our school

Animation Mentor is an 18-month animation program (six 12-week quarters) designed to teach the skills necessary to obtain a job in character animation. Check to make sure you meet our requirements so you can begin learning today from some of the best artists in the industry!

By Animators, For Animators™
Animation Mentor is the only animation school built by professional animators specifically for people who want to become character animators. We train students in a real-world environment so they are ready to step into a production job with a demo reel upon graduation. Our graduates are contributing to the creative and technical advances in many facets of the industry, including feature films and video games.

No matter where you live, students can now learn from the best animators in the industry. We feel the best way to learn animation is by learning from someone who is currently at the top of the animation field. We have worked hard to assemble some of the best animators on the planet who all want to teach aspiring animators. Each quarter, our students are assigned their own personal mentor to facilitate their learning experience. Mentors give weekly recorded video critiques (eCritiques®) of each student's work which can be viewed as many times as you like. Our students also have the ability to access all fellow classmates' eCritiques®, so you can learn from the mistakes and successes of others. We allow 10-15 students per mentor. Our small class sizes allow students to obtain the maximum benefit from their mentors.

Mentors meet with their students once a week in live web conference sessions. These one-hour sessions allow students to have more detailed back-and-forth discussions about their work, the assignments, and the video lecture content. These sessions allow students to get to know their mentor more personally, and make a professional contact in the industry.

Our weekly video lectures are taught by some of the best animators working in the industry today. In your typical classroom environment, you can only listen to a lecture one time. At Animation Mentor you can view the lecture as many times as you want, for up to four weeks per lecture. Also, in a typical classroom environment, many professors find it difficult to provide animated examples during their class sessions, due to time constraints. However, at Animation Mentor we have taken the time to give 100% of everything we know, by giving detailed instruction showing the many different methods of bringing an animated character to life through examples, step-by-step walk-throughs, animated exercises, detailed reference breakdowns, and movie analysis. Each lecture runs anywhere from 35 to 90 minutes in length.

The Animation Mentor curriculum has been designed by professionals, working at the top animation studios in the industry. This gives our curriculum a "real world" insight into what studios are looking for in new animator talent. Our approach prepares students with the skills and attitude they need to take them into the studio arena. Our online campus is built with a studio focus in mind, allowing our students to get comfortable with the many challenges and opportunities they will experience when working in a studio environment.

Animation Mentor has been described by our students as a community that not only allows them the ability to grow as artists, but also to grow as people. The student experience and community is truly inspiring. Having students from all over the world allows us to bring the world closer together, help our students make new friends, and establish lasting industry contacts.