Advanced Animation (18 weeks)

• Access to the internet
• 3 button mouse (or optionally a Wacom tablet or similar)
• Wacom tablet/ Microsoft Ink 
• Desktop or laptop meeting the Autodesk requirements for Maya (https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/System-requirements-for-Autodesk-Maya-2020.html)
• A microphone
• Webcam (not compulsory)
• Materials to take notes, such as notebook and pen/pencil

• We partner with professionals who provide personalised industry feedback for all our daytime courses (full-time). On our previous Animation courses, we have partnered with top artists including Aaron Hartline from Pixar, known for his work on Up!, Toy Story 3 and Inside Out.

• Fast track your career in just 18 weeks - working in the fast paced environment will equip you for industry and you can start applying for job roles as soon as you’ve completed the programme.

• You’ll work on industry designed briefs that replicate the real workplace from the comfort of your home. We give you experience of real life scenarios, such as dealing with briefs with varying requirements, deadlines and resources.

• You'll study in an environment that mirrors an animation studio, and will begin your introduction to the digital animation pipeline and will work with tools such as Autodesk Maya and Adobe Photoshop.

• You’ll develop your very own demo reel in the final weeks of the course. This will become your visual CV for future employers and will help you stand out in this growing but ever competitive industry.

We pride ourselves on our industry powered training, that's why we partner with some of the world's leading studios on all our Escape Studios daytime short courses (full-time). Royce Wesley from Pixar provided expert feedback for previous intake of the Animation course. Royce Wesley from Pixar provided expert feedback for previous intake of the Animation course. Royce's impressive list of film credits include Brave, Coco, Robots and Inside Out! 

This is a great opportunity for our students to receive industry standard critique from an expert in their field, personalised feedback allows students to improve their work to guarantee it's studio ready. 

Module 1 - Locomotion and Mechanics

Week 1 - General Introduction to Maya

• Basic modelling
• Texturing
• Lighting

Week 2 - General Introduction to Maya

• Lighting
• Texturing
• Rigging

Week 3 - General Principles of Animation and an Introduction to Locomotion

Week 4 - Advanced Locomotion

• Runs
• Hops
• Jumps
• Skips

Week 5 - Introduction to Character Animation

Week 6 - More on Character Animation

• Building and blocking a shot
• Parenting
• Constraints

Module 2 - Character Performance

Week 1 - Weight and flexibility. Cartoon physics - animating a Box Lift creating characters

Week 2 - Animal locomotion, trots walks and runs

Week 3 - Animal locomotion continued

Week 4 - Acting, dialogue and lipsync

Week 5 - Final exercise

Week 6 - Demo reel

Module 3 (unit 13-18) - Animals and Creatures

Week 1 - Advanced character animation: dialogue and lipsync

Week 2 - Advanced character animation: acting and performance

Week 3 - Advanced motion capture and facial performance

Week 4 - Advanced creature animation: creature performance and acting

Week 5 - Advanced character and creature interactions

Week 6 - Demo reel and polish

• Maya

Our students go on to work in many areas of the industry including 3D animation for films, TV, games, and visual effects. After the classroom course is over we offer three months of online mentoring, so that our students can continue to refine and polish their skills. We take aftercare very seriously - since it can take time to put together a job-ready demo reel, we make sure our students get the time and practice that they need to refine their work to make them job-ready. Learn more about our Aftercare support.

See some of our Escape Studios animation success stories

See some of the work done by students at Escape

Some of the junior opportunities you will be able to consider on completion of the course include:

• Runner
• Junior Animator
• 3D Animator

As you develop more experience and your skills develop further, the pool of roles you will be suitable for will grow. Find more careers advice here.