Character Animation
An animator’s fundamental job is no different from an actor’s: To bring a character to life in service of the story. There are many differences in the process, of course, in that a computer animator’s range is quite diverse. As an animator, the artist could be animating a dragon, a superhero, a clown fish, an alien, or a dinosaur, while working out how an imagined life form may behave, move, or emote. There are also many animation styles, from realism to cartoony or exaggerated, where the laws of physics are bent.
The Character Animation Path curates a diverse range of lessons with 16 titles by 13 accomplished animators who have worked for studios such as Pixar, DreamWorks, Disney, DNEG, Imageworks, and ILM. Instructor credits include Star Wars, Harry Potter, Jurassic World, Finding Nemo, and more.
Introduction to Maya for Animators
Former DreamWorks Animation Artist Erik A. Castillo presents this 3-hour introductory workshop for individuals pursuing a career in CG character animation. The workshop simplifies Maya's animation intricacies, prioritizing a methodology for approaching the craft. It includes lessons on constraints, essential exercises like the bouncing ball and pendulum, and a detailed look at the 12 principles of animation...
Erik A. Castillo
Maya
Subtle Performance Workflow Vol. 1
Lead Animator Ted Lister’s 4+ hour tutorial focuses on creating subtle, naturalistic character performance for film. Using dialogue from Horror Express, Ted details his process from shot planning and blocking through to breathing and final polish. This first volume covers the preparation and animation of the body (Vol. 2 covers facial work), providing a comprehensive view of animating an understated yet impactful shot...
Ted Lister
Maya
Subtle Performance Workflow Vol. 2
Lead Animator Ted Lister’s 6+ hour second volume focuses on realistic facial animation to create an expressive and convincing performance. Beginning with facial anatomy, Ted guides artists through creating a facial pose library, detailing his lip-sync techniques, and achieving expression and emotion to marry the face with the body animation from Vol. 1...
Ted Lister
Maya
Facial Animation for Feature Animated Films
Pixar Supervising Animator Victor Navone reveals his workflow for creating feature-quality facial performances in this 3-hour workshop. Using a stylized approach, Victor covers appeal, asymmetry, exaggeration, and interpreting 2D model sheets into 3D expressions. He guides the process from planning a dialogue shot to blocking the face, and finalizing the brow, eyes, and lip-sync...
Victor Navone
Maya
Photoshop
Animating for Feature Films
Senior Animator Mike Wilson provides practical techniques and industry insight into the feature film animation process. This 2.5-hour workshop details the professional workflow from setting up a shot, utilizing real-world reference, quickly blocking the animation, addressing director’s notes and revisions, and finally polishing the animation for a final professional shot...
Mike Wilson
animBot
Maya
Animating Creature Walk Cycles in Maya
Animator Stephen Cunnane reveals the workflow for creating convincing walk cycles for quadruped creatures in a 3-hour workshop. He covers anatomy, using the Reference Editor for organization, creating key poses, refining the body and feet, and adding secondary animation with motion tracking and animation layers for production...
Stephen Cunnane
Maya
Maya for Animators: Body Mechanics
Erik Castillo teaches intermediate animation principles to create realistic and expressive body mechanics. This 2h 20m workshop covers squash and stretch, anticipation, timing, and follow-through, applying them to actions like lifting and walking cycles in Maya. It includes analysis of famous animation sequences...
Erik A. Castillo
Maya
Mastering Body Mechanics in Maya
Senior Animator Kevin Nguyen demonstrates a method for animating complex body mechanics using the Master Control in Maya. This 4-hour workshop simplifies the animation process, allowing animators of all levels to focus on artistry over technical hurdles. It includes workflow tips, polishing, and addressing notes for a production pipeline...
Kevin Nguyen
Maya
Animating Body Mechanics in Maya
Kelly Vawter, Character Animator at DreamWorks, provides a full shot walkthrough of a complex action (skateboarder trick). This 2-hour workshop focuses on body mechanics using his industry workflow from blocking to final polish in Maya, including tool and scene setup...
Kelly Vawter
Maya
Animating Emotional Transitions in Maya
Chris Kirshbaum, Animation Director at DNEG, provides a full-shot walkthrough (walk cycle and reaction) focusing on how to translate a character's emotional transition into effective visual storytelling. This 2h 08m workshop in Maya covers Graph Editor use, walk cycles, golden poses, and facial animation...
Chris Kirshbaum
Maya
Creature Combat Animation in Maya
Animator Stephen Cunnane teaches how to approach complex creature fight scenes. This 5-hour workshop details the pipeline for a three-shot combat sequence in Maya, covering reference gathering, staging, blocking, and polishing to coordinate the action between two different species...
Stephen Cunnane
Maya
Animating Stylized Attacks in Maya
Brad Faucheux, Senior Cinematic Animator at Netherrealm Studios, details his workflow for animating a complete stylized combat sequence (idle to impact) for games and cinematics. This 4h 47m workshop in Maya covers timing, spacing, frame data, hitstop, and using Motion Trails to create powerful, readable attacks...
Brad Faucheux
Maya
Animating a Complex Fight Action Sequence in Maya
Peter Dang, Animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios, walks through an advanced action shot involving a body slam with multiple characters and a moving camera. This 5h 29m workshop in Maya covers planning, reference shooting, spline-blocking, camera tracking, and polishing complex physical interactions...
Peter Dang
Maya
Acting for Animators: Become Your Character
Sarah Arduini, Senior Animator at Rainbow CGI and VFX veteran, teaches how to apply method acting and psychology to animation. This 2h 20m workshop covers how to analyze scripts, develop character empathy, and translate non-physical performance subtleties into Maya for believable results...
Sarah Arduini
Maya
Character Animation and Video Reference
Sarah Arduini, Senior Animator and VFX Key Artist, shares her professional video reference process. This 3h 26m workshop covers the theory behind shooting and using video reference, from acting tips and camera setup (FPS, props, lights) to editing (Premiere, Natron, QuickTime, Fusion) and breaking down reference for better body mechanics in Maya...
Sarah Arduini
Maya
Premiere
Natron
QuickTime
Fusion
Performance & Acting
In-Ah Roediger, an experienced Character Animator, walks through her studio process for lipsync and performance animation. This 2h 31m workshop covers shot planning, gathering reference material, blocking, and polishing curves for professional, spot-on performances in Maya...
In-Ah Roediger
Maya
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