Animation Tutorials at Our Vimeo Channel

Animators - aim high

Our Vimeo Tutorial Channel is our central hub for our animation and VFX video tutorials, making it easier than ever for our students to find tutorials to support their classroom studies.  

Tutorials begin with the basics, such as the bouncing ball, and progress through to complex character and creature animation.  

We also have tutorials on walks, character walks and runs, as well as physical actions such as a character throwing a ball. 

 You can also find tutorials on weight, flexibility and overlapping action as well as body mechanics and parkour, and the use of live action reference and mocap.

Vimeo Channel

You can find the rest of our Vimeo Tutorials at the main Vimeo Channel page here. You can also search the animation tutorials by individual subject:

• Animation Tutorials - Locomotion & Mechanics
• Character Animation Tutorials
• Animal & Creature Animation Tutorials

Animation Basics

In Animation Basics, students learn the fundamental principles of character animation, such as timing, spacing and performance. Start with the Bouncing Ball and then move on to the Lamp Hop and Performance.

Bouncing Ball - Intro to Animation
Bouncing Ball by Amanda Costa
https://vimeo.com/album/5605446

For more on the Bouncing Ball tutorial by Amanda Costa, read this blog post.

Bouncing Ball - Animation Basics
Bouncing ball animation by Marc Stevenson
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxIzoEJ0jom1OAADDSKNk_ZookHxR6dLm
For more on the Bouncing Ball Tutorial, see this blog post.

Luxo Lamp Hop
Luxo Lamp hop cycle and performance by Alexander Williams 
https://vimeo.com/album/5793268

To find out more about character animation with the Luxo Lamp, read this blog post.

Locomotion - Walks & Character Walks

Many of our locomotion tutorials use the free "Monty" rig a green pea with legs. For a brief introduction to Monty, and how to get the best out of him, read this blog post.  There are two basic ways to animate a walk cycle, one is by advancing the character across the screen, the other is by animating a character walking "on the spot" as if on a treadmill. we recommend starting with the first method. To see more, read this blog post.

Basic Walk Cycle with "Ultimate Walker"
Basic Walk Cycle by Amanda Costa
https://vimeo.com/album/5605446
For more on the basic walk cycle tutorial, read this blog post.

Basic Walk Cycle with "Monty" the Green Pea
Basic walk cycle with "Monty" by Alex Williams. 
This tutorial shows how to animate a walk, translating the character across the screen, taking two steps.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/6896689
For more on animating a basic walk with Monty, see this blog post

Basic Walk Cycle with a Human Biped
Basic walk cycle, animated "on the spot" on a treadmill, with Heavy from Team Fortress. Tutorial by Alex Williams
https://vimeo.com/showcase/6316953
For more on how to use the Heavy rig, see this blog post.

Walk Cycle with "Monty" by Marc Stevenson
In this short series of videos by Marc Stevenson, Marc explains his own approach to animating a walk cycle with Monty.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxIzoEJ0jom219V3b8e_b5B-8iDeDlJdN

For more on Marc's approach to animating a walk cycle with Monty, read this blog post.

Walk Cycle with "Stewart" by Marc Stevenson
Walk cycle with "Stewart" by Marc Stevenson.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIDuaRsUZUk&list=PLxIzoEJ0jom0fM2IISbqOsj2UNwg7WJbg

For more on Marc's approach to animating a walk cycle with Stewart, read this blog post.

Character Walks with "Monty"
Character Walks with "Monty" the green pea by Alexander Williams
https://vimeo.com/album/5605446 

For more on the character walks tutorial by Alex Williams, read this blog post.

Bringing a Walk Cycle to a Stop
Bringing a walk cycle to a stop with Marc Stevenson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x99wHR8dsCY&list=PLxIzoEJ0jom2RfJeAVwfkj5kRbQw8ztza&index=2

For more on how to bring a walking character to a halt, read this blog post.

How to Stop Feet Sliding in a Walk Cycle
How to stop feet sliding in a walk cycle
https://vimeo.com/showcase/5874233

For a discussion of how to stop feet sliding in a walk cycle, see this blog post.

Creating Turntable Animations
by Michael Davies
https://vimeo.com/album/5399154
For more on creating Turntable Animations, see this blog post.



Locomotion - Runs & Jumps


Run Cycle with a Biped Primitive

Basic Run cycle with the "Ultimate Walker" biped primitive by Jasvinder Sahota https://vimeo.com/album/5605446

For more on the basic run cycle tutorial by Jasvinder Sahota, using the "Ultimate Walker" rig, see this blog post.

"Monty" Run Cycle with Marc Stevenson

Run Cycle with Monty by Marc Stevenson
Run Cycle with "Monty" the green pea by Marc Stevenson
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxIzoEJ0jom22benUOzRiACkFn-Y01yiB

For more on animating a run cycle with "Monty", see this blog post.

Run Cycle with Monty by Alex Williams
Animating a Run with Monty
https://vimeo.com/showcase/7265813

For more on animating a run cycle with "Monty", see this blog post.

Run Cycle with Rocket Girl by Amedeo Beretta
Run Cycle with Rocket Girl, by Amedeo Beretta
https://vimeo.com/album/5853121

For more on the Run Cycle with Rocket Girl, see this blog post.

Animating a Jump
Animating a character jumping, using the free Morpheus rig, with Alexander Williams
https://vimeo.com/showcase/6875143

For more on animating jumps, see this blog post.

Maya Tools, Techniques, Plugins & Best Practice

Setting Up Your Shot - File Referencing

How to Do File Referencing Right by Amedeo Beretta
https://vimeo.com/album/5874233
For more on file referencing, read this blog post.

Maya Grease Pencil Tool
Using the Grease Pencil Tool in Maya - by Amedeo Beretta
https://vimeo.com/showcase/5874233/video/332675669

Also read this blog post on the Grease Pencil tool.

Baking Curves in Maya

How to bake curves in Maya, and what "baking" actually means

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fot0D5AU_Cg&feature=youtu.be

Escape Studios' Animation Shelf
Learn how to install the Escape Studios' Animation Shelf, a special shelf put together by UG Program Leader Michael Davies.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S8WBU1D7LitUWXBeerSXRB1_gN1X5HeK/view?usp=sharing

Blend Shapes (aka "Morph Targets")

Learn how to animate a UFO traveling down a city street using simple Blend Shapes, with Alex Williams. 

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7780757

Blend Shapes are a modeling tool that can be used to create animation. You can find out more at this blog post here.

Working with Animation Layers

How to animate with Animation Layers with Amedeo Beretta. 

https://vimeo.com/576760099

It has been added to the Animation Best Practices showcase:

https://vimeo.com/manage/showcases/5874233/

How to Animate with Animation Layers with Lee Caller

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngMORO7EAqo

Animation: Constraints, Attachments & Parenting

These videos focus on how to attach and un-attach objects in Maya. There are a number of different ways to do this in Maya.

How to install the ParentMaster Plugin (Maya 2019)
Installation of the PaentMaster Plugin by Alex Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5R1X2qXv1g
To see how the ParentMaster works in detail, see this blog post.
Also download the  ParentMaster Plugin from HighEnd3D.com

Animating with Constraints by Marc Stevenson
Animating with Constraints by Marc Stevenson
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxIzoEJ0jom1fWGC90iL9exlp3xnoQoZc

For more on animating with constraints, read this blog post.



Animation: Flexibility & Overlapping Action

Animating a Fox with a flexible tail
Animating a foxy character with a flexible tail by Alex Williams
https://vimeo.com/showcase/5874233

To see how to use the "Ultimate Tailed" rig, read this blog post.

Fox Animation with Flexible Tail by Marc Stevenson
Fox Animation Tutorial with Flexible Tail by Marc Stevenson
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxIzoEJ0jom2POIXukMCVleEvkScCgOSP

For more on how to animate the Foxy Tail, and find the "Ultimate Tailed" rig, see this blog post.

Helicopter Airship with a flexible caboose
Helicopter airship tutorial with Alexander Williams
https://vimeo.com/showcase/7250765

To see more about animating the helicopter airship, see this blog post.


Animation: Body Mechanics & Parkour

Body Mechanics Tutorial with Amedeo Beretta
Body Mechanics Tutorial with Amedeo Beretta, using the "Ultimate Walker" rig.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/7400864

For more on the Body Mechanics Tutorial with Amedeo Beretta, see this blog post.

To find the "Ultimate Walker" character rig, follow this link.

Parkour Animation Principles with Paloma Zhu
Body Mechanics Principles with Paloma Zhu, showing how to approach a body mechanics shot.
https://vimeo.com/444600001You can find the tutorial here.

To see more about the parkour animation tutorial with Paloma Zhu, see this blog post.


Animation - Character Actions & Weight

Animating a Character Throwing a Box
Animate the character "Heavy" from Team Fortress throwing a box - with Marc Stevenson
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxIzoEJ0jom2RfJeAVwfkj5kRbQw8ztza

To see more about how to animate a character throwing a box with Marc Stevenson, and about the Heavy rig, read this blog post.

Animate a Character Throwing a Ball
Learn how to animate a character throwing a ball with Alex Williams
This tutorial uses the free Morpheus rig, and also explores how to use live action reference to create believable animation.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/7385962

To see more about how to animate a character throwing a ball, read this blog post.

Animating a Character Lifting a Heavy Object
Animating a character lifting a heavy object, using "Heavy" from Team Fortress, with Alex Williams.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/7306818

To see more about how to animate a character lifting a heavy object, read this blog post.


Flour Sack Suicide 
Animating a Flour Sack in Maya with Alex Williams
https://vimeo.com/showcase/7306827

For more on Animating a Flour Sack in Maya, see this blog post.

Animate a Weight Shift with Monty

Learn to animate a character shift their weight from one foot to the other, using the "Monty" Rig.

With Alex Williams

https://escapestudiosanimation.blogspot.com/2022/12/animate-weight-shift-with-monty.html

https://vimeo.com/showcase/10024731

Animation - Motion Capture & Live Action Reference

How to Import Live Action into Maya 
Importing live action onto an image plane into Maya for use as reference, by Alex Williams
https://youtu.be/xaO6PQ6C940
Also see this blog post on the use of live action reference in animation

Using and Adapting Motion Capture
Animating with Motion Capture data by Steven Lall
https://vimeo.com/album/5605446
For more on the Motion Capture tutorial by Steven Lall, read this blog post.

Motion Capture Retargeting
MoCap retargeting with Amedeo Beretta
https://vimeo.com/356232162
For more on MoCap retargeting, read this blog post.

Use Live Action to Animate a Horse Rearing

https://vimeo.com/showcase/8900385

How to animate a horse rearing with Alex Williams

For more on how to use live action to animate a horse rearing, see this blog post. 

Use Live Action to Animate a Character Dancing

Use Live Action to Animate a Character Dancing - with Alex Williams

https://vimeo.com/showcase/9364237

For more details on how to animate a character dancing, read this blog post.

Animation: Quadruped Walks, Trots & Runs

How to Block Out and Plan Creature Animation

The theory behind blocking and planning creature animation by Alex Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeEn3smIcC8
Also see this blog post on planning and blocking creature animation. 

Quadruped Locomotion - Walks, Trots & Runs
Quadruped Walks, Trots & Runs with a low-poly sabre tooth tiger rig, by Maria Robertson
https://vimeo.com/album/5698554
Also read this blog post for more on quadruped locomotion.

Quadruped Transitions - Walks, Trots & Runs
Quadruped Transitions using the Sabre Tooth rig and the Maya Time Editor by Maria Robertson

https://vimeo.com/showcase/6551271
Also read this blog post on animating transitions.

Horse Walk, Trot & Run with Alex Williams

Horse Locomotion - Walks Trots & Runs
Horse Locomotion - Walks, Trots and Runs with Alex Williams
https://vimeo.com/showcase/6711043
Also read this blog post about horse locomotion, with rig suggestions. 

Horse Run Tutorial with Marc Stevenson

Horse run tutorial with Marc Stevenson

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxIzoEJ0jom14wxh6i0BI9aRxh3lhaRil

Also see this blog post:

https://escapestudiosanimation.blogspot.com/2021/09/horse-run-tutorial-with-marc-stevenson.html

Leopard Walk with Alex Williams

Quadruped Locomotion - Animating a Leopard Walk

with Alexander Williams

Showcase: https://vimeo.com/showcase/8613093

To see more about animating the leopard walk, including information about the Truong CG rig, see this blog post. 

Putting Animals on a Path 

Putting animals on a path with Marc Stevenson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dw30wLf-X4&list=PLxIzoEJ0jom0YN5X8MIxQ19uK02h7OTeC&index=1

Also see this blog post on putting animals on a path.

Planning Animal and Creature Animation

Blog post on Planning Animal & Creature Animation.

Animation: Bugs, Dinosaurs, Dragons, Butterflies & Birds

Crab & Spider Locomotion

Six-legged crab animation by Maria Robertson
https://vimeo.com/showcase/6055339
For more on the crab animation, see this blog post

Spider Locomotion Tutorial with Alex Williams
https://vimeo.com/showcase/7543710

Spider locomotion tutorial using the free spider rig "Raa".
This tutorial by Alex williams explains how to animate a spider in motion using the free "Raa" spider rig, which you can read about here. You can download the Raa rig for free from HighEnd3D here.

Spider Locomotion Tutorial with Marc Stevenson

https://escapestudiosanimation.blogspot.com/2022/07/spider-locomotion-tutorial-with-marc.html

This tutorial by Marc Stevenson explains how to animate a spider in motion.

Crab "Mating Dance" using live action reference
Six-legged "Xye crab" mating dance animation by Maria Robertson 
https://vimeo.com/showcase/6191592
For more on the Xye crab animation tutorial, and where to find the parasite rig by Truong, see this blog post.


Animate a Scorpion

Animate a giant robot scorpion in motion with Alex Williams
https://vimeo.com/showcase/7266226

For more on animating a scorpion in motion, see this blog post.

Dinosaur Locomotion

Dinosaur Walk Cycle by Alexander Williams
https://vimeo.com/album/5793283

For more on dinosaur animation, read this blog post.
Also see this blog post on dinosaurs and the animation of Jurassic World.

Dragon in flight tutorial
Dragon in flight tutorial by Jamie Floodgate
https://vimeo.com/showcase/6687324
The tutorial uses the free Jaemin Dragon rig by Truong, which can be downloaded here.

For more on how to animate dragons, read this blog post.

Butterfly Animation 
How to Animate Butterfies in Motion by Alexander Williams 
https://vimeo.com/album/5793287

Also read this blog post on Butterfly animation.

Vehicle Animation Tutorial  
Cartoony Yellow Beetle tutorial by Alexander Williams
https://vimeo.com/album/5793289
For more on animating vehicles, including rig notes, read this blog post.
 

Bird in Flight Animation Tutorial
Crow in flight tutorial by Alexander Williams
https://vimeo.com/showcase/6218232
For more on animating birds in flight, see this blog post.  

Also see Brendan Body's web page on bird locomotion.

Marc Stevenson Flap Cycle Tutorial

Flap cycle with Marc Stevenson. This tutorials uses the "do one wing then cut and paste method".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kodwi0skziA&list=PLxIzoEJ0jom0gPY4zczEz3vPIBhsPgDku&index=2

Character Animation: Planning Character Animation

Creating Thumbnail Sketches to Plan Animation

How to create thumbnail sketches for planning animation - even if you don't draw well. With Alexander Williams.

Also see this blog post.

http://escapestudiosanimation.blogspot.com/2022/04/create-thumbnail-sketches-to-plan.html

Phone Booth: Planning & Blocking a Pantomime Shot
Planning & Blocking a Pantomine Shot with Alex Williams. How to create a series of poses on stepped curves that tell a story. 
https://vimeo.com/showcase/7317763
Also read this blog post on Planning & Blocking a Dialogue Shot and
this post on planning pantomime animation on stepped curves.


Planning & Blocking a Dialogue Shot

Planning & Blocking a Dialogue Shot by Alex Williams, showing how to use live action reference to create character animation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=682&v=eD2PxUtBpKs

Also read this blog post on Planning & Blocking a Dialogue Shot

Using the Tween Machine to Break down Key Poses
Using the Tween Machine by Alex Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8WvsX1CQfs
Also read this blog post on How to Use to Tween Machine



Character Animation: Reaction Shots & "Takes"

Animating a "Take" with Monty

Animate a cartoon "take" with Monty, with Alexander Williams.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/7265672

For more on how to animate a "take" with "Monty", read this blog post. 

Animate a Cartoon "Take" with a human biped with Alexander Williams

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7585922

This tutorial uses the free "Willy" rig, which you can find out more about here. 

Animating a "Take" Reaction Shot
Animating a "Take" by Simone Giampaolo
https://vimeo.com/album/5761140

Also read this blog post on how to animate a "take".


Character Animation: Acting, Dialogue & Lipsync

Dialogue Shot with "Monty"

with Alexander Williams

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7590465

Learn how to animate a dialogue shot with a character that has no mouth - no lipsync allowed.

Dialogue shot with "Willy"

with Alexander Williams

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7607996

Learn how to animate a short piece of cartoony dialogue with a cartoony character: "Willy".

This tutorial includes dialogue and lipsync.

How to animate "Head Muppeting"
Hitting the accents in lipsync animation, or "head muppeting", by Alex Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKoXTE-WCQc
Also read this blog post on the purpose of Head Muppeting.

Animating Dialogue & Lipsync
by Simone Giampaolo 
https://vimeo.com/album/5803470

For more on animating dialogue and lipsync with Simone Giampaolo, read this blog post.

Smear Frame Tutorial
by Simone Giampaolo
How to animate a "smear" transition in Maya
https://vimeo.com/album/5913129 

For more on how to animated a "smear frame" with Simone Giampaolo, read this blog post.


Character Animation: Animating Faces & Eyes

How to Animate Eye Darts
Eye Darts by Alex Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbLXBmkZJs8
Also see this blog post on Eye Darts and how to animate them.  

How to Animate a Blink - with Alex Williams

How to add a blink on a head turn 
Always add a blink on a head turn - by Alex Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyr-dLY61iE
Also see this blog post on why we blink when we turn our heads.

How to Use the Eye Direction Controller in Maya
by Alex Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymAdDwCYY8U
Also see this blog post on Eye Direction in animation 

How to create a Face Camera in Maya
by Alex Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H8ovX-wWws
Also see this blog post on creating face cameras to make facial animation faster and more efficient.

2D Animation - ToonBoom Harmony

Introduction to ToonBoom Harmony
Toonboom Harmony Walkthrough with Harry Ravelomanantsoa. 

Also see more more about the Intro to Toonboom at this blog post.

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 2023, follow this link.   To apply, visit the official page here.