Animation

Course Overview

In this semester-long, introductory-level animation course, students gain fundamental skills to create a 2D animation through frame-by-frame, tweens, and inverse kinematics. Emphasis is placed on history of animation, animation terminology, principles of animation, storyboard and character development, and utilization of Adobe Animate CC.

Evaluation is based on technical skills, quality, completion of assignments, and participation in class discussion.

Course Content

Unit 1: Introduction to Animation

Unit 1 introduces students to the history of animation and a range of traditional and digital techniques and animators. Students study the fundamental standards of character design, scripting and storyboarding and learn how the 12 principles of animation create the illusion motion.

Unit 2: Adobe Animate CC

In Unit 2 students gain working knowledge of Adobe Animate CC to create an assortment of animated content. Students learn to effectively utilize the workspace, implement Animate CC’s tools and features to animate objects, create vectors, apply principles of animations, create a walk cycle and add audio. Students are also introduced to creating and editing vector animation assets and characters utilizing the drawing and shapes tools for animation in Adobe Illustrator.

Unit 3: Final Project

Unit 3 brings all the skills from Unit 1 and 2 together. Students create an original animation based on a storyboard, script and character sheets. Students then create and animate the character(s), elements, and background into one consistent animation while documenting their process in a Wiki.