by Animation Mentor | Jul 31, 2026 | Animation, Animation Tips and Tricks, Autodesk Maya, Featured, Mentors
Discover why timing and spacing are the first big steps to believable animation in this free workshop with DreamWorks character animator Robyne West. Using a classic bouncing ball exercise in Maya, Robyne demonstrates how to create distinct senses of weight, speed,...
by Animation Mentor | Jul 28, 2026 | Animation, Animation Tips and Tricks, Continual Learning
In this tutorial, Animation Mentor graduate Nathaniel Seymour walks through a two character shot that pairs a small, fast rig with a large, heavy one. Using his own video reference, he shows how animation layers can add variety on top of a run cycle and how starting a...
by Animation Mentor | Jul 21, 2026 | Animation, Animation Tips and Tricks, Continual Learning, Mentors
In this tutorial, Animation Mentor Game Animation and Character Animation mentor Natasha Krinsky breaks down how to animate climbing and hanging shots so they read as physically believable. Using student examples and a full blocking to spline pass of her own, she...
by Animation Mentor | Jul 13, 2026 | Animation, Animation Tips and Tricks, Continual Learning
DreamWorks animator and Animation Mentor alum Nicholas De Lotto explains how to take a shot from floaty blocking to something entertaining and appealing, by pushing timing and posing beyond what reference alone gives you. Using a simple jump over a car as his example,...
by Animation Mentor | Jul 8, 2026 | Animation, Animation Tips and Tricks, Continual Learning
In this lesson, Animation Mentor mentor and Rant Senior 3D Animator Gleb Sitnichenko shows how to build a convincing spinning jump for Stella based on ice skating axel reference. He focuses on why preparation and reference matter more than the actual keyframing, how...
by Animation Mentor | Jul 7, 2026 | Animation, Animation Tips and Tricks, Continual Learning
DreamWorks animator and Animation Mentor alum Nicholas De Lotto walks through what “polish” actually means in a professional workflow and how to approach it without turning your shot into a floaty mess. He focuses on separating body and face, fixing technical issues,...
