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Creature Feedback from an ILM Pro

by | Mar 3, 2014

At Animation Mentor, we hear you AND we make changes based on your feedback. Today, we want to say thank you for the insightful feedback you gave us regarding our Creatures classes.

You told us you are busy! You have jobs, kids, and other priorities. And you want to be able to push your skills to the next level, and make yourself the top choice for jobs at studios like Industrial Light & Magic, and Tippett Studio.

So, we did everything we could to make the educational experience better for you: we’ve reduced the weekly time commitment by making some assignments easier, we’ve broken down our multi-class program into two, awesome, 12-week stand-alone classes, and there are no grades. Now you can just focus on animating.

Our classes are taught by the best professional creature animators in the industry, like Animation Mentor co-founder and Industrial Light & Magic senior animator Shawn Kelly, and Sony Pictures Imageworks senior animator Jason Martinsen. You get weekly one-on-one time with your mentor and get valuable eCritique feedback from your mentor on each one of your submitted assignments. Want to see just how valuable the feedback is?

Check out these two sample eCritiques from mentor and ILM animator, Shawn Kelly:

In the Creature Animation: Locomotion class, you learn the essential body mechanics to create realistic movement in your creatures. Go deep into quadruped walk cycles to explore complex weight, force, and momentum. You’ll also get to bring predators to life and bring reality to fantasy creatures. Finish the class with the critical skill of “polish” – in the last two weeks of class, you are taught how to add details and nuances to take your animation from good to awesome.

In the Creature Animation: Fight or Flight class, you learn the art of animating creatures with live-action backplates so you can truly make your creatures feel alive. You’ll start the class learning the theory and technique involved in animating a realistic flight cycle. As you get further into class, you get to integrate your character into high-definition plates which are provided for you. Then comes something truly badass. Walk step by step through a fight scene and what it takes to throw a punch with proper mechanics. Finish off the class with a polish walkthrough where you learn how to select the best work for your demo reel and make it shine.

Ready to get started in Creature Animation? Register for Spring Term, but hurry because sections are selling out!

Want 30 more minutes of eCritique feedback from Shawn Kelly? Simply fill out the form below, and we’ll send you the links via email:

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