Summer Class Starts 2nd May 2022

The book all animators need

Our next class at Animation Apprentice starts on Monday 2nd May 2022. We're excited to welcome new students on their animation journey; junior animators are still very much in demand, especially in our home town of London, and my inbox is full of requests from studios for fresh talent.

So, how to get ready for the start of class? It's always good to do a little preparation.

Student Demo Reel

To see a sample of the latest work done by our students, check out the reel below.

 

The Animator's Survival Kit.

Sci-Fi animation by Joe Gamble

Any student of animation needs a copy of The Animator's Survival Kit, by Richard Williams.  It is easily the best and most comprehensive book available for learning animation.

Animation Methods by David Rodriguez 
Animation Methods by David Rodriguez is a useful overall guide to all the processes involved in digital animation and film-making.  It is especially good for the technical bits that the older books don't cover.  It takes you through Autodesk Maya and shows you what all the tools do, and how to apply them to your animation.

Download your free copy of Maya

Alex Southcombe

The next thing to do, assuming you have a decent computer or laptop at home, is get yourself a free copy of Autodesk Maya. 

Maya is the main software we animate with, and still the industry standard. You can find a free educational license here.

Don't be daunted - just take a quick look! It does look a bit confusing at first but it's good to get familiar with the layout, and learn where the main hotkeys are, and how the interface works. You can register and get a free Maya student license here.

Start watching our free videos

Dolphin by Oliver Canovas

Once you have done that, take a look at the week 1 videos at the Animation Apprentice website. The week 1 videos are all free and this gives you a general introduction to animation, helping you to get familiar with the language of the medium.

Check out our Success Stories

To see some of our recent success stories from Animation Apprentice, follow this link.  To see some of the awards won by our students, click here. 

Welcome to Animation Apprentice!

Alien by Jeton Lakna

If you do some or all the things on this list - you will have a great head start! We look forward to meeting you!

To find out more about Animation Apprentice, click here for a link to Frequently Asked Questions. To sign up for our next classroom at Animation Apprentice, follow this link.