Animating with Purpose: Movement and Expression

There’s more to animation than walk cycles. Join animator Claudio Salas for this fascinating deep dive on the next level of animation: expressing emotion!

Figuring out how to get just the right attitude across in your animation can be challenging, but luckily there are rules of physics and human motion that can help! Join Claudio in this dynamic class that not only teaches the process of animating an emotionally-driven character, but provides the skills and tools to understand how to express a range of emotions in your future work.

While animating a happy character named Noah, Claudio will bring students through the process of deciding on a style, finding a reference, and getting joyful motion just right. You can follow along with Noah or design your own character! With Claudio’s clear and meditative teaching style, you’ll learn how to:

• Import and rig a character design into After Effects
• Spot the basic physics of motion out in the world
• Animate happiness, and what differentiates happy motion
• Use “magic tricks” on your brain with animation

Whether you’re a walk cycle pro and looking to learn something new or a more seasoned animator who wants to try a different approach, take your animation to the next level with Claudio and Noah!

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This class is open to all levels, though some experience with Adobe After Effects is suggested to make it easier to follow along. Familiarity with plugins is also helpful, as Claudio demonstrates his favorite After Effects plugins throughout, including Overlord, Motion2, and Labels.

Looking for an animation class that's perfect for beginners? Check out Bee Grandinetti's class on creating a dance cycle in After Effects!

• Introduction
• Understanding Animation Styles
• The Power of References
• Using Emotion in Animation
• Beginning Your Import to After Effects
• Rigging and Finishing Your Import
• Animating the Head, Neck, and Torso
• Animating the Books
• Animating the Face
• Animating the Arms, Legs, and Feet
• Exporting to Share
• Final Thoughts