Frame-by-Frame Ninja – Elias Velho

Frame-by-Frame Ninja Information

Learn the hardcore way of animating, one drawing at a time – and master the skills necessary to be a frame-by-frame animation Ninja.

What is this Frame by Frame Animation course about?

This course will teach you the entire process of cel animation, but way more than a software tutorial or a specific technique, you will learn the actual skills and principles that make any kind of animation look good.

We will start by understanding the fundamentals of drawing, what makes a good pose and how to show a character’s emotions through facial expressions. You will dive into the principles of animation and learn the key to creating convincing movement. Finally, we’ll get to those dynamic shots with awesome camera moves. All the classes are filled with practical exercises so you can absorb and apply the things you’ve learned.

By the end of this, you will be able to create your own cel-animated shot from start to finish and learn extremely important concepts that will take your animation skills to a whole new level.

Here’s what you’ll learn

LESSON #1: Drawing Fundamentals and Posing

In the first lesson, you will learn how to think when you draw, using a process that makes sure your character poses have life and volume.

• Part 1: Structure
• Part 2: Gesture and Posing
• Part 3: Drawing Characters

LESSON #2: The Face and the Expressions

We’ll go over the basic construction of the head, and understand how to draw relatable characters through strong facial expressions.

• Part 1: Basic Anatomy of the Face
• Part 2: Basic Knowledge of Expressions
• Part 3: Specific Combinations

LESSON #3: The Animation Principles

Here you’ll understand and apply the 12 principles of animation developed by the great masters of the craft, as well as get into other very useful tips and tricks.

• Part 1: Solid Drawing, Timing, Easing and Squash & Stretch
• Part 2: Arcs and Follow-through
• Part 3: Anticipation, Secondary Action, and other principles

LESSON #4: Breakdowns and Animating a Simple Shot

In this class, we will deeply cover breakdowns, the key to understanding and controlling movement. We will also apply that knowledge – creating a whole new shot from scratch.

• Part 1: Breakdowns
• Part 2: Animating a Simple Shot (Rough, Tie-Down, and Inbetweens)
• Part 3: Animating a Simple Shot (Clean & Color)

LESSON #5: Dynamic Shots and Camera Moves

You are finally ready for some more advanced stuff, and here we will cover dynamic timing for action shots, as well as some very important concepts on camera moves.

• Part 1: Camera Moves
• Part 2: Dynamic Timing

LESSON #6: Animating a Complex Shot: Planning and Roughing

From this class on, you will closely follow the process of animating a complex action shot. In this class, we will go from coming up with the idea, to planning and refining it to the point where it’s ready to tie down.

LESSON #7: Animating a Complex Shot: Tie down and inbetweens

Continuing the process, we will work our way through making actual drawings on model from our roughs, and adding good inbetweens that don’t spoil our timing, but actually enhance it.

LESSON #8: Animating a Complex Shot: Clean & Color

Finally, we will clean and color our shot using specific techniques that make the process a whole more efficient. By the end of this, you should be able to create your own hand-drawn animated shot from scratch.

About Author

Hey, I’m Elias Velho! 🤠

I’m a cel animator and motion designer from Brazil. After many years of experience as an animator for TV series and feature film, I fell in love with the motion design industry, and for the past few years I’ve been working with a bunch of cool studios around the world as a cel animation specialist.

I’m currently animation director at Remade Studio. In this course, I’ll guide you through your first steps to becoming a Frame by Frame Ninja.

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