Disney Animation Supervisor and AnimSchool Instructor Angelo Sta Catalina shares his best tips on animating a run cycle. In this snippet from an AnimShool class lecture, Angelo discusses the key poses and principles that make a run cycle come to life. Angelo breaks down key poses including the contact, down, push, and peak, providing valuable tips for naturalistic and stylized runs while preserving the core principles of body mechanics. A run cycle shares many poses with a walk cycle, which typically consists of a contact pose, down, passing, up, and back to the contact pose. However, th ..read more

In animation, the significance of well-executed poses cannot be overstated. Posing is the foundation upon which character expression, emotion, and storytelling are built. A carefully crafted pose communicates the essence of a character's personality and intentions, providing vital visual cues to the audience. AnimSchool instructor Aleksander Kolev explains how to find appealing poses, and how they can be used effectively in your shots. Asymmetry Having both asymmetry in the face and body will keep your poses interesting. Depending on how realistic or unrealistic your shot is, you can push an ..read more

Smear frames bridge the gap between individual frames, contributing significantly to the illusion of smooth, lifelike movement. These subtle, elongated, or stretched frames create a sense of speed, impact, and energy, enhancing the overall visual experience. By strategically distorting shapes and lines, smear frames add finesse and character to the motion.  AnimSchool instructor Mitchell Jao explains why smear frames are necessary in standard 24fps film animation. Oftentimes, 24 frames per second simply isn't enough to capture quick motion, and can result in a choppy-looking animation. H ..read more

AnimSchool instructor Scott Guppy discusses the most common forms of storytelling structure, and how you can use it in your animation to convey a complete story.  By distilling your narrative to its basic structure, you unlock a compelling journey that resonates with your audience. Keep it concise, and focus on key elements. In simplicity lies the magic that makes your tale unforgettable. Stories typically follow a three-act structure: Setup, Conflict, and Resolution. As with animation, these rules can be broken; however, we must first understand the rules Act 1: Setup Establishes a sce ..read more

AnimSchool instructor Janel Drewis breaks down the basic steps, and how video reference is used as an aid to achieve believable character movement. Achieving a natural and convincing walk is deceptively simple. A successful walk cycle animation requires a keen eye for the intricacies of human movement. It involves mastering complex details such as weight distribution, timing, balance, and coordination all while ensuring the character's movement matches their personality. Walk cycles do not employ any one specific Principle of Animation - a good walk cycle incorporates each principle in som ..read more

AnimSchool instructor Masha Juergens explores the process of getting into character from behind the camera.  Acting for animation is a unique art form, where animators bring characters to life not just with the use of technology, but through the use of their own physical and emotional performances. With boundless creativity, they craft compelling personalities that resonate with audiences of all ages, making animated worlds come alive on your screen. Animators vs. Actors Animators focus on externals in characterization and caricature (facial expressions, body movement, emotional re ..read more

AnimSchool instructor Ricky Renna explains what phonemes are and how to employ them in your lipsync to create a believable and natural performance. Phonemes are the building blocks of human speech and are fundamental when learning to effectively communicate. As animators, one of our goals is to find a way to convey thoughts, feelings, and in this case, language. Mastering phonemes is an important step towards this goal. Phonemes are defined as the perceptually distinct units of sound in a specified language that distinguish one word from another. In animation terms, we can think of it as ..read more

  For over two decades, Luis Labrador has established a prominent reputation in the 3D visual effects and animation industry as a skilled 3D modeling artist. Luis began his career as a special makeup effects artist in Spain in the early 1990’s. His professional path took a new direction after he watched "Jurassic Park" in 1993. Seeing the CG generated dinosaurs sparked his interest in pursuing a career in 3D. He got his start in 3D character scanning at Gentle Giant Studios in 1999, where he contributed to noteworthy films such as "Spider-Man 2," "Van Helsing," and "Pirates of the Car ..read more

When it comes to sculpting hands, AnimSchool Instructor Charles Ellison has refined his method after years and years of practice. We can see his superb work in some of his latest published work for Jacob in Netflix Animation's "The Sea Beast".  More images available at Charle's Artstation Portfolio   Charles emphasizes the importance of having good reference at hand before starting your model. Many times during his lectures, Charles references the book “Anatomy for Sculptors” by Uldis Zarins. Many sections of the book can be found in their sample online. But if all ..read more

Whether it’s to make grass or hair, XGen is a powerful tool within Maya that can help take your models to the next level. In the tutorial below, AnimSchool Instructor Koji Tsukamoto shows us how to get started in XGen.  XGen can be an intimating tool. A tool that is well known for crashing and not playing nicely with artists.  Getting started with such a tool is a daunting task. With Koji's guidance, we can get a better grasp of XGen, breaking down his method step by step. Before we pick up with Koji, take a look at the instructions below!  First thing to mak ..read more