Above is our 2025 student demo reel, a selection of the best work done at Animation Apprentice over the last year - many congratulations to all of our students on their excellent work. Students whose animation is featured include Anand Sembhi, Francis Lowe, Mark Lawson-Hall, Jack Ruedisueli and Mike Acosta.
Friday, 3 January 2025
Thursday, 2 January 2025
Happy New Year 2025
Happy 2025 |
Animation Apprentice wishes a very Happy New Year to all our students, staff and graduates. 2025 will bring new challenges and also new opportunities - the animation and VFX industries continues to thrive, with the UK Government backing the industry with extensive tax credits.
This year, at the top of our list of New Year's Resolutions, is to experiment with Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, such as OpenAI and MidJourney. AI is changing the face of the animation industry in a way that challenges everything we do, but also offering new opportunities for those who embrace change.
Sunday, 29 December 2024
New Year Class Starts on 7 January 2025
Our New Year Animation Class begins on Monday 7th January 2025.
It's not too late to book a place; all you need to do is visit the main Animation Apprentice site and go through a few simple steps.
If you want to learn 3D animation to a professional level, and start your new career as an animator - your journey starts here.
It's not too late to book a place; all you need to do is visit the main Animation Apprentice site and go through a few simple steps.
If you want to learn 3D animation to a professional level, and start your new career as an animator - your journey starts here.
Tuesday, 24 December 2024
Merry Christmas from Animation Apprentice
"God Bless Us Every One" |
A Christmas Carol is just twenty minutes long - you can watch it in HD below. The film was completed at Dad's London studio at 13 Soho Square - a Grade II* listed building which still stands today. It's even painted the same dark green colour, and looks just the same as it always did - minus the letters "Richard Williams Animation" above the door.
Monday, 2 December 2024
Why Animators Need to Apply Widely
Landing that first job in the animation industry isn't easy. But what many graduates forget is just how many opportunities are out there.
Alongside the world-beating UK animation companies like Aardman Animation, Blue Zoo, Framestore and DNEG are hundreds of small companies that are much less well known.
There are almost 500 animation companies in the UK with at least one employee (ie not just a one-man-band) and this creates a huge opportunity for an animator with the patience to look beyond the famous names.
Tuesday, 26 November 2024
Why Animators Should Keep a Sketchbook
Here at Animation Apprentice we recommend that all our students keep a sketchbook.
For animators, keeping a sketchbook is more than just a pastime—it’s an important tool for growth and creativity.
Here's why every animator should make drawing and scribbling in a sketchbook part of their daily practice:
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Why Animators Choose Quality Over Quantity
Quality over Quantity |
The same goes for animation: better to focus on a relatively short shot that delivers a great result, than be too ambitious and have to drop the quality. The 11 Second Cub competition has a maximum of 11 seconds for this reason. For the same reason, demo reels should be short. A student demo reel should generally be no more than a minute long.
Tuesday, 12 November 2024
How to Find The UK's Animation Studios
There are around 2,500 animation studios in the UK, of which a little under 500 have employees - making them worth targeting for an entry-level job. But how to find them?
One great resource is Animation UK's Studios Directory, which you can find here. Click on the link and you can start making lists of UK Animation Studios - and then start applying.
Wednesday, 6 November 2024
Why Animators Should Cut on Movement
One of the key principles of cinematography is to cut on movement. What does that mean? It means that if you start an action in one shot, carry it over into the second.
Let's say you are cutting from a wide shot to a close up, you start the motion in the wide shot, then carry it over to the next shot. This makes the cut feel less abrupt.
Sunday, 27 October 2024
Why Animators Need Walks on a Demo Reel
One common mistake junior animators make when cutting a demo reel is to leave off basic exercises like walks, character walks and runs.
But walks and runs can and should be on an animation demo reel - not for very long - but for just long enough to show that these are firmly inside the animator's skill set.
Wednesday, 23 October 2024
Jinng Hwee Tan Animator at Framestore
Congratulations to Animation Apprentice student Jinng Hwee Tan who has joined Framestore as an animator.
Jinng Hwee Tan studied animation with us, taking our Online MA in 3D Animation, being awarded a Master's Degree from Buckinghamshire New University.
Framestore is a leading global animation and VFX house, responsible for multiple hit movies and series.
You can see Jinng Hwee Tan's demo reel here.
Tuesday, 22 October 2024
Why Animators Need a Great Acting Shot
Why do animators need a great acting shot on their demo reel? Because nothing showcases an animator’s talent quite like a strong acting shot.
A well-executed acting scene shows that an animator can give a performance, and approach a shot like an actor might approach a scene in a movie or a play.
Acting shots reveal whether an animator can go beyond basic mechanics and deliver an entertaining performance.
Friday, 11 October 2024
Attaches in Maya - The "Cheat Method"
In this short video above we demonstrate how to do Attaches and Parenting in Maya, using "The Cheat Method". It's a very simple approach which involves parenting an object to another - in this case, Monty's hat, using the simple Shift Select P method. Then, rather than un-attach the hat, we simply replace the hat with a new identical hat, which looks exactly the same. This way, we don't have the bother of un-attaching the original hat - we can just remove it from the scene and replace it with a new one.
Monday, 7 October 2024
Cartoony Mad Scramble Run and Exit with Monty
In this new animation tutorial we show how to animate a cartoony run and smear frame exit with Monty, the green pea.
It's a simple tutorial aimed at animation beginners, and covers runs, jumps and smear frames. We'll also need to do some attaches and parenting (for Monty's hat) basic lighting in Arnold and learn how to add motion blur to the final render.
Thursday, 3 October 2024
Render Motion Blur in Maya and Arnold
How to Render Motion Blur in Maya and Arnold: This very simple and very short tutorial shows how to turn on Motion Blur in the Arnold Renderer in Maya. Why would you want to turn on motion blur? Because when you have very fast action, you almost always want motion blur; this simulates how our eyes actually see things in real life.
Tuesday, 1 October 2024
Animate a Sneeze with Monty
Animate a sneeze with Monty |
A sneeze is an explosion of air, so we want a big anticipation, and then a big sneeze.
If you have time, attach a hat to Monty's head, and animate it flying up in the air, spinning and landing again (you will need the Parentmaster plugin for this).
Thursday, 26 September 2024
Animation is Still Box Office Gold
There is a lot of doom and gloom in our industry these days, following strikes by both writers and actors, and the looming threat of AI.
Despite the pessimism, the animation industry continues to thrive, with 25% of box office success coming from animation productions in 2024 (see infographic left).
Jobs and opportunities remain - for those with the right skills.
Monday, 23 September 2024
How To Reset Your Preferences in Maya
This short video shows how to Reset Your Preferences in Maya. Sometimes when Maya is behaving badly, you need to reset your preferences and start over. This short video shows how to do it. And you can read more about re-setting preferences in Maya here.
Sunday, 22 September 2024
"Under The Sea" Animation Reel
Our latest demo reel above is a selection of some of the best aquatic animation done by students at Animation Apprentice; it features crabs, squid, jellies, dolphins, sharks and fish. Undersea animation poses a range of challenges, not least in how to light the animation to get a realistic underwater effect. You can see some tutorials on undersea animation below.
Friday, 20 September 2024
Winter Class Starts Monday 4 November 2024
Our Winter Animation Class begins on Monday 4th November 2024. It's not too late to book a place; all you need to do is visit the main Animation Apprentice site and go through a few simple steps.
If you want to learn 3D animation to a professional level, and start your new career as an animator - your journey starts here.
If you want to learn 3D animation to a professional level, and start your new career as an animator - your journey starts here.
Tuesday, 17 September 2024
Aardman Workshop at Cartoon Museum 30 Oct 2024
Feathers McGraw modelling workshop 30th Oct 2024 |
The Cartoon Museum is welcoming Aardman Animation to celebrate the Thirtieth Anniversary of Wallace & Gromit, The Wrong Trousers.
You can make your own "Feathers McGraw" character to take home with you, assisted by Aardman Animation's own modelmakers.
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