Why Animators Need Early Feedback

Our online Classroom is hosted at Facebook

One of the hardest skills for animation students to learn is how give and receive criticism.  We all tend to be shy about our work (especially when we are learning something new) and, when our work is criticised, that criticism can feel very personal.

But being able to take criticism ("notes" in the industry) is part of the process of creating great animation. When you first show your work to a client, they will have comments, and they won't always love your first efforts. Whether you're working at a studio, or doing private client work, or just working on your own personal work, animators need to learn to incorporate criticism in order to make your work the best it can be.

VR UK - Today and Tomorrow

VR UK is at Ravensbourne today and tomorrow

The UK Virtual Reality Festival is taking place today and tomorrow, 6th and 7th July, at Ravensbourne in London. Sponsored by the Arts Council and the Lottery Fund, this event looks to be a great opportunity to break into the fastest-growing part of our industry - Virtual Reality.

Want to be an expert in a field that no-one really understands yet? Any of our students in the London area - get yourself to Ravensbourne. For details, follow this link.

How To Get Ready For Our September Class!

What kind of preparation should students do before starting with us in our Autumn classroom at Animation Apprentice on September 7th?   We don't want to spoil your summer, but it's always good to get a little bit of a head start.

Below is a brief list of stuff to get you under way. It's not comprehensive, and 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.

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.

Three Days Left To Sign Up For Our March Class!

The clock is ticking to sign up for our new class beginning on Monday 2 March 2015. We are working hard to make sure that we provide the very best animation training that money can buy, for a price that is far more affordable than traditional education. We're even cheaper than the vast majority of our online competitors. If you find someone who offers a better deal - let us know. We'll beat it on quality and on price.

Still Time to Sign Up for Our Class Starting on Monday 3 November!

The clock is ticking to sign up for our new class beginning on Monday 3rd November 2014. We are working hard to make sure that we provide the very best animation training that money can buy, for a price that is far more affordable than traditional education. We're even cheaper than the vast majority of our online competitors. If you find someone who offers a better deal - let us know. We'll beat it on quality and on price.

Get Ready for Our November Class by Watching Our Free Videos!

What is Animation all about? And what should our students starting with us in November do to get ready? For a general introduction to the medium, and a beginners guide to the language and the basic principles of animation, watch this series of free videos at Animation Apprentice. Start with The Twelve Principles of Animation, and move on to Keys, Extremes and Inbetweens - the Language of Animation. Like all art forms, animation has its very own special jargon, and you will need to know the basic grammar and some of the key terms. Plus, you'll start to get a good feel for what our course is like and how it all works.

How Animation Apprentice Works

Salman Khan - founder of the Khan Academy. Photo: Wikipedia

Here at Animation Apprentice we believe in the power of online training - and in the idea of "flipping the classroom", a philosophy of teaching pioneered by Sal Khan's Khan Academy. Khan's big idea is that physical classrooms are obsolete. Why take notes on a lecture during class and then do the homework later, when you watch the lectures in advance, online, and then use precious classroom time for workshops and feedback? Best of all, each student gets to learn at their own pace, so no-one gets bored or, worse, falls behind and can't keep up.