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. 

Animation Students - Get Your Free Maya License

For newcomers to the animation industry, and especially for our students starting with us in our next scheduled class, it's important to remember that Autodesk, who make the software Maya, offer an education copy of Maya for free, which can be downloaded 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. 

Summer Class Starts 5th May 2025

Animation by Lee Caller

Our Spring/Summer Animation Class begins on Monday 5th May 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.

Spring Class Starts on 3 March 2025

Spidey animation by Anand Sembhi

Our Spring Animation Class begins on Monday 3rd March 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.

Winter Class Starts Monday 4 November 2024

"Mrs Claus" by Robin Herrmann

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.

Autumn Class Starts 2nd September 2024

Our Autumn/Fall Animation Class begins on Monday 2nd September 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.

Spring Class Starts on Monday 4 March 2024

Animation by Mark Masters

Our Spring Animation Class begins on Monday 4th March 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.

Winter Animation Class Starts 6 Nov 2023

Animation by Robin Herrmann

Our Winter Animation Class begins on Monday 6th November 2023.

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.

Fall Animation Class Starts Sept 2023

Our Fall Animation Class begins in September 2023.

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.

Introduction to The Autodesk Maya Interface

The video above is an Introduction to The Autodesk Maya Interface. This video is aimed at complete beginners, taking their first steps to use Autodesk Maya - still the leading software for 3D animation.  To see more videos on the use of Maya for Animators, follow the links below.

Summer Class Starts 3 July 2023

Artwork by Animation Apprentice Graduate Joe Gamble

Our Summer Animation Class begins on Monday 3rd July 2023.

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.

Joining Instructions for MA in 3D Animation

Joining Instructions September 2022

It will soon be time for our new animation students starting with us at our degree-awarding partner Buckinghamshire New University to get started on their animation journey.  

Below are some Joining Instructions for students starting with us on the Online MA in 3D Animation.

What Kind of Laptop To Buy in 2022

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? Animation Apprentice graduate and animation teacher Amedeo Beretta offers some advice to our students.

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.

New Year Class Starts 10 January 2022

Our New Year Animation Class begins on Monday 10 January 2022.

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.

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.

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.

Summer Class Starts Monday 6 July

The book we recommend for studying animation

What kind of preparation should students do before starting with us in our summer classroom, starting on Monday 6 July? It's always good to do a little preparation and get a bit of a head start.

Below is a brief list of stuff to get you under way. You don't have to do all of it, but tick off a few of the things on this list and you will be a making a great start on your animation career.

First, here is a short reading list to get you started. We've narrowed it down to just two key books that we recommend for all our students.

Spring Class Begins on 3 March 2021

Our Spring classroom starts on Monday 3rd March 2020.  You don't need to know Maya beforehand (we teach everything from scratch), but it's always a good idea to do a little preparation.

Below is a brief list of things to do to get you under way. No need to do all of it, but tick off a few of the things on this list and you will be a making a great start on your animation career.

Getting Started with Stop-Motion Animation

My six year old daughter did her first animation over the Christmas holidays, with a little help from her Daddy.  To make it, we used the Lego Animation Studio, aimed at kids 8-12 years old, which you can buy here.  Father Christmas gave it to her for Christmas (how did he know?), and we did this short stop-motion animation on Boxing Day.  We also needed some kit that didn't come with the Lego pack - an iPhone, a tripod (we used this one here), and the app "I can Animate" which cost $3 to download from the App Store.