Course Descriptions

CHARACTER DESIGN 101 - Chance Raspberry

The fundamentals of character design with an emphasis on concept development, design theory, construction, proportions, rotation models, facial expression models, action attitude posing, and dialogue models along with the development of basic drawing skills.

ADVANCED CHARACTER DESIGN - Joel Valdez

Continued studies in the art of character design with a focus upon adapting the human figure to character design and designing for 3D modeling. Completion of Character Design 101 recommended.

BACKGROUND DESIGN - Joel Valdez

Studies in the fundamentals of background concept design and layout along with perspective, composition, design, staging, mood, texture and lighting.

CHARACTER ANIMATION - Joel Valdez - Greg Manwaring

A study in the basic principles of animation and in bringing a character to life through the mechanics of motion. Areas of focus include squash and stretch, overlapping action, volume consistency, rhythms, lines of action and timing with a strong emphasis on basic drawing.

VISUAL DEVELOPMENT - Joel Valdez

An introduction to visual development and production design with an emphasis on the development of fundamental illustration skills. Specific areas of focus include the use of light and shadow upon form, control of gray scale values, tonal design, color theory basics and rendering techniques in a digital medium.

SPECIAL PROJECTS / AUTHORSHIP

Eligible students who've completed our basic prerequisite classes may enroll in Special Projects. In this class we develop authorship skills and prepare an original project for publication on Social Media. Includes working in a STORYBOARD / STORY SKETCH capacity.

STORYBOARD FUNDAMENTALS - Andres Alvarez

The development of a graphic narrative format for production. Includes concept development, storyboard mechanics, camera moves, hook-ups, composition, script analysis, scene planning, staging and continuity. Training in Storyboard Pro software offered independently through the Animation Design Center.