Adam's Animation Academy/Animating in Toon Boom

  • £250 or 2 monthly payments of £125

Animating in Toon Boom

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  • Includes 1 additional product

Learn 2D animation step by step - from bouncing ball to full character performance with dialogue. Practice the latest Toon Boom Harmony techniques used for professional quality animation with bonus exercises to build up your showreel.

Student success story

Former student, Kasun Jayamanne took our Toon Boom course to get his skills up to a professional standard.

He added his course work to his showreel and not long after successfully gained employment as an animator on Rick & Morty. He now works for the world famous Cartoon Saloon.

*Limited spaces available per cohort

"The Toon Boom course is valuable and thoroughly explained, each video helped me to build on my skills and apply them to my industry role. An amazing course"

What's included?

Includes private tuition from the U.K's first certified Toon Boom expert!

✔️ 4 weeks of online training with lifetime access
✔️ 40 day license of Toon Boom Harmony Premium (£130 value)
✔️ One-to-one live call with Adam (£50 value)
✔️ Mini review of your final project (£45 value)
✔️ Chat with other animators in our private community
✔️ Unlimited access to our growing resources (rigs, practice shots, files)
✔️ Certificate upon completion for your C.V or LinkedIn

Contents

Watch weeks 1 & 2 previews below! 👀

Week 1 - Fast Track to Animating

The first week is all about getting you quickly up to speed and applying your animation principles within the software. You'll learn about pegs, drawings, deformers and how to effectively control movement, natural arcs and finish up a polished shot.

By the end of this week, you'll understand how rigs move in real productions and have your first rig-driven animation.

Introduction
Setting Up
Planning your Animation
Preview
Keying the Simple Rig
Preview
Keying the Complex Rig
Inbetweening and Loops
Backgrounds and 3D Space
Layering the Motion
Understanding Z Depth
Adjustments and finesse
Using Deformers
Finishing your Scene
Extra Challenges

Week 2 - Advancing the Basics

This week tackles two key concepts: lip sync and FK/IK systems. We'll take a look at a fully functioning head rig and practice with some dialogue, so you can flex those animation skills! Then it's onto different types of rig systems that are often used in limbs. This is key for our full character project.

Introduction to Frogsie
Working with Sound
Preview
Idea Generation
Preview
The Blocking Pass
Adding mouth shapes
Tweening part 1
Tweening part 2
The Breakdown Assistant
Quick shadows
Limb Set Ups
Peg Limbs
Constraint Limbs
Line Boil

Week 3 - Props in Action

Now we'll combine principles with production techniques to animate a prop rig. This week teaches how to attach and detach elements, import brushes, draw your own props, a bunch of handy effects, adding cameras and smooth, luxurious 3D paths. Wowee!

Introducing our scene
Animating the shot
Importing brushes
Creating Props
Quick linkage
Movement Effects
Lighting Effects
Bird flight and retiming
Lights camera optimise!

Week 4 - Acting with Dialogue

Time to bring a character to life! Using a full rig, you'll block poses, animate body movement and sync the mouth shapes to the dialogue. Add emotional nuance and polish to create a short acting shot that really shows off your skills.

As this project will take time, this is your final homework project to complete until the course ends.

The Full Character Rig
Roughing Out
Learning the Mechanics
Perfecting the Pose
Motivating movement
Jaw-Dropping Lip Sync
Secondary Actions
Dead or Alive!
You've Done It! What's Next?

"I can wholeheartedly recommend Adam. As an animator himself, he truly gets that animation isn’t just about the work, it’s about the people behind it. It’s rare to find someone so genuinely invested in their students’ overall well-being, and Adam is exactly that kind of teacher."

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Why choose us?

Our online courses are designed to be studied part-time from anywhere in the world. We focus on the key industry skills sought after by animation studios whilst cutting the excess fluff and saving you precious time 🕒

Subjects are broken down into easy-to-follow topics, along with mini projects to test out your new skills. We include things like tech support, individual critiques, certificates, live calls and private Discord community.

Course tutor

Adam Oliver

Manchester, U.K.

With over 16 years of professional experience in the animation industry, Adam was also the UK's first certified Toon Boom expert. He's worked in TV and film, both as a hand-drawn and cut-out animator, as well as teaching in higher education and as an artist-in-residence. He started the Academy in 2017 and since then has trained thousands of creative folk how to rig and animate in Toon Boom Harmony.

Frequently asked questions

What kind of animation does the course focus on?

This course focuses on the popular 2D cut-out rigged style. This course does not teach the process of pure hand-drawn animation.

Do I need to know how to use Toon Boom?

Any experience you do have is useful, including in other animation software, but is not required. The course has been made for those new to Toon Boom Harmony or with basic experience.

What will I learn on this course?

The main aims of the course are to teach you how to apply the principles of animation within the software, mastering the mechanics of movements and applying your skills to full character rigs. The final project is a short acting scene, demonstrating your understanding of the software and the animation principles. There is a chance to produce several demo reel pieces from the tasks you'll be given.

How long does the course run for?

This course runs for 4 weeks from the start date. I will provide feedback on your final project up to 8 weeks from the start date, officially, but you've permanent access to our Discord, so you'll always find me there!

Do I lose access to the course after it ends?

No! Our buy once courses include lifetime access to the curriculum and all future updates.

What times do I have to be available?

The whole course has been designed to be as flexible as possible, so everyone can take part, no matter where in the world you live.

There is a live group call in either week 3, 4 or 5, which will normally be on a Monday or Tuesday evening UK time. Details provided at the start of each course.

Is the software included?

Yes! Each student will receive a 40 day license for the latest version of Toon Boom Harmony Premium. This will cover the length of the course and then some, to give you time to finish off those projects!

How much free time do I need to take part?

We suggest a minimum of 2-4 hours a week although this really depends on your experience.

The longer you have, the more you can practice. Ideally setting aside half a day and an evening or two will give you lots of time each week to build your rig without time pressure.

You can also progress faster through certain parts of the course, if you have a chunk of free time. We've had former students complete a 5 week course in 2 weeks when they've studied full time! So again, it's very much flexible to your personal situation.

How do I receive feedback on my course work?

You'll be given specific instructions on how to send over your final project, and in return I'll give you personalised review. This will be via a recorded video on screen with your project and my thoughts as well as steps I'd suggest for your continued development.