cartoon animation

What is this about? Blue Zoo's internship programme runs every Summer to give opportunity to those seeking a “foot-in-the-door” into the animation industry. Who are internships for? Internships are "ideal for those who have zero professional experience but have entry level knowledge, such as those in 2nd year of University studying animation, who are chomping-at-the-bit to gain industry experience." Will intern work get used on production? There is "no expectation that the work interns produce will be used in production, they are there to learn about how an animation studio works, advance their skills and make connections." Is it paid? Yes. Each role will get paid the Living Wage of £270 a week.

Meet the man behind "Guardians" Michael is an animator with extensive experience in video games, TV Commercials and Feature films, including VFX blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy 2 . This will be a superb event for everyone who would like to find out more about careers in animation. And if that isn't enough for you, there will - as ever - be free pizza and beer. commercials and VFX feature films. He has animated on projects such as ' Star Wars - the Clone Wars ' animated series to Marvel's ' Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2 .'. Michael is also an animation coach and has been mentoring animation students in the UK for many years. This event will also focus on how to get 'from the classroom to the studio', including a talk about the current state of the Animation industry - and how students can break into it. Where and When? Thursday 4th May 2017 at 6:30 pm at Escape Studios' Shepherd's Bush's Studio. Sheph

After all: animation is easy - the computer does it all for you! Forget the tedious business of learning timing and spacing - you just pick your language, ask the character to perform for you, and Maya does the rest. So, if animation really is as easy as Giovanni says it is, why aren't we all doing it this way? I

Michael is an animator with an extensive list of credits in video games, TV Commercials and Feature films.  Michael shared his experience of working on projects such as Star Wars - The Clone Wars , Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2, Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast and Planet of the Apes.  In particular, he talked about how to get "From the Classroom to the Studio". Specifically, how do graduates break into the animation industry? What are the secrets of success? Graduation Michael Morgan Breaking into the industry isn't easy. Michael started out doing video games, after graduating from college with some 3D skills, mainly in 3DS Max. Initially, he did a lot of modeling, but then in 2015 he found the online school Animation Mentor - the first online animation school. Career It was at Animation Mentor that Michael learned "how to animate to the camera" and, armed with his new demo reel, he found work on the Clone Wars TV Series i

Lukin pub, Fitzrovia If you are a student who is working on a shot or an updated reel (aren't we all?), bring your work on a USB or hard drive and get feedback from professional animators. You'll also hear the local gossip and find out the word on the street. What is this event all about? It's a chance for students in the London area to bring their work and get feedback from Professional Animators. It's also a chance to find out the gossip - who is hiring, when, and for what kind of roles. Why go? Because there is nothing like getting feedback on your work from professional animators to help you get your reel to the next level. Industry professionals know what needs to go on an animation reel in order to get hired.  How much does it cost? Nothing. The event is free!

The world's first online MA in animation This is a unique degree (the first of its kind) which can be undertaken by students anywhere in the world, leading to a formal qualification in the field. What is this degree and what makes it unique? Until we launched this course, if you wanted to achieve a master's degree in 3D animation, you had to go to a university and study there, at a place and time that is convenient for the university.  Never mind that you have a day job and a family - you have to study when it suits them, not when it suits you. Now you can complete your degree online, from anywhere in the world. You don't even need to show up for graduation - though you will definitely be invited! What will you learn? The course is a unique blend of practical and academic content. That means you will learn how to animate, stop by step, and be properly trained as a skilled professional 3D animator. At the same time, you will have to engage with the th

Probably the most useful rig for our students at Animation Apprentice is the horse, which is an excellent choice for quadruped locomotion, but there are many other free rigs which are very useful for learning different aspects of character and creature animation. One of the most fun is the Star Wars droid, and also the stenopelmatus (a kind of bug). Finally, for avian locomotion, the woodpecker is one of the best free bird rigs available for learning to animate birds in flight. Many thanks for Carlos Contreras at Motorman TD for the excellent rigs, made available for the Maya community for learning animation.

Jellyfish was founded in 2001 and since then has grown into one of the leading boutique visual effects and animation houses in London, starting from VFX origins and expanding into TV character animation work. Dennis the Menace! We're thrilled to see our graduates winning positions at leading animation and VFX houses like Jellyfish.  Jellyfish does advertising, television and film work in both London and New York, and have worked on both TV animated series as well as feature films. Henry started out in the 3D Layout department, an excellent place to polish his skills in cinematography and visual story telling, before moving on to the animation department. Henry got his first job after doing a 24 animation test at home, which he described as "pretty full on...I had to stay up until four in the morning to get it done on time".

The folks who brought you Lego Movie Animal Logic are responsible for global box office hits like the Oscar-nominated The Lego Movie . Other movie credits include Babe, Mouse Hunt, Face Off, The Matrix, Moulin Rouge, House of Flying Daggers, 300, The Great Gatsby, Happy Feet, Legend of the Guardians, and Walking with Dinosaurs 3D. So, what is life like down under for animation and VFX graduates, and (most importantly) how can our animation graduates start their careers at Animal Logic? Who are Animal Logic? Animal Logic was established in 1991 in Sydney Australia. In 2015 they opened an animation studio in Vancouver - focusing on the Lego Movie sequel. They have around 500 employees in Sydney, and around 150 in Vancouver. Recently they worked on Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Alien Covenant, and Lego Batman .

Learn to animate a bird in flight The classes take place at Escape Studios in Shepherd's Bush, West London. You will work with Autodesk Maya and the Adobe Creative Suite, and you’ll get a hands-on introduction to 3D Animation techniques, all for just £25!  By the end of the day you'll have your own piece of animation uploaded to your YouTube channel.  What's this all about? This one-day taster course gives you get an introduction to the art of 3D Animation. You will also explore what it’s like to work as a professional animator. We'll take you through the animation process from start to finish, ending up with a finished movie file. How do you get there? Escape Studios is a short walk from Shepherd's Bush Tube Station, Shepherd's Bush Market Tube Station, Goldhawk Rd Tube Station, and Shepherd's Bush Overground. And tons of bus routes. How much does the day cost? Shepherd's Building, Shepherd's Bush £25 - including lunch

Check out this excellent dinosaur animation by Animation Apprentice student Lee Caller. 

Marcio Leiria What is your new job? Marcio: I will be working for the engineering company Ampetronic, as a "Creative Marketing Executive" at an engineering company.  I'll be in charge of all video marketing. creating from scratch all the company's video content - which will include animated tutorials, demonstrations, advertising and simulations. How did your studies with Animation Apprentice help you find work? Marcio:  There were many candidates for the position, so in order to be selected I went through a long process, during which it was extremely important to differentiate myself from all the other candidates. This was especially the case since I was the oldest candidate and English is not my first language. This is where Animation Apprentice made a huge impact on my career. The skills we learn at Animation Apprentice made me confident enough to affirm I was able to do 3d animation and broaden up the spectrum the company. My animation showre

Government help is available This is very good news indeed for prospective students who would like to go on to do post-graduate study with us. So, how does the system actually work? What's this all about? The government-backed loans, worth up to £10,000, were made available from 2016-17 and now benefit not just undergraduate students but also students seeking to study at post-graduate level.  If you’re studying for two or more academic years, you’ll get up to £5,000 in your first year and the rest in your second year. What subjects qualify? Loans will be offered in any master's subject. How old/young do you have to be? It will only be available to students under 60 on the first day of the first academic year of your course.

Many Congratulations to Escapee Rory Marchant who has recently finished working as a studio assistant at Escape Studios, and has now landed himself a job as a Junior Animator at Jellyfish Pictures. Rory has also been working as a freelance animator, doing superb work - Rory is an excellent animator who combines a thorough understanding of Maya and the 3D animation tools with a great sense of entertainment and comic timing. His demo reel includes a variety of animation techniques including pantomime animation and also plenty of lipsync. Jellyfish does a lot of TV series work and these are usually dialogue driven, meaning that animators need to be able to handle big dialogue shots with skill and speed.

The very talented Josh Sobel, who brought us the excellent Kayla rig , and also the very useful (and free) Bonnie rig , has just released a new rig - "Arc the Dragon", for a very reasonable $18. Arc is described as "a full quadruped with expressive facial control, intuitive body setup, full picker, pose library and limitless customization." Creature rigs with a full range of facial expressions are hard to find, and this could be an excellent choice for animators looking to create a strong creature performance. We haven't had a chance to road-test Arc the Dragon yet, but if Kayla and Bonnie are anything to go by, this should be a great rig.

I saw the original  "Alien" movie by Ridley Scott when I was just 12 years old - far too young really (I was terrified) - but since then I've always been fascinated by this most stylish of horror film franchises. Penn gave an excellent talk about his work on the film at Escape Studios last thursday - a fascinating insight into how the movie got put together.   So, what were the secrets behind this most coveted of VFX roles - working for one of the greatest living film directors on the latest Alien movie? Stuart Penn What's happening at Framestore? Tons of projects. Framestore are super busy, part of the recent boom in VFX work in London that shows no sign of stopping. Framestore are working on some of the biggest VFX projects in the world, with many new films and projects in the pipeline. Alien Covenant - dividing the work On "Alien Covenant", as on many film projects, the work was divided between a number of vendors, in this case betwe

Lukin pub, Fitzrovia If you are a student who is working on a shot or an updated reel (aren't we all?), bring your work on a USB or hard drive and get feedback from professional animators. You'll also hear the local gossip and find out the word on the street. Who is hiring, and what skills are in demand? What is this event all about? It's a chance for students to bring their work and get feedback from Professional Animators. It's also a chance to find out the gossip - who is hiring, when, and for what kind of roles. Why go? Because there is nothing like getting feedback on your work from professional animators to help you get your reel to the next level. Industry professionals know what needs to go on an animation reel in order to get hired. At Animation Apprentice, we focus relentlessly on making sure our student animators finish the course with a demo reel that is good enough to get them hired. That's why we dedicate the last four weeks

I have used live action reference many times on many films, especially movies with human characters, such as The Road to El Dorado and Spirit - Stallion of the Cimarron, and especially on action shots where the motion was complex and hard to get right. Andy Serkis and Gollum.  Shooting live action reference for your animation isn't cheating - it's a legitimate way to capture a great performance. Animators do it all the time, filming themselves or others getting into the role.  You'll see it done all the time in documentaries about the making of animated films. Using live action reference is something we get all our students to do at Animation Apprentice. Obviously, the trick is to take the live action and use it to inspire and inform the animation - but without being a slave to it. In the end, the animator's performance must be more interesting and entertaining to watch than the original live action was - else why bother to do it?

Festivus is back!  – with special guests! The Festivus animation event is an opportunity to get to know people in the London animation industry, find out who is hiring, and where the jobs are. The event takes place on Thursday 13th July at The Comedy Pub in London. There is a guest speaker from Animation UK, and Blue Zoo will also be there. This is an opportunity to meet the team behind some of the UK's favourite shows, find out how to work with them, see what job opportunities there are, and even get some showreel feedback from Blue Zoo animators. As ever, we recommend that students in the London area try to attend events like this. There is no better way to build contacts and connections in our industry, and find out where the opportuntities are in today's market.

Cinesite, one of London's biggest animation and VFX houses, is now accepting entries for paid Summer internships at their London studios . The programme is open to individuals over the age of 18, with little or no experience of working in the VFX industry, who are eligible to work in the UK. Where and When? The internship runs for five weeks from Monday 7th August – Friday 9th September, 2017. How do you apply?  Applications can be made through a simple online submission form . In order to complete the form you will need: Your showreel online and easily accessible (Vimeo preferred)  Your CV online, or a link to your LinkedIn page  A brief personal statement, including any supplemental information we need when reviewing your reel (1000 words max) How will Cinesite Select the winners?  Judging of applications will be largely based on the standard of work in the demo reel, so you should carefully select what you include, making sure to put your best work up fro

Learn to animate a bird in flight The classes take place at Escape Studios in Shepherd's Bush, West London. You will work with Autodesk Maya and the Adobe Creative Suite, and you’ll get a hands-on introduction to 3D Animation techniques, all for just £25!  By the end of the day you'll have your own piece of animation uploaded to your YouTube channel. What's this all about? This one-day taster course gives you get an introduction to the art of 3D Animation. You will also explore what it’s like to work as a professional animator. We'll take you through the animation process from start to finish, ending up with a finished movie file. How do you get there? Escape Studios is a short walk from Shepherd's Bush Tube Station, Shepherd's Bush Market Tube Station, Goldhawk Rd Tube Station, and Shepherd's Bush Overground. And tons of bus routes. How much does the day cost? Shepherd's Building, Shepherd's Bush £25 - including lunch.

Check out this excellent piece of work by Animation Apprentice student Joris Van Laar, who has taken the familiar theme of a character lifting a heavy weight and turned it into an excellent and entertaining piece of character animation. As ever, here at Animation Apprentice we encourage all our students to think of themselves as actors giving a performance. It's not enough to learn the mechanics of animation - we also have to make our work entertaining and fun to watch. Many congratulations to Joris on some excellent pantomime animation. T

Here at Animation Apprentice we encourage all our students to enter the monthly animation competition known above There are all sorts of reasons to enter, not the least of which is the chance for students' to showcase their skills and get their work noticed. The excellent animation above was done by one of our online MA students, Victoria Bailey, who has created an excellent piece of character animation.  Animators should always think of themselves as actors giving a performance, finding the right mannerisms and gestures to make the shot feel believable.  It's not enough to learn the mechanics of animation - we also have to make our work entertaining and convincing. Many congratulations to Victoria on her excellent work.

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.