Creating Characters + Animating Stories w

By acting out what we want our characters to do in real-time, this course will provide the foundation and means to create animations that before would have required months learning a piece of software. The class will culminate in each student having a short animatic with their character in a small skit we develop throughout the course including:

• Basic character emotions, lip-syncing and movements
• Animated character items (such as clothing, tools, various objects)
• Backgrounds and mood (how they affect your character + add to the story you’re telling)
• Walk-Cycles

Finally, we will use all that we’ve created over the course to put together a short animatic that tells a story. Students will leave this class with a collection of basic character animations and a short animation reel (featuring the kinds of demonstrated skills and variety companies look for in a reel).

This class will provide a solid groundwork for students to push their animation and storytelling skills further, with a solid understanding of basic character creation, the “frame”, as well as basic animation and storytelling principles.

What you’ll need :

• A computer with a webcam
• Access to Adobe’s Creative Suite (Photoshop/Illustrator + Character Animator + After Effects)
• A love of story, strong characters and animation!