Animation Bootcamp

Be engaged from anywhere in the world on your own schedule. Lessons open at a specific time but you can watch them and do your work whenever it is convenient for you.

Built in catch up weeks, extended critiques, and very flexible deadline policies make completing this course possible for even the busiest professional.

All of our courses are taught completely online through prerecorded lesson videos, podcasts, and handouts.

Students typically receive homework assignments twice per week, which have soft deadlines.

All student work is critiqued by our highly trained Teaching Assistants. School of Motion TA's are professional motion designers with real life experience in the industry.

During the course you will be invited to a private classroom that contains all of the Teaching Assistants and students in your session. This is a great tool for connecting, asking or answering questions, sharing thoughts or insights, and winning cool contests!

Animation Bootcamp is our intermediate level animation course! Animation Bootcamp teaches the principles of animation that push you to learn beyond After Effect's interface. After all, there's much more to being animator than simply being good at After Effects.

Who should take Animation Bootcamp?

Animation Bootcamp is for those who may have been in the industry for a few years, but don't have a solid grip on Motion Design. Perhaps you don't really understand how to make something "look good." Looking back, you notice your work could have been better, but you're not sure exactly how. If you don't have a solid grasp on navigating After Effects then you may want to think twice about this course.

After Effects Users Looking for Professional Animation Techniques

Are you unhappy with your current animations? Maybe something is off but you really know don't know what went wrong, or exactly how you should fix it. Admitting that your work isn't that good yet is fine, and it means you're open for growth. Animation Bootcamp might be a great course for you.

Artists with Rigid Animations

There is a lot that can be done to breathe life into your animation. This is where our training comes into the picture. We'll guide you step by step through animation principles and teach you how they can be applied to your motion design. Your animations will look buttery-smooth and tell convincing stories through movement.

The Inexperienced Motion Designer

Do you know how to use the graph editor? Are you confused why you should use eases on your movements? Do you find yourself hoping your animation project can be finished in time, but that pesky shape layer is giving you problems? This is definitely the course you should consider!

The Plugin Fanatic

Every new plugin promises to change your workflow and make you a better artist, but in reality plugins and tools can be distractions for you as you learn essential motion design concepts. Maybe you haven't figured out what makes a good bounce (giving a sense of weight to the bounce is tricky) and so you use a plugin. Boom! With a click of a button you have a bounce!

But, wait. What if you want it to bounce off of another object? How do you make it hang a little longer just before reacting to another force? Don't be limited by your plug-ins, let us help you out.

Do any of these questions apply to you?
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• Do you have trouble bringing life to your animations?
• Is the graph editor confusing?
• Is parenting a nightmare? (After Effects parenting that is...)
• Do you struggle to critique animations?
• Do you have a weak motion design vocabulary?
• Do your animations have too much going on?
• Is it difficult for you to think outside the box?
• Can you seamlessly transition between scenes?
• Do you have trouble getting the ideas out of your head and onto the screen?
• Are you relying on plugins to animate?

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If you answered yes to any of these questions, Animation Bootcamp might be the course for you!

This class teaches you the art of beautiful movement. You’ll learn the principles behind great animation and how to apply them in After Effects. (Note: You should be somewhat comfortable and able to make basic animations in Adobe After Effects before taking this class.) You will learn about fundamental principles of animation like Oscillation, Follow Through and Eye Trace as well as philosophies and techniques from some of the best After Effects animators out there.

You should be somewhat comfortable and able to make basic animations in Adobe After Effects before taking this course. If you are not yet comfortable in After Effects, you should take After Effects Kickstart first.

The minimum required software to take this course on would be:
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• Adobe After Effects CC 2014 (13.0 or Higher)
• Adobe Flash Professional CC 2014 (14.0 or Higher - Important Note: This is now called Adobe Animate CC as of version 2015.1 (15.1)

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*Accessing other students' project files will typically require the current version of After Effects.

Animation Bootcamp is a 12 week course. You'll have the flexibility to watch the course content and complete your course work on your schedule. However, you can expect to commit at least 15 - 20 hours per week on course material. The lesson videos are 1-2 hours in length. There are 13 assignments total. Typically assigned on Mondays and Thursdays with soft deadlines the next day. We have designated weeks with no lessons or assignments built into the schedule so students have extra time to keep with the course pace.

Course Schedule
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• Week 1: Orientation Week
• Weeks 2 - 5: Lessons and Assignments
• Week 6: Catchup week (no new assignments or lessons this week)
• Weeks 7 -8: Lessons and Assignments
• Weeks 9 - 12: Extended Critique (no new assignments or lessons this week)