Animation Mentor: Can you share the story of Animation Nights New York? Yvonne Grzenkowicz: I founded Animation Nights New York (ANNY) on September 9th, 2015. Little Water Radio invited me to use their old space at 207a Front St in the back of Fulton Stall Market for the premiere “NY Independents” screening. I curated the first program with Robert Lyons (ASIFA East). We had about 45 attendees. We soon outgrew the space! (Thank you, Little Water Radio and Fulton Stall Market!) ANNY Screening at Fulton Stall Market in the Seaport District (2015) Jan-April 2016 ANNY was in residency with the Thir ..read more

Alum and Content Creator Sir Wade Neistadt spoke with 10 Animation Mentor students and alumni who animated shots in our Student Showcase. Lucky for us, they covered everything from practical workflow tips to career advice! We highlighted some of our favorite parts below, but we’d also encourage you to watch the whole interview. Watch the Interview How did you plan your shot? “Once I had the original idea, my planning process started with, “Who is this character? I wanted it to feel as genuine as possible.” – Noelia Encarnacion “I don’t know how to draw. That was my first take on doing it fo ..read more

Please join us in welcoming Darius, the newest member of our character family! Darius is a highly expressive rig, allowing our students to create powerful and engaging performances. We can’t wait to see the stories he’ll star in! Students can get access to this exciting new character beginning in our Introduction to Acting course. Alumni of our Character Animation Courses are encouraged to give Darius a try as well! Interested in learning more about the creation process for Darius? Keep reading! Process image of Darius Say hello to the creative team behind Darius! Thank you to these talented ..read more

The 2021 Animation Mentor Student Showcase is here! We’re so excited to share the 2021 Animation Mentor Student Showcase with the world! The 2021 Student Showcase is a selection of this year’s top student work, featuring 18 students from 18 cities and 7 different countries around the world. Creative storytelling is the thread that ties all of these animated shots into one engaging showreel and highlights the talents of our amazing students. It’s always difficult to narrow down the showcase to just a handful of shots. We’re constantly impressed by the breadth of the student work we see within ..read more

The Design of The Mitchells vs. the Machines Animation Mentor: The Mitchells vs. the Machines is such a cool blend of art styles, much like another Sony blockbuster, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Can you talk about how the design influenced the animation? Tim Rudder: The Mitchells was an interesting mix where the director was pushing for quite subtle and nuanced acting but at the same time we had characters with distinctly cartoony designs. Two early challenges with that mix were lip sync—keeping emotional scenes subtle when mouth shapes were so graphic and exaggerated—and also keeping t ..read more

Bao Er Ho (Fiona) worked on James Gray’s Ad Astra.What is previs in animation? Previsualization or “previs” is an important tool that’s essential to the movie making process. It helps directors plan sequences and camera work before principal photography even starts. Did you know that Marvel movies are all previs-ed? And in the Star Wars universe, Mandalorian Creator Jon Favreau used previs to explore story ideas and save budget, ultimately telling a better story by figuring out key details early on. All of the technology that we’re using [on Mando] is dependent on planning everything with pre ..read more

3D Character Modeling for Real-Time Games The video game industry is booming and studios like Blizzard, Ubisoft, and Riot Games need skilled character modelers to create visually-stunning characters. 3D Character Modeling 02 for Games teaches the workflows every artist needs to create high-quality character models, based on current real-time production techniques. Take the character you designed in Introduction to 3D Character Modeling to the next level by optimizing it for AAA games. Learn efficient retopology flow, texturing and shading techniques, and portfolio-ready presentation, and beco ..read more

Looking for some inspiration to jump-start your animation hobby or career? There are so many resources available to learn about animation! If you enjoy self-study you can read books on the topic, take online animation courses, and watch YouTube videos. You can also connect with others while you learn by attending animation festivals and conferences, joining online animation communities, or being mentored by an experienced animator. And if you’re the type of person who enjoys learning wherever you go, no matter what you’re doing, listening to animation podcasts is the perfect way for you to ex ..read more

We have a very SPECIAL blog post from veteran mentor, Dana Boadway-Masson. She walks you through her secrets on acting and shares performance tips that will help you create believable, living and breathing characters. A must-read for any animator that needs to take it to the next level. Learn, absorb it, and go animate that shot! Beyond the 12 Principles: Top 10 Advanced Performance Tips for Animators In an animated film, there needs to be clarity of communication in order to effectively tell the story and engage the audience. As animators, it is our job to draw the audience in and build a pe ..read more

As a young animator looking for career advice, you must have lots of questions. Some of the most common questions we hear at Animation Mentor are: Should I aim to work in a big studio or a small studio? Which one is better for learning? Which one pays more? Which one is better suited for me? Luckily, veteran animator Tim Ingersoll is here to share his experiences working at both small and large animation studios, from the internal politics to the way they celebrate finished projects.Through the years, Tim has worked on smaller films like Rover Dangerfield, and huge blockbusters like Kung Fu P ..read more