Animation Design and Production

A survey from history to portfolio

This beginner course is a wide survey of how animated scenes are planned and made. It covers animation history, studio milestones and career paths, then the core craft: the 12 principles, timing, spacing, frame rates, the bouncing ball exercise, weight, momentum and easing. Character work follows, with character design, rigging basics, walk and run cycles, and emotion expressed through body language.

From concept to screen

The second half shifts to production. Staging, composition, storyboarding, animatics, camera movement and pacing sit alongside frame-by-frame work, tweening, rigged 2D, cleanup and colouring. It also touches 3D modelling, keyframing, stop-motion and motion capture, and closes with critique and portfolio development.

Who it suits

Beginners who want to understand how animation is planned before choosing a specialism will get the most from it. Because the scope is broad, it works better as a map of the field than as deep training in any one technique, and it is a sensible precursor to focused 2D, 3D or motion graphics study.