AN4001 Starts on January 8 2024

 

For our first year undergraduate students, our core animation module - Animation 1 - starts in the New Year, with our first group beginning on Monday 8 January.  AN4001 is a 15 Credit module that teaches all our first year students the fundamentals of character and creature animation. AN4001 lasts four weeks, and covers all the basic principles of animation. To see some of the best work done by our first year undergraduate animators, watch the short video above, cut together by Escape Studios' animation tutor Marc Stevenson.

Introduction to Maya

Clown walk by Ben Swallow

AN4001 is where our students first tackle Maya, and the basics of character animation. 

Bouncing Ball

The class starts with the basics - the "Bouncing Ball", then the Lamp Hop, then a Walk Cycle, then Character Walks

and a Run Cycle. 

Tutors

This year the lead tutor is Alex Williams, Dean of Animation and VFX at Escape studios and veteran of many animated films.  Also teaching is Julien Rashti, DNEG animator and layout artist. 

AN4001 - Animation Basics

AN4001 is a 4 week introduction to animation module, where our first year undergraduate students explore the basics of animation, from a bouncing ball through to sophisticated motion. 

Assignments include walks, runs, jumps and FX animation.

You can see an example of AN4001 animation by Escapee Maria Robertson on the right. 

Tutors

Tutors: Julien Rashti & Alexander Williams 

This year AN4001 is being taught by Alexander Williams, Dean of Animation & VFX at Escape Studios, and DNEG animator and 3D layout artist Julien Rashti. 

Studio Assistants
We have three Studio Assistants helping out with AN4001, including Stevie Stedman, Molly McCabe and Sunny Asadi.

Autodesk Maya

Maya - still the Leading Animation Package

The main software we teach is Autodesk Maya, still the global leader and industry standard for animation and visual effects.  Students can download an educational license of Maya for home use here.

Toonboom Harmony

Our students on the new "2D Animation Pathway" may use Toonboom Harmony, Adobe Animate or Photoshop.  However, note that the class is being taught in Maya. 

Vimeo Channel

100s of Videos Available at our Vimeo Tutorial Channel

We have hundreds of animation tutorial videos available at our Vimeo Tutorial Channel. They are all password protected, so ask us for the password.

Escape Method
These videos form part of what we call "The Escape Method", intensive classroom teaching combined with online support and industry engagement to mimic as closely as possible the experience of working in a real animation studio.

Do Some Animation Tutorials

Run animation by Jake Roberts

To find the Vimeo Tutorial Channel, follow this link. 

Start with the following key tutorials:

• Bouncing Ball Tutorial 
• Lamp Hop 
• "Monty" Walk Cycle
• "Heavy" Walk Cycle
• Character Walks
• "Monty" Run Cycle

If you have time, try animating a run with "Heavy" and also animate a jump.  This way you will build your skills and gain in confidence.

Lighting & Rendering

Basic Lighting in Arnold - Sky Shader

You should light and render your shots. To learn some basic lighting setups, see the resources below:

• Basic Lighting in Arnold - Sky Shader
• Basic Lighting in Arnold in Maya - Physical Sky
• Create a Starry Sky in Arnold and Maya with Arnold Skydome
• Create a Render Sequence in Arnold
• Export a Movie File in Adobe Premiere 

FX Animation

Students studying VFX and Games will likely want to tackle some of our FX animation tutorials, which you can find here. Learn how to animate flags, falling dice, cloth, hair and muscle simulations.

YouTube

To see more examples of work done by students on AN4001 Locomotion & Mechanics, see our YouTube Playlist here.

UG Shares

In UG shares you will find plenty of free assets to get started. UG shares is where we keep most of our production assets, including character rigs, sets and props for student use.  Looking for a cartoony landscape, a friendly cartoon cat, a robot or a prison cell?  We've got an asset for you.

Animation & VFX Library

We have dozens of books available to borrow from the Animation & VFX Library on the 11th Floor. 

The key textbook for this module is The Animator's Survival Kit. We have many copies in the library. 

We also have books on storyboarding, games, 3D VFX, 2D VFX and much else.

AN4001 Calendar
Classes run from the start of January 2024 until the end of May 2024. See Schedule below: 

After Directed Study Week

After Easter 2024

Final Deliverable - Portfolio

10-15 Seconds of Locomotion Animation

Lamp Animation by Kamile Pranckunaite

Students should create a short animation around 10 to 15 seconds long.  The animation should feature a biped (or perhaps a lamp) doing a cyclical action (running, walking, sneaking, etc) and another action, which may or may not be cyclical (a jump, fall, punch, etc). 

The actions should be combined in such a way in order to tell a simple story. Basic props can be made or downloaded from Turbosquid.com if necessary.  You can find useful rigs at UG Shares. 

Development PDF 

Students should also include a single PDF document (1-2 pages) showing development, such as thumbnail sketches, storyboards, links to live action reference - anything that helped with the development of the shot.  This could also be a blog and/or website. 

No MoCap & No AI!

No MoCap! No AI!

Important Note: This is a keyframe animation class, designed to teach the art and craft of animation with timing and spacing. Therefore, no MoCap (and No AI) is permitted.  

Using MoCap or AI to pass this Module is cheating, and will result in an automatic fail. 

Final Deliverable - Retrospective

How to Write a Retrospective

Students must submit a Retrospective of around 1500 words explaining their process and how they approached the animation.  To see more about how to write a Retrospective, read this blog post.
The Retrospective is due on the monday after the Portfolio submission.

First year at Escape Studios - and 2nd, 3rd & 4th years

To see more detail about how undergraduate animation and VFX works at Escape Studios, follow these links:

• First Year of Study at Escape Studios
• Second Year at Escape Studios 
• Third Year at Escape Studios.  
• Fourth & Final Year at Escape Studios (Integrated MArt)

Lamp Animation by Kamile Pranckunaite

An excellent example of animation for Module AN4001 can be seen in Kam Pranckunaite's animation below:

 

The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To apply for one of our courses, follow this link.