Wednesday, 30 October 2019

ToonBoom Harmony Returns on 18 March 2020

Plamen Ananiev with Harmony animators at Escape Studios
Our popular 2D Animation evening class in Toonboom Harmony is returning on Wednesday 18 March 2020.

The class runs for 10 weeks, one evening a week (Tuesdays), and is an introduction to animating in Toonboom Harmony, one of the leading software packages for the creation of 2D animation.

The evening class is taught by Harmony animator Plamen Ananiev, who is an animator at London animation powerhouse Blue Zoo. Harmony animators are much in demand, as 2D animation experiences a significant revival, both in the UK and overseas.

Artwork by our industry mentor, Blue Zoo
Toonboom Harmony
2D Animation is experiencing a big comeback, with many 2D productions being animated in the UK.

In particular, Blue Zoo, Aardman Animation, and Brown Bag Films in Manchester all use Toonboom Harmony as their principal 2D animation platform.

Flexible software
Toonboom Harmony is a very flexible software package, that allows the user to combined 2D rigged puppet-style animation with the ability to add hand-draw elements in the traditional way. Users praise the flexibility and intuitive nature of the interface.

Animation basics
The 8 week course will cover the basics of locomotion and mechanics in animation, and also 2D rigging, and aims to get students familiar with the software, to enable them to apply for the many studios in the UK and overseas that are embracing this software package. 

Blue Zoo is our industry mentor for this course
The course is aimed at animators wanting to acquire 2D software skills. This course will enable students to learn the basics of 2D animation using Toonboom Harmony; no prior knowledge of the software is required.

Evening Class
You will be expected to attend an evening class one night a week, and will be set simple projects to do in-class, as well as project work to do between classes. You will also have the opportunity to develop your portfolio or demo reel.

Toonboom Harmony licenses
Toonboom Harmony Class at Escape Studios
Toonboom have agreed an exclusive arrangement for Escape students - an extended period over and above the usual trial period for a Harmony license.

This means that our students can download the software and practice at home what they have learned in class over the full period of the course. 

Jobs for 2D Animators
2D Animation is experiencing a big revival, with many productions  being animated right here in London. Blue Zoo in particular has been looking recently for junior animators with Harmony experience.

Plamen Ananiev
Industry Mentor
Our industry mentor is Blue Zoo, who use ToonBoom Harmony. 
As with all our courses, the class builds up to a live industry brief, ensuring that student work is well targeted towards employers looking to recruit talent.

We also have had invaluable support from London's Karrot Animation, who have helpfully provided us with character rigs for use in the course. 

Tutor
Our tutor is the very talented Plamen Ananiev, an experienced 2D animator, formerly on Simon's Cat in London, but now working at Blue Zoo.

You can see some of Plamen's work in Harmony in the video below.


Plamen Ananiev Toon Boom Harmony Rigging Showreel from ananiev.plamen@gmail.com on Vimeo.

Course outline
Week 1 - User interface & setup
Week 2 - Animation basics – the Bouncing Ball
Week 3 - Rigging basics 1
Week 4 - Rigging basics 2
Week 5 - Locomotion cycles
Week 6 - Advanced locomotion
Week 7 - Final project – planning
Week 8 - Develop final project
Week 9 - Submit final project
(industry brief)
Week 10 - Demo Reel

Where and When
Location: Midtown campus, 190 High Holborn
Start date: Wednesday 18 March 2020
Tuition fee: £1,295
Mode of study: Part time (Wednesday evenings: 7pm - 10pm)
Programme duration: 10 weeks

Free license and Online resources
In the meantime, check out some of the online Harmony resources available here.  Toonboom have recently (March 15th 2020) released a free home version of their software for student use, for at least 30 days.

Demo Reel
Finally, to see what kind of animation can be done in Harmony, watch the official Toonboom Harmony demo reel below.




The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To find out more about our new BA/MArt, now recruiting for September 2019, follow this link.   To apply, visit the offical page here.  




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