend." - James Dickson
My name is Howard Wimshurst. I'm an award-winning animator from London
I have worked professionally for a variety of clients ranging from the BBC to Sam Kolder.
As a teacher I have produced over 170 video lessons which have taught over over 215 thousand subscribers my advanced animation techniques. Until now, my lessons have been about advanced animation topics. I have never gone in-depth with the basics of how I actually make my animations.
I look forward to mentoring you through what took me 8 years to develop on my own.