Tokyo Rex by Lee Caller

Check out this excellent dinosaur animation by Animation Apprentice student Lee Caller.  You can also view his other videos at website here - all of Lee's work has a strong storytelling element as well as great technical qualities - the perfect ingredients for a great animation performance.  Lee has been teaching classes at Escape Studios lately, introducing animation students to the art and craft of character animation. So, not just a great animator - but a great teacher too.

Animation Taster Days 30th May & 14th June

Learn to animate a bird in flight

Want to try computer animation, but not sure if it's right for you? I'm running two Animation Taster Days in London on Tuesday 30th May and Tuesday 14th June, so that students can learn about character and creature animation, and find out what an animator's job is all about.

The classes take place at Escape Studios in Shepherd's Bush, West London. You will work with Autodesk Maya and the Adobe Creative Suite, and you’ll get a hands-on introduction to 3D Animation techniques, all for just £25!  By the end of the day you'll have your own piece of animation uploaded to your YouTube channel.  So, how do you sign up?

Animal Logic: Advice on Animation Demo Reels

The folks who brought you Lego Movie

You can never meet too many recruiters in the animation industry. Recently Patricia Kung, head of Recruitment at Australia's Animal Logic, came to London to talk to animation students about how to get hired by one of Australia's leading animation and VFX companies.

Animal Logic are responsible for global box office hits like the Oscar-nominated The Lego Movie. Other movie credits include Babe, Mouse Hunt, Face Off, The Matrix, Moulin Rouge, House of Flying Daggers, 300, The Great Gatsby, Happy Feet, Legend of the Guardians, and Walking with Dinosaurs 3D.

So, what is life like down under for animation and VFX graduates, and (most importantly) how can our animation graduates start their careers at Animal Logic?

Henry Fenwick Animator at Jellyfish Pictures

Many congratulations to Animation Apprentice graduate Henry Fenwick, who is back at Jellyfish Pictures, working on the new Dennis the Menace  TV series for the BBC.

Henry got his first job at Jellyfish back in 2015, and getting asked back to the studio to work on further series work is a testament to Henry's skills as an animator.

Jellyfish was founded in 2001 and since then has grown into one of the leading boutique visual effects and animation houses in London, starting from VFX origins and expanding into TV character animation work.

Free Rigs from Mothman TD

Here at Animation Apprentice we're pleased to recommend the superb Mothman TD website, packed with excellent free rigs for use by Maya animators.

Probably the most useful rig for our students at Animation Apprentice is the horse, which is an excellent choice for quadruped locomotion, but there are many other free rigs which are very useful for learning different aspects of character and creature animation.

Apply For Our Online MA in 3D Animation

The world's first online MA in animation

It's not too late! There is still time to apply for our online MA in animation, which launched here at Animation Apprentice in partnership with Bucks New University in September 2015.

This is a unique degree (the first of its kind) which can be undertaken by students anywhere in the world, leading to a formal qualification in the field.

You will not only learn how to animate to a professional level, but you will engage at Masters' level with the underpinning theory and structure behind the art form.  So, what can our students expect?

Bring Your Own Animation Tonight!

Lukin pub, Fitzrovia

For all of our animation students in the London area - "Bring Your Own Animation" is taking place tonight, Monday May 15th.

BYOA is an animation event that takes place every month at a pub in London. This month the event is taking place at The Lukin pub in Fitzrovia.

If you are a student who is working on a shot or an updated reel (aren't we all?), bring your work on a USB or hard drive and get feedback from professional animators. You'll also hear the local gossip and find out the word on the street.

Michael Morgan: Jobs, Careers & Getting Hired

Last week I attended an event at London's Escape Studios with animator Michael Morgan.

Michael is an animator with an extensive list of credits in video games, TV Commercials and Feature films.  Michael shared his experience of working on projects such as Star Wars - The Clone Wars, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2, Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast and Planet of the Apes. 

In particular, he talked about how to get "From the Classroom to the Studio".

Specifically, how do graduates break into the animation industry? What are the secrets of success?

The Hidden Secret of Animation!

animation tutorial part. 1 AKA "the secret of animation" from giovanni braggio on Vimeo. 
In this concise video animator Giovanni Braggio reveals the hidden secrets of computer animation. After all: animation is easy - the computer does it all for you! Forget the tedious business of learning timing and spacing - you just pick your language, ask the character to perform for you, and Maya does the rest. So, if animation really is as easy as Giovanni says it is, why aren't we all doing it this way?