Character Animation Foundation

Aspiring character artists who are starting out and want to learn the principles of 3D animation in Maya, will find this self-directed learning Character Animation course invaluable.

This course was created by expert Jeff Pratt who brings over ten years of experience from Pixar to the table and will show you key techniques to bring your characters to life.

This course is made up of five hours of HD video tutorials that cover a wealth of techniques as used by pros. Step by step, we will guide you through key concepts like clusters, blendshapes and pivot points, hierarchical animation, and inverse kinematics versus forward kinematics.

Key principles like character animation and character mechanics are covered in detail and by the end of the course you will be able to confidently and effortlessly build characters in 3D.

Course Breakdown

• Animation Principles
• Hierarchical Animation
• Clusters, Blendshapes and Pivot Points
• Ball Bounce Animation Demo
• Luxo Hop Animation Demo
• Walk Cycle Basics
• How to Translate a Walk Cycle Forward
• Making a Walk Cycle Turn
• Cycle on Path
• Character Weight and Balance
• Advanced Graph Editor
• Inverse Kinematics vs. Forward Kinematics
• Climbing Onto a Box Demo
• Pose to Pose Example
• Top Down Example

eLearning – the new standard in distance learning

All Online Self-Directed Courses use our one-of-a-kind eLearning platform that integrates video tutorials, source files and social networking in a single intuitive web application.

It’s a virtual classroom designed so you can create while you learn with everything you need right at your fingertips. DVDs don’t even come close. Post your work for feedback, check out what other students have produced, get involved, and be inspired. There’s no more exciting or effective way to learn 3D online.

Specifications

• There’s no schedule to our Online Self-Directed Courses – you have unlimited access to all tutorials for 12 months.
• Training is streamed direct to your web browser on demand anytime and anywhere. Simply log on to start.
• Maya files containing support scenes and assets are downloadable.
• Software is not included – you can purchase student licenses direct from software manufacturers.