Last Call for Winter Class Starting Nov 2021

Last call for our Winter Animation Class, which begins on Monday 2 November 2021.

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.

Why Animators Need to Be Art Directors

Sometimes, animators need to be art directors. When working on an animated scene, animators need to consider the environment the character is inhabiting.  

One of the most common mistakes made by student animators is to combine a realistic character (say, a dinosaur or dragon) with a cartoony environment. The character and the set come from different worlds, and they don't always work well together.

Charlie & Yip Wins Best Animation at 1st Fest

My short film "Charlie and Yip" has won another festival award - Best Trailer at the 1st Monthly Film Festival.

 

Charlie and Yip is a short film about a kid who takes his pet to school for Show and Tell, which turns out to be a bad idea.

It's a really a teaser for my indie feature film project "My Haunted House", which is still in development.

Jobs & Careers Playlist at YouTube

For all our graduates currently looking for work, check out our jobs and careers playlist at YouTube. There are plenty of opportunities to find work in the expanding animation industry, but it is important to have a solid demo reel and a well-curated LinkedIn profile - recruiters live at LinkedIn.  Our jobs and careers playlist at YouTube offers advice and support on how to land that crucial first job in industry.

Get Ready for Cartoon Movie 8-10 March 2022

Cartoon Movie, the pitch-fest for animated films, is now taking applications.  The Deadline to submit a feature film project to Cartoon Movie is 17 November 2021. 

Cartoon Movie takes place in Bordeaux from 8-10 March 2022, and is now open for applications.

"Knight Spider" Free Maya Rig from Rookies

We're liking this new "Knight Spider" Free Maya Rig just launched from "the Rookies". We haven't yet road-tested it, but it looks pretty cool, and suitable for some nice character animation.

You can download the rig here:

The Rookies has also organised a special character animation contest for the Knight Spider rig, which you can find here. 

Charlie & Yip Hon Mention at Monza Film Fest

My short film "Charlie and Yip" has won another festival award - Honourable Mention in the Category of Best Animation at the Monza Film Festival in Italy. 

 

Charlie and Yip is a short film about a kid who takes his pet to school for Show and Tell, which turns out to be a bad idea.

Truong Rigs Optimised for Unreal Engine

Truong CG, who creates many of the best free (and nearly free) rigs for student use, has released the video above to optimise his rigs for Unreal Engine.  All of Truong's latest rigs are fully compatible with Unreal Engine since they are all joints-based for both body and face. However, for Truong's older rigs, this video will help optimise the rigs for use in Unreal Engine, giving all the advantages of real-time rendering. 

"Animation Trainee Finder" Launched

Animation Trainee Finder Programme at ScreenSkills

ScreenSkills has launched the Animation Trainee Finder, a paid placement programme for entry-level graduates.

Animation Trainee Finder is being launched by the ScreenSkills Animation Skills Council with the support of UK animationStudios.  The deadline is 27 September 2021.  

Pete Nicholson Animator at NRG Digital

Pete Nicholson

Congratulations to Animation Apprentice graduate Pete Nicholson who has started work as an animator at NRG Digital. 

Pete began his animation career working at Nano Films, King Bee, and Dead Ready Productions.

NRG Digital is a visual communications agency based in Fleet, England.

Demo Reel 2012-2021 "Best Of"

Our latest demo reel is an edit of some of the best shots done by students at Animation Apprentice over the last decade. These shots have all been selected because they show considerable skill in character and creature animation, as well as imagination and a flair for entertainment.  Thanks to Marc Godfrey, Joris Van Laar, Lee Caller, Giuseppe Candido and Victoria Bailey. The background track is "Wait for me" by Moby.

BBC Ignite Seeks Fresh Animation Ideas

BBC Ignite wants your pitches

BBC Children’s Animation are seeking submissions for fresh, bold and innovative animation ideas. The scheme is called "Ignite" and the deadline is Midnight on 1st September 2021. 

For all our students who have been working on short films for the past couple of years - this is a perfect opportunity to pitch your materials to the UK's biggest broadcaster.

Successful pitches will be given a "fully funded development opportunity" to bring their project to the small screen.

You don't need to have created any finished animation for your project; more important is an idea of the stories you want to tell and who the main characters are.  To see more, follow this link.

Autumn Class Starts September 7

Animation by Joris Van Laar

Our September classroom is now taking applications, and the new autumn class begins on Monday 7th September.

It's not too late to book a place; all you need to do to get started is head over to our main site and fill in a brief form.

If you want to learn 3D animation to a professional level - your journey starts here.

Aardman Animation Launches Armature Toolkit

For all our students who would like to try their hands at stop-motion animation: armature specialist Animation Toolkit has partnered with Aardman Animation to design and create a bespoke armature kit to help stop motion animators with the puppet making process.

Animators can now easily and affordably create their own animation puppets.

Creativity - Can it Be Taught?

Here at Animation Apprentice we believe that creativity can be taught. Creativity is like any muscle - it can be exercised and strengthened. Today, few schools teach creativity, preferring instead to concentrate on core subjects like maths and science - subjects in which there is almost always a correct answer.  But in the creative industries, there is no right answer, and the only way to succeed is to try things out, to take risks. Watch the short video above to find out more. 

Charlie & Yip Best Film at Micro Minute Fest

My short film "Charlie and Yip" has won another festival award - Best Film at the Micro Minute Film Festival. 

 Best Trailer at the "Short & To The Point" Film Festival.

 

Charlie and Yip is a short film about a kid who takes his pet to school for Show and Tell, which turns out to be a bad idea.

Animation Careers Event on 5 August 2021

We're recommending that all our animation students and recent graduates sign up for this free Animation and Careers Event on 5th August at 4.30pm.

Hosted by Escape Studios, this free online Animation Careers Evening includes animation industry leaders Blue Zoo and Jellyfish Pictures.   To sign up for this free event, follow this link.

New Animation Apprentice Website Launched

Yesterday we launched our new website at Animation Apprentice, the first re-design since we started work in 2012 offering bespoke training for the growing animation and visual effects industries in London, the UK and overseas. 

Since 2012 over 150 students have been trained by us to work in the industry, enjoying successful careers at studios such as ILM, Blue Zoo and Jellyfish.  

What Kind of Laptop to Buy in 2021

What kind of laptop?

"What kind of laptop should I buy?" is a question that we are often asked at Animation Apprentice. 

Computer specifications change regularly and much depends on exactly what you want to use your laptop for.  But let's say you want to buy a laptop capable of running Autodesk Maya, for computer animation and to render out your shots.

What sort of laptop should you buy, and how much do you need to spend? Veteran animator and animation teacher Amedeo Beretta offers some advice to our students.

Animator's Survival Kit "Minis" Launch 5 August

Here at Animation Apprentice we recommend one key textbook for learning animation - The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams.

It is a big book, heavy to carry around, and has now been published as a series of "mini" editions, breaking the book up into four sections, and available from August 5th. 

The ASK was first published in 2002 as a book, and a few years later was released as a DVD set, and later as an iPad app.

Finding Work in the 2021 Animation Boom

On 7th July I hosted a webinar - courtesy of Escape Studios - on finding work in the animation industry.  The animation industry is booming right now, with the job market busier than it has been since the 1990s, when "Lion King" caused an explosion in demand for animators.  The animation business is hiring and, since Brexit has reduced the flow of European talent, UK animators are more in demand than ever.  But, standards are high, and you still need to put your best foot forward to find work in the industry.   In this free one hour webinar, I covered the ten key steps every animation graduate needs to take to get hired.  Follow these ten steps, and you'll have your own foot in the door.