Lamp Hop - a Great Addition to Your Demo Reel

Lamp hop by Lisa Springett

A simple lamp hop exercise can be a great addition to your animation demo reel.  One of the most iconic pieces of character animation ever created is Luxo Jr. — the hopping desk lamp that launched Pixar into the spotlight back in 1986. 

The lamp hop is one of the first exercises that students tackle at Animation Apprentice, and a reminder that you don’t need a complex character rig to show personality, weight, and storytelling.  A simple lamp hop animation can still be a great addition to a demo reel - just keep it short and witty - like the example above by Lisa Springett. 

Why Animators Should Light (& Render) Their Shots

Character walk with lighting by Joris Van Laar

Why You Should Light Your Animation Shots (and not just rely on greyshade or Maya Playblasts).
A strong demo reel isn’t just about great animation — it’s also about great presentation.  

Many student reels rely on greyshade renders or raw playblasts, but taking the time to add simple lighting can make a huge difference to how your work is received. 

You don’t need to be a lighting artist to benefit from a basic setup. A little polish goes a long way, and you can follow one of our super simple lighting tutorials to get a great result in just a few minutes. 

Why Animators Need Walk Cycles on a Demo Reel

Character walks with "Monty" by Neil Whitman

Every animator should have at least one good walk cycle on their demo reel.  It might seem too basic, but a walk tells a recruiter a lot about your animation skills — timing, weight, character, and appeal — all in a few seconds of motion. 

You can have a number of walk cycles on your reel, as long as they show character and personality, and as long as you keep them short.  

Free Cartoonland Set at Turbosquid

 Download the free Cartoonland set from Turbosquid

For animators starting out with animation basics, and especially those animating with the marvellous "Monty", we recommend the free Cartoonland set from Turbosquid.  

Monty is a very cartoony character, and he works best in a very cartoony environment.  As digital artists, animators need to think about the overall style of a shot, keeping all the elements consistent.

How to Balance Studying Animation with a Day Job

Many aspiring animators study part-time while holding down a full-time job. It isn't easy, but it can be done. To master the craft of animation demands patience, creativity, and many hours of focused practice. 

Our course at Animation Apprentice is designed to fit around jobs, life and families. Take your time, study online, and you will get there in the end.

With the right strategy and mindset, it is possible to make real progress, even if your life is already very busy.

What I Learned on "The Iron Giant"

"He's a giant robot Dean; it's a little...undignified"

In 1998, I had the privilege of working as an animator on The Iron Giant at Warner Bros. Feature Animation, under the direction of Brad Bird.  Working on Brad Bird's "The Iron Giant" was one of the best experiences of my career in animation.  

We had just come off "Quest For Camelot", a movie which had suffered from low morale - and which did not perform well at the box office.  

After Quest, Everyone at Warner Bros was excited for Brad's Iron Giant - and the team was confident it would be a hit. After all, with a strong story, a great director and a great animation team - what could possibly go wrong? 

Can You Get Maya For Free?

Maya is free for animation students - but only if you are enrolled in a registered school, college or university programme.  

For all our students starting with us in our next scheduled class, Autodesk offer an education copy of Maya for free - you can download it from the official Autodesk site.

Autodesk Maya has been the dominant software package in 3D animation for over 20 years. I first used Maya 1.0 on "The Iron Giant", back in 1998.  And today it remains the most powerful package for the creation of 3D animation, still by far the most widely used in industry. 

What I Learned Teaching at Cal Arts in the 1990s

In the late 1990s, while I was working at Warner Bros. Feature Animation on Quest for Camelot in Los Angeles, I had the chance to teach animation at CalArts — the California Institute of the Arts, the legendary training ground for animators, a school founded in part by Walt Disney himself in the early 1960s. 

Teaching at CalArts was an amazing experience - and also the start of my career teaching animation.  Here is some of what I learned. 

Is The Animator’s Survival Kit Still Relevant in 2025?

Richard Williams’ Animator's Survival Kit was first published over 20 years ago, before today’s digital workflows, AI-assisted tools, and real-time rendering.  

And yet, it remains one of the most essential resources for anyone learning animation. Why? Because the fundamental principles of animation don’t change. Great animation is still all about timing, spacing - and giving a memorable performance. 

Should Animators Learn Blender, Maya, or Both?

Should Animators Learn Blender, Maya, or Both? If you’re just starting out in animation, one of the first big questions is: Which software should I learn? For most students, that means choosing between Autodesk Maya and Blender. Both are powerful, both are widely used, and both have strengths — but the right choice depends on your goals.

What I Learned Working on "Pocahontas"

"Their skin's a hellish red, they're only good when dead"

One of the best experiences of my animation career was working at the Disney Studio in Los Angeles in the summer of 1994 on "Pocahontas", animating the villainous Governor Ratcliffe supervised by lead animator Duncan Marjoribanks. 

Duncan was a generous mentor, and I learned a huge amount under his guidance, as well as learning from directors Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg. 

How To Time Eye Darts

One common mistake made by junior animators is to leave out eye darts - those rapid changes of eye direction that show that a character is thinking. 

Or, the animator includes eye darts, but they are too slow and mushy to feel believable. So how do animators time eye darts? Eye darts should be super quick - ideally with no in-betweens at all. 

To time an eye dart correctly, you simply pop from one pose to another, with a one frame cushion to ease in to the final pose.  To see how to animate an eye dart, watch the video below. 

Animation on a Budget - Free & Cheap Tools

How do you get started with animation, on a tight budget with little or no experience, and no software? Actually, it's never been easier to learn the art and craft of animation.  

At Animation Apprentice we recommend starting with some lego bricks (best of all are the big "Duplo" bricks for little kids).  You will also need a smart phone, some super-cheap software ($3), and an inexpensive tripod (£17).   On the left is some animation done by my daughter, aged six.  It's not perfect, but she had a fun start to learning the medium. 

Why Animators Need a Change of Expression

"Ruber" animation by Alex Williams

One of the most common mistakes made by junior animators is the “frozen face.” A character might be moving beautifully through space—walking, talking, gesturing—but if their expression never shifts, the scene feels flat and lifeless. 

Why? Because real people don’t hold one expression for long.  In real life, our faces are in constant, subtle motion. Even when listening quietly, tiny changes in the eyebrows, mouth, or eyes reveal attention, doubt, curiosity, or impatience. These micro-shifts keep us alive and believable. In animation, a lack of change reads as stiffness or, worse, lifelessness.

Is AI Replacing Animators? Not Yet

Will AI Replace Animators?

There is a lot of doom and gloom about AI right now in the creative industries, a general assumption that we are living on borrowed time and that AI is coming for our jobs. 

But is it really? Early this year I took a break from teaching at Escape Studios (though I still teach online at Animation Apprentice) to work as Animation Director on a new feature film. And right now, I’m reminded every day that while AI tools are making waves, animation is still — at its heart — a craft driven by human creativity.  

Core Skills of VFX Handbook 2025

The updated Core Skills of VFX Handbook 2025 was recently launched at an event at Cinesite in London. 

Collated by Saint John Walker and funded by UK Screen Alliance and BFI Metro London Skills Cluster, the VFX Handbook serves as both a blueprint for course curricula in higher education and a practical guide for students learning VFX.  You can download it here. 

Happy Birthday Blue Zoo!

Blue Zoo 25th Anniversary Party

Last week the BAFTA-winning animation studio Blue Zoo celebrated their 25th birthday with a huge party that brought together past and present team members, collaborators, and friends of the studio.

The event celebrated a quarter-century of award-winning creativity, from groundbreaking children’s TV shows to acclaimed commercials.  

Blue Zoo has mentored many Escape Studios' animation students at both undergraduate and graduate level, and many Animation Apprentice graduates have begun their animation careers at Blue Zoo.

Animators: Embed Your Demo Reel Atop Your CV

Why is it important to embed your demo reel at the top of your CV or resume? Because when a studio is sifting through the applications for a new animation role, it will likely start with a stack of CVs. 

And, since the single most important factor in impressing a new studio with your talent is your demo reel, a link to this needs to be front and centre at the top of your CV.  If it isn't, the danger is that they move on to the next candidate. 

Make your work easy to find, and easy to link.  No special passwords, no dead links. Do this one thing and you'll be ahead of 50% of the competition. 

The Five Best Books To Learn Animation

The Animator's Survival Kit

What are the key books that animation students  should buy to learn the craft of animation?

Books may be a bit old school these days, but a good book is still a great place to start learning about and exploring the world of character animation.

The best books will teach you, immerse you - and inspire you to do your very best work. So, what are the top five books?

Want to Teach Animation? Get a Master's Degree

Want to teach? Get an MA

Do Animators Need a Master's Degree?  The answer is, it depends on what you want to do. Academia cares about academic qualifications. Industry cares about demo reels. 

If you want a job in the animation industry, you don't need a masters' level qualification. But if you are hoping to teach, especially in higher education, a masters' degree is more or less a necessity. 

The reason is that universities need evidence that you know what you are doing.  And in higher education, that evidence is a formal post-graduate qualification in your chosen field. 

Animating a Blink: Don't Forget the Eyebrows

Animation by Mark Masters

One common mistake made by junior animators is to animate a blink - but not to animate the eyebrows. 

 Don't forget also that when we blink our eyebrows are involved as well - even if just a little bit. 

So, when your character blinks, you should add a little motion on the eyebrows too; to create flexibility in the face and make the overall motion feel less stiff. This small tip will make your character's face feel more flexible and more alive.