Frequently asked questions
What is this course?
This program is a game changer as there is nothing like it anywhere else on the Web!
The Foundational Certificate in Animation program of courses exists solely to provide an extensive foundational knowledge in animation that every professional animator of today should have - whether their next step be to enter the industry directly, to attend a college of further education, to make their own animation project from scratch or simply to expand their existing professional skill-set.
The Foundational Certificate in Animation courses will provide you with a broad base of top, time-tested, traditional & digital instruction you can proudly carry with you along your future career path - and at a fraction of the cost you will find elsewhere! This applies to any animation student, be their ultimate objective be a career in traditional/digital 2D, digital 3D, stop-frame, claymation or any other form of moving media discipline for now or in the future.
Indeed, we hope that professional studios and colleges will choose to work with us, as our Foundational Certificate in Animation students will provide them with a significantly higher caliber of applicant, making this program a win-win situation for all concerned!
Who is this course for?
This program or individual courses are for…
Anyone seeking an inexpensive, time-proven and comprehensive knowledge of core animation skills!
For committed high school students who are planning to move on to a degree-level course in animation.
For job seekers who want to expand their portfolio or showreel to give them a more comprehensive profile.
For professional animators wanting to expand and improve their current art & animation skills.
For Cartoonists. Illustrators and Graphic Novel Artists who want to bring their work alive through animation.
For Animation Fans and Hobbyists who want to learn how to do animation for themselves.
This program or individual courses are for…
Anyone seeking an inexpensive, time-proven and comprehensive knowledge of core animation skills!
For committed high school students who are planning to move on to a degree-level course in animation.
For job seekers who want to expand their portfolio or showreel to give them a more comprehensive profile.
For professional animators wanting to expand and improve their current art & animation skills.
For Cartoonists. Illustrators and Graphic Novel Artists who want to bring their work alive through animation.
For Animation Fans and Hobbyists who want to learn how to do animation for themselves.
Why do I need this course?
The reality is that more and more employees in the animation industry today are looking beyond just a knowledge of digital software and technological expertise when it comes to new employees. Today they need more traditional art, drawing and animation skills too.
Indeed this is becoming more and more imperative to employers – especially small studio employers, where most job-seeking graduates will actually start out – because applicants with core art skills and creative versatility are so much harder to find. Too many schools and colleges only teach software and technology, neglecting the fundamentally important traditional art & animation skills in the process.
Consequently, job seekers who are more than just 'software jockeys' are much more likely to land those hard-to-find jobs these days. The Foundational Course in Animation seeks to remedy this situation practically and economically.
The reality is that more and more employees in the animation industry today are looking beyond just a knowledge of digital software and technological expertise when it comes to new employees. Today they need more traditional art, drawing and animation skills too.
Indeed this is becoming more and more imperative to employers – especially small studio employers, where most job-seeking graduates will actually start out – because applicants with core art skills and creative versatility are so much harder to find. Too many schools and colleges only teach software and technology, neglecting the fundamentally important traditional art & animation skills in the process.
Consequently, job seekers who are more than just 'software jockeys' are much more likely to land those hard-to-find jobs these days. The Foundational Course in Animation seeks to remedy this situation practically and economically.
Why is this course different?
Most animation courses teach you basics - or just the software alone - but do not give you a firm foundation of traditional skills that underpin all professional disciplines. Neither do most programs allow the student to express themselves creativity or individually. As a result of this, all student work pretty much looks the same.
The Foundational Certificate in Animation program makes sure that students master the core creative and artistic skills before the software is even touched. It also enables imaginative students to express themselves in their final assignments once those essential core skills are learned. In this way graduates of the Foundational Certificate in Animation program will not only prove that they know and can apply the necessary core principles of knowledge shown them, but their final portfolio work will mark them as original and individual artists in their own right!
Most animation courses teach you basics - or just the software alone - but do not give you a firm foundation of traditional skills that underpin all professional disciplines. Neither do most programs allow the student to express themselves creativity or individually. As a result of this, all student work pretty much looks the same.
The Foundational Certificate in Animation program makes sure that students master the core creative and artistic skills before the software is even touched. It also enables imaginative students to express themselves in their final assignments once those essential core skills are learned. In this way graduates of the Foundational Certificate in Animation program will not only prove that they know and can apply the necessary core principles of knowledge shown them, but their final portfolio work will mark them as original and individual artists in their own right!
Is it affordable instruction?
Yes, extremely so - especially compared to the price of mainstream academia today! Conventional education is becoming exponentially more costly year after year - and with no absolute guarantees that students completing such an expensive program will even find a job at the end of it all! Consequently, for many students, college loans today are hard (if not impossible) to pay off! In addition to these escalating course fees, advanced learning students will often need to uproot themselves and move to where an appropriate school is, invariably requiring extensive and additional travel, accommodation and living costs.
How much better therefore is it to find an inexpensive top-grade course - based on decades of professional industry & educational knowledge and experience - that can be learned at home and in your own time! This Foundational Certificate in Animation program offers you all of these things - and so much more!
Yes, extremely so - especially compared to the price of mainstream academia today! Conventional education is becoming exponentially more costly year after year - and with no absolute guarantees that students completing such an expensive program will even find a job at the end of it all! Consequently, for many students, college loans today are hard (if not impossible) to pay off! In addition to these escalating course fees, advanced learning students will often need to uproot themselves and move to where an appropriate school is, invariably requiring extensive and additional travel, accommodation and living costs.
How much better therefore is it to find an inexpensive top-grade course - based on decades of professional industry & educational knowledge and experience - that can be learned at home and in your own time! This Foundational Certificate in Animation program offers you all of these things - and so much more!
Can I study at my own pace?
Yes, totally! The huge advantage of our Foundation Course in Animation is that it is entirely self-contained, online and lasts as long as you want it to. Therefore you call the shots - without the need to even go out of your front door if necessary!
Yes, totally! The huge advantage of our Foundation Course in Animation is that it is entirely self-contained, online and lasts as long as you want it to. Therefore you call the shots - without the need to even go out of your front door if necessary!
How does it work?
It’s actually all very simple. You sign up for a course - or the whole 'Foundational Certificate in Animation' package at a discount rate. You access your course/courses at any time you like. You access it/them for as long as you like, day or night, for an entire lifetime if you so choose. You do the work and complete each course in your own time. And if you sign up for the full 'Foundational Certificate in Animation' program you even get mentoring and feedback on your final assignments for each course in your program!
There are no extra costs or hidden fees of any kind. (Unless you sign up for one of the individual courses and want additional instruction or mentoring. In this case that will be an additional hourly cost for any extra mentoring of instructor feedback you want.) But do remember that every individual course is designed so that you will never need feedback unless you want it - each is designed to be extremely easy to understand and self-contained in terms of the knowledge/instruction provided.
It’s actually all very simple. You sign up for a course - or the whole 'Foundational Certificate in Animation' package at a discount rate. You access your course/courses at any time you like. You access it/them for as long as you like, day or night, for an entire lifetime if you so choose. You do the work and complete each course in your own time. And if you sign up for the full 'Foundational Certificate in Animation' program you even get mentoring and feedback on your final assignments for each course in your program!
There are no extra costs or hidden fees of any kind. (Unless you sign up for one of the individual courses and want additional instruction or mentoring. In this case that will be an additional hourly cost for any extra mentoring of instructor feedback you want.) But do remember that every individual course is designed so that you will never need feedback unless you want it - each is designed to be extremely easy to understand and self-contained in terms of the knowledge/instruction provided.
What equipment do I need?
Each course varies in equipment needs. Some require more specific equipment, some less, depending on their content. However, if you plan to take the full 'Foundation Certificate in Animation' program you will ultimately need to have access to all the equipment we recommend to you on this Equipment page.
Each course varies in equipment needs. Some require more specific equipment, some less, depending on their content. However, if you plan to take the full 'Foundation Certificate in Animation' program you will ultimately need to have access to all the equipment we recommend to you on this Equipment page.
Are there required textbooks?
There are no required textbooks - but each course may suggest important reading matter you might want to access when on that course. Full 'Foundation Certificate in Animation' students are advised however to reference Tony White's books on animation for a broader and more extensive understanding of the subject matter being studied in any particular course.
There are no required textbooks - but each course may suggest important reading matter you might want to access when on that course. Full 'Foundation Certificate in Animation' students are advised however to reference Tony White's books on animation for a broader and more extensive understanding of the subject matter being studied in any particular course.