Keith Lango Tutorials Available Free

Keith Lango YouTube Channel

Animator and teacher Keith Lango has made his animation tutorials free for everyone to learn online.

Keith's animation tutorials include animating a James Brown dance, rigging and skinning animation, and how to approach the business of animating a scene.

It's a great resource, and a very useful supplement to the growing body of online resources available for learning animation.

How To Get Ready For Our November Classroom

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 6th November?  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.

A Very Warm Welcome To Our New Online MA Students!

The world's first online MA in animation

We're excited to welcome all our new students who will soon be starting our online MA in animation, launched one year ago here at Animation Apprentice in partnership with Buckinghamshire New University.

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 be a professional animator, but you will engage at Masters' level with the underpinning theory and structure behind the art form. So, what is this degree all about, and what can our new students expect?

Excellent Work by Our Online MA Students!

Our brand-new online MA in 3D animation (the first of its kind anywhere in the world) has only been up and running for a few months now, but we are already starting to see some excellent results. The short clip above was created by MA student Neil Whitman, and shows perfectly how important it is for animators not only to master the technical side of our craft, but also to entertain an audience. Neil does this perfectly, creating an imaginative use of different walk cycles to create an interesting and funny story.

A Warm Welcome To Our New Students On Our Brand New Online MA in 3D Animation!

The world's first online MA in animation

We're excited to welcome all our new students who have just started the journey with us on our brand-new online MA in animation, launched this week here at Animation Apprentice in partnership with Buckinghamshire New University.

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, but you will engage at Masters' level with the underpinning theory and structure behind the art form. So, what is this degree all about, and what can our new students expect?

10% Discount on our Online MA in Animation Extended Through August

Learn Character and Creature Animation

Our new online MA in Animation, developed in partnership with Bucks New University, is still welcoming applications and, if you hurry, you can still get a 10% discount on the fee! Bucks has extended the deadline until the end of August. We're excited to be launching the world's first degree of this kind, and we're getting applications from all over the world, including the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. Some of the applicants are very talented indeed, many of them professional animators looking to broaden their skills and also gain a qualification suitable for teaching in higher education around the world. So how does the application process work, and what can applicants expect?

Is It Better To Study Online Or In a Classroom?

Studying Online. Two screens, one to play the videos and one to do the exercise.

Online study is an incredibly powerful tool. Animation Apprentice founder Alex Williams argues that online study can work much better than traditional classroom study - and for a tiny fraction of the price.  Each student at Animation Apprentice gets to learn at their own pace, watching videos on their own time, and getting bespoke feedback. We asked Alex why online study really is a better mousetrap, and why the results are often better than in a traditional classroom.

Portfolio Requirements for Our New Online MA in Animation

Life drawing - excellent training for animators

Thinking of applying for our new online MA in animation? One of the most common questions we get asked by prospective students is: What should go into my portfolio? The answer is - a bit of everything. Drawings, Painting, Life drawing, sketches, scribbles. But most especially - 3D digital artwork. So, what exactly do you need?

Still Time to Apply for our New Online MA in Animation

The world's first online MA in animation

It's not too late! There is still time to apply for our brand new online MA in animation, launching here at Animation Apprentice in partnership with Bucks New University in September 2015. This is a unique degree 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, but you will engage at Masters' level with the underpinning theory and structure behind the art form. So, what is this degree all about?

How to Animate Lipsync

Above is an excellent video on how to animate lipsync, showing how to break things down into easy sections so as to make sure that your work starts off simple and gradually grows in complexity as you layer in the detail. At its simplest, good lipsync is just about opening and closing the mouth on the vowels, and closing it on the consonants. But, developing a system to keep it simple and at the same time get a sophisticated result, is all part of mastering the art and craft of animation.

Learn the Art of Film-making For Free at LAvideofilmmaker.com

We live in an age in which it is possible to learn almost anything online. All you really need is the determination to concentrate - free of distractions - and dedicate enough time to learn the subject properly. Film is no exception to this, and one excellent site that we highly recommend is www.lavideofilmmaker.com, a free website with all kinds of excellent resources on how to make movies. Any serious student of film should navigate to it, bookmark it, and drink deep from the well.

How Our New Online MA Will Work

We're excited to be launching an animation world-first here at Animation Apprentice - the first online MA in Animation. This brand-new online post graduate degree can be undertaken by students anywhere in the world. It is a unique blend of practical training and Masters-level academic content, the latter supplied by Buckinghamshire New University. Unlike the 30 week course at Animation Apprentice, this new MA will lead to a formal, internationally-recognised qualification. Above is a short video that explains how the new course will actually work in practice.

Free Animation Tutorials at AnimationMethods.com

Animation Methods

One of the biggest changes in recent years in the study of animation has been the vast quantity of resources available on the web, either for free or at very low cost.  One site that looks very interesting is animationmethods.com, which has tons of free tutorials on how to carry out a large variety of animation tasks.  For anyone studying animation and trying to engage seriously with the medium, this looks like a great place to learn new skills.

Online Q&A at Twitter for our new Online MA - Today at 4pm!

Join us at Twiiter on Thursday!

Today at 4pm we're hosting an online Twitter Q&A - #BucksAskAlex  - to answer questions about the new online MA in animation we're launching with Bucks New University in September.  Got questions about the course?  What's involved? How do you learn and progress? What can you expect to do with an MA anyway? Login on Thursday and join the conversation!

Free Animation MasterClass from Brown Bag Films

Brown Bag Films

It's amazing how much free material is available online nowadays for learning animation. Studying at at a course like Animation Apprentice gives you a formal curriculum, a properly thought out program for your studies and your eventual maturity as a well-rounded digital artist. But we thoroughly support students who like to do other tutorials online - broadening the scope of your studies is a great way to learn and improve your work. Below is a free animation masterclass by Jason Ryan, offered through Brown Bag Films from Ireland. Jason Ryan is a gifted animator who is also a great teacher - a superb combination for any student.

http://www.brownbagfilms.com/labs/entry/jason-ryan-3d-animation-masterclass-tutorial

What Makes Animation Apprentice Different?

Welcome to Animation Apprentice

Nowadays there are lots of places where you can learn animation, both online and in the classroom. So what is it that makes Animation Apprentice unique among animation schools? The answer is - it's all about the way our course is structured, and the personal feedback you get. We don't just give you general notes on how to fix your shot and make it better - we fix it for you. It's like taking your car to a mechanic and getting it back mended, with a video showing you how it was done, so that next time around you can do it yourself, getting better and better all the time.

Do you need to go to university to learn animation?

The TAAFI Education Panel

On Monday 16 June TAAFI - the Toronto Animation Art Festival International - hosted a panel talk on the subject of  “An Animation Education”. The sub-title of the talk was “Do you need to go to university to learn animation?”. In other words, is it enough to study online? Or should students commit to the expense and time of a full undergraduate education? On the panel to discuss the question were Richard Arroyo – head of Games at iAnimate.net,  Mark Jones, chair, School of Creative Arts, Aubrey Mintz, Head of Animation, California State University Long Beach, Brooke Keesling, Manager, Animation Talent, and Tony Tarantini, Sheridan College Professor of Animation. The first question was this: