ANIMATION | LEVEL TWO (grade 5-adult)
INSTRUCTOR: NATHAN FISHER

Prerequisite: at least 12 weeks of Level One instruction

Fine tune your practice and techniques in the animation production process and the different skills that work together to make an animated story come to life: character design, scriptwriting, storyboarding, animation, gesture drawing, and more.

SPRING 2024 CLASS SCHEDULE INCLUDES:

• MONDAYS – Animation Production Fundamentals
This class focuses on establishing students in the fundamentals necessary for them to create their own animated stories and for them to be skilled enough to participate in animated productions with other students and artists. What we teach in this class is essential, even for students who have some experience making their own animations. You will learn about the animation production process and the different skills that work together to make an animated story come to life: character design, scriptwriting, storyboarding, animation, gesture drawing, and more. The content we will cover in this class has made the process of making an animated scene so much easier. This has been very helpful for even our advanced students who had been drawing for ten years and already had some animation experience. This is really important, even for self-taught animators who have never learned these core techniques and principles while they were figuring out how to animate. Several of the Animation Group’s best artists who started this class with advanced experience told me that the Fundamentals class gave them their biggest breakthroughs in skill development with the animation production process. This is a class experience that is relevant to beginner, intermediate, and advanced students alike.

• Intro to Animation Online Class
Weekly Recorded Video Class released each Friday –
Hands on, step-by-step animator training to compliment and support skill development together with our animation production classes. Weekly lessons released on 10 Fridays

• Seven Live Q&As (question and answer sessions)
on Wednesdays or Fridays
4:00-5:30PM Mountain Time
(3pm Pacific / 5pm Central / 6pm Eastern)

• Online Voiceover Sessions:
Live Online Class on six Saturdays –
Join other students and perform character roles together in a live recording session.
9:30-11:00 AM Mountain Time
(8:30am Pacific / 10:30am Central / 11:30am Eastern)

• DAILY Online Community Interaction and Support
Connect with other students, build friendships, and work together on projects. Receive help and support any day of the week through our safe, private online community.

To participate in this program, the student and the parent/legal guardian are entering into the following contractual agreement.

REGISTER NOW: MONDAYS | FEBRUARY 5-MAY 6 | 6 PM TO 7:30 PM | $360

NO CLASS ON MARCH 18 OR 25. If you would like to pay in installments (or join our wait list if class is listed as full), email Annie at classes@cottonwoodcenterforthearts.com

IMPORTANT – WHAT WILL I NEED FOR THIS CLASS?

Students will need the following to fully participate:

1) BLANK PAPER (a sketchbook is recommended), PENCILS, SHARPENER, and an ERASER.

2) A DIGITAL DEVICE TO DRAW, DESIGN, AND ANIMATE WITH
– ONE of the following:
• Desktop or laptop computer (Windows or Mac) – with a drawing tablet*. 8MB RAM minimum is recommended for the apps to work well.
• iPad Pro – with an Apple Pencil. Apple Pencil ONLY works with the iPad Pro
• Touchscreen Chromebook – with a drawing stylus. 8MB RAM minimum is recommended for the apps to work well.
• Touchscreen Mobile Device – with a drawing stylus. Smart phone or tablet (older iPad, iPhone, Android, or Kindle Fire) with a drawing stylus: We recommend the Adonit Pro drawing stylus available on their website for $30 Also, right now the Adonit Mini 3 is available on clearance for $12. Test the RoughAnimator App on your mobile device to make sure that your device can support it. If RoughAnimator will not work well, other animation apps probably will not work on that device either.

*IMPORTANT NOTE about drawing tablets for Windows or Mac computers, either of the following options will work –
• Wacom drawing tablet – for Windows or Mac computers. You can find a good one on the Wacom website or on Amazon for approx $75 to $100. The Wacom Intuos S is a good starter tablet. Alternative options for drawing tablets include Cintiq, XP-Pen, Huion, and Gaomon.
• iPad Pro and Apple Pencil with Astro Pad Studio. If you already own an iPad Pro and a Windows or Mac computer, this is an alternative option to provide a drawing tablet that will allow you to use Windows and Mac only apps like Toon Boom Harmony, that do not run on an iPad or mobile device. With this option, you will not need to buy a Wacom drawing tablet.

3) ANIMATION APP – RoughAnimator ($6). 

We recommend every student have RoughAnimator installed on your device to follow along with live in-class demonstrations. We work primarily with RoughAnimator in our classes for many of our lessons and we will teach you how to use it. But in additional to RoughAnimator, you are welcome to use other animation apps for your assignments and projects if you already know how to use those apps. An optional student subscription to the industry standard animation software, Toon Boom Harmony will be available for a student materials fee. This software will ONLY work on a Windows or Mac computer, not on other electronic devices. We also have tutorials available to teach you how to use it.

We do not teach how to use the following apps but you are welcome to use them for your assignments and projects – Other recommendable industry standard 2D animation apps include: TV Paint, Clip Studio Paint EX, and Blender. Other recommendable iPad animation apps include Toon Squid, Callipeg, and Clip Studio Paint EX. The following animation apps are fun to use, but their features are too limited for many of our lessons: Krita, FireAlpaca, FlipaClip, Flipbook, and Pencil2D.

4) A SKETCHING APP FOR DRAWING, PAINTING, AND CONCEPTING IDEAS. The following apps will work for this purpose: Sketchbook app, Clip Studio Paint Pro or EX, Photoshop, ProCreate, or any of the following FREE apps: Krita, Ibis Paint, Medibang Paint, or Jump Paint.

5) A DIGITAL DEVICE WITH INTERNET ACCESS AND THE ZOOM APP installed to connect to and participate in our live online classes – it can be the same device used for #2 above, but it is often easier to follow along if these devices are separate.

PLEASE NOTE:
• Some IN-PERSON class sessions will NOT have replay videos available. If the same lesson was taught in one of the online classes, the replay for that class will be made available to IN-PERSON students.
• For all IN-PERSON classes, students must be picked up promptly at the class end time. We will not be able to supervise students after the class ends.

NATHAN’S STORY + THE CREATION OF THIS PROGRAM:

When I was teenager, I dreamed of having a place where I could grow in the art and creative expressions that were inside of me. I loved movies, cartoons, Hollywood and artistic media. I loved to draw and experiment with cartoon animation. I wanted someone to show me how I could get really good at it. I wanted a community I could be a part of that would affirm and encourage who I am as a creative person. The problem was that none existed that was either affordable or accessible to me. Eventually, I enrolled in an expensive art school that failed to provide any lasting community to support me on my journey.

Today, creative youth are experiencing that same frustration. I discovered this first hand as a public school art teacher. Many of our in-school art programs are restrictive and limited to academic requirements that do not allow artistic students to truly explore their creative interests and ambitions. Today’s students are inspired by their heroes and the pop-culture stories that they have come to love and respect. This is why I have created the Animation Production Group After School classes.

This is a place where students who love animation, digital media, or pop-culture art can grow in the skills and expressions that they dream of mastering. Students in this program have told me that not only do they love what they learn in these classes, but also that they love to come because it is a safe place from the stresses and pressures of life, and that it provides a peaceful atmosphere where they can relax and enjoy their creative gifts, and enjoy the company of others who share that same passion. They tell me it’s the best 120 minutes of their week!

Artists need mentors and friends who share their passion and will walk with them as they pursue their creative passions. We invite you to register below and join us for this purpose.

____________________________
Nathan Fisher
Animation Group Teacher