1-Year Accredited Animation Certificate (Distance Learning).

The fully Online Animation Certificate Program is a thrilling journey, blending creativity and storytelling in the dynamic world of TV and Film animation. As a distance learning course, it closely replicates the comprehensive animation pipeline, providing a holistic understanding of both 2D and 3D animation. With the convenience of online learning, the Online Animation program offers a versatile and well-rounded educational experience.

Experienced professionals from the industry are here to share their knowledge. They provide practical training methods and share valuable insights about the industry, preparing you with the necessary skills to stand out in the competitive world of animation.

The Online Animation program is designed to enhance your problem-solving abilities. It also focuses on building your skills in presenting ideas clearly and creating a variety of assets, making you adaptable in various situations. So come, join us, and step into a promising future in the field of animation.

Interest Form Curriculum Portfolio Tuition

Animation Program (Distance Learning)

This curriculum is focused on learning the creative skills needed for animation, design, storytelling and storyboarding for animation production. Students will learn 2D design fundamentals in drawing, color, composition, and visual storytelling, while learning to apply those skills to a 3D animation pipeline. Additionally, students will gain working knowledge of industry standard software. Students who successfully complete the certificate program will be equipped with the tools and knowledge necessary to be prepared for internships and entry level animation positions in the animation industry.

This program will result in multiple portfolio pieces from work on two story projects that students will develop from start to finish:

A well-known storybook classic.
An original story prompt.

The required credits are comprised of the following:

Courses – 61 credits

YEAR 1 QUARTER 1 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

AN1001 Introduction to Animation

2.00 credits

This course teaches students the basic principles of animation. Through lectures and projects, students will learn animation fundamentals of the 12 Principles such as timing, staging, squash and stretch, anticipation, follow through, overlapping action, arcs, and exaggeration. The material covered in this course serves as a foundation for advanced courses in 2D and 3D animation, and visual effects.

SB2001 Storyboarding Basics

3.00 credits

Students will learn the language of storyboarding and will be responsible for completing a scene for a film and an animation. The students will learn visual dictation for camera moves, in-frame moves, and draw scene maps for actor and camera placement. The students will learn about dynamic shot design and how to visualize graphic information within the frame. The students will learn the technical differences between drawing boards for film and drawing them for animation. Using Storyboard Pro, the students will learn how to block out key frames for timely gesturing in animation.

WR0101 Storytelling, Writing and Structure

2.00 credits

In this course students will learn the value of storytelling in animation, from script-driven productions to board-driven. Focus will be on story structure, character development, and script analysis. Students will learn skills such as breaking down a script into beats, reading between the lines and identifying key story points and narrative. Students will also gain skills in story editing, and how to efficiently tell a compelling story.

DS3001 Character, Creature, and Prop Design Basics

4.00 credits

This course will introduce students to the language and methods of designing characters. This class will focus on character types, character construction, facial expressions, creature characters, and character props. The students will also learn to develop their characters to different story genres, learning the motifs or the décor for specific character identification within each genre. This class will focus on fundamentals of character design that can be applied to animation, video games and live action film design.

DS3002 Introduction to Color and Composition for Animation

2.00 credits

The objective of Introduction to Color and Composition is to help students develop an understanding of storytelling with still images. Subjects and environments will be set up to reflect specific story ideas and design issues. These scenarios will enable the student to experience composition as well as authoritative forms of storytelling. Students will also examine the cinematography of animation and how use of perspective, depth, and framing underscore the story and characters visually and emotionally. Introducing color to add mood in a composition will also be explored.

LAB110 Software Lab: Toon Boom Storyboard

1.00 credit

This is a lab course designed to give the students experience using Toon Boom Storyboard Pro to create storyboards for animation production. The focus will be on using drawing tools, workflow, techniques, timing, animatics, import and exports and final output. Students will be given exercises and assignments that will give them practical experience in using the software tools that will help them produce production ready storyboards.

LAB050 Drawing Lab: Gesture and Quick Sketch

1.00 credit

Gesture and Quick Sketch Drawing Lab – The average length of the poses will be 3 to 20-minutes with nude and costumed references, with emphasis on specific design attributes, such as simplified motion, overlapping lines and their offset line-weights, gravity, motion, and weight distribution.  We will experiment with various techniques that will allow us to focus on specific attributes of a pose and how to delineate them without distortion. The goal will be to complete each pose in the allotted block of time, and by limiting each drawing to one or two design characteristics the entire pose will be easy to achieve. Students will work from life, videos, digital references, art history examples and modern academic drawings.

YEAR 1 QUARTER 2 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

DS3003 Advanced Character, Creature and Prop Design

4.00 credits

This Advanced course will continue students’ growth in their understanding of characters designs as well as the props and creatures. This class will focus on stylizing characters, a detailed focus on character construction, facial construction, mouth construction, hand construction and expressions, creature characters, and character props. The students will develop their characters to different story genres, learning the motifs or the décor for specific character identification within each genre.  This class will focus on the details of character design that can be applied to animation, video games and live action film design.

DS3004 2D Background Layout

3.00 credits

Flats and cutaways are two essential visual elements of visual development.  Students will learn how to create simple digital views of both the exterior and interior of buildings. In addition, students will choose their most successful project and create an attractive map with style that shows the key locations of everything in the world of their story.  2D Backgrounds will aid in the completion of a student’s Visual Development portfolio and may be used to support any project class. We will also learn how to generate shot maps for successful design sketching of an environment.  These layouts are similar to the maps used in storyboarding.

DS3005 Color and Light Theory

2.00 credits

Color and light Theory will introduce the student to the properties of color and how color is affected by light.  Students will learn how to identify and work with the correct hue, value, and chroma using a color wheel as a gauge to control them.  Students will learn to work with the correct temperatures produced by the lighting, including control of the time of day, weather effects, and various artificial lighting conditions.  

AN0103 Acting for Animation

2.00 credits

Using the vocabulary and skills used by actors for script analysis, character development and more, the class will examine film clips and introduce a variety of simple, effective, and immediately usable acting tools and techniques. Students will learn to apply these techniques to drawing the acting for a character both verbal and non-verbal. Attention will be paid to how to make a character believable in their acting while matching the drawings to the voice track, through facial expressions and body language of the character, as well as conveying emotions without dialogue. Additionally, students will learn to keep incidental characters alive without taking the viewers’ attention away from the focus of a scene.

SB2002 Storyboard Revisions

2.00 credits

The position of Storyboard Revisions is often considered an entry-level job, but the revision process is one of the most important in the production pipeline. The revisions stage is the last chance for directors and board artists to make any changes before going into animation. In this course students will learn to analyze animatics and identify areas which require revision. Students will focus on revising storyboards to improve the visual narrative to support the story through staging changes, acting changes and continuity as well as interpret notes from others, such as writers, directors and network execs. Students will be working with animatics as a storyboard tool and utilize storyboarding skills to create and revise compelling stories with visual interest.

LAB120 Software Lab: Blender

1.00 credit

This is an introduction to Blender and the many useful workstations it has built into it. The student will learn their way around the software and get a basic understanding of the potential of each workstation. Then, for the rest of the semester, the students will be tasked with modeling and posing a character in an environment setting, staging the set, and shooting renders for a portfolio. Grease pencil will also be introduced as a design tool for studying forms before modeling. Each week we will introduce new tools within a specific workstation, to learn basic modeling, texturing, lighting, and rendering. The outcome will be a solid basic understanding of a workflow for building 3D assets that can be output for other applications.

LAB060 Drawing Lab: Sketching for Environments

1.00 credit

This lab is designed to help sharpen your observation skills and offer you various possibilities while sketching environments to use for production. Using design tools, you will practice various ways of accomplishing a strong composition that will help you think outside the box when breaking down an idea for location/setting. Students will develop the ability to communicate visual ideas quickly and effectively. Students will also develop the ability to draw complex forms in proper perspective and will encourage students to provide a sense of context and narrative element within their sketches. We will touch upon value, color, grouping, shape enhancement, sharpening the focus and more. Students will work from life, videos, and reference.

YEAR 1 QUARTER 3 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

AN1101 Introduction to the Animation Production Pipeline

3.00 credits

This course will analyze the production process and workflow of animation production. The course will break down into three parts: Pre-Production, Production and Post-Production. Students will analyze and compare each phase of production as it pertains to their own independent process, identifying the differences and advantages in the studio pipeline. Learning how doing one job efficiently will help others doing similar or complimentary jobs is essential in making the collaborative process work.

AN1201 Introduction to 3D Animation

3.00 credits

Since the success of Pixar has led to new technologies and software, 3D animation has become the dominant medium for feature animated productions. The goal of this course is to introduce students to the process, the advantages and disadvantages, and the unique creative problems that are associated with 3D animation. Using Maya, students will get to know the workflow of building character rigs, articulate characters, and creating 3D environments as well as exploring textures, lighting, and mapping. Students will also become familiar with the 3D pipeline and other software utilized in 3D animation production such as Unreal Engine.

DS3006 Style Exploration

2.00 credits

Animation styles from Mickey Mouse to Rick and Morty. What is “show style”? What is “On-Model”? In this course we will analyze animated styles in Features, Television, Adult Animation, and independent animation. What are the similarities, differences, and how is design tailored to reach a specific audience? The course will focus on how animation styles evolved, and where the current style trends are headed.

SB2003 Visual Storytelling

2.00 credits

Every picture tells a story, and the story is more than what is written on the page. This course is designed to develop the student’s ability to communicate visual ideas quickly and effectively. It also details how to use various composition and camera techniques to support those changes. Students will examine how to use visual metaphors, blocking, framing, scale, and dozens of other filmmaker’s tools in to convey far more story than merely what is in the dialogue. Clips from a variety of films are analyzed. Scene study class that explores how to use visual acting methods as well, such as posing and body language, during the process of taking a shot from layout through to final animation.

DS3007 Color Design

3.00 credits

This course will focus on color design essentials and how it is applied through the animation pipeline. Emphasis will be placed on color design for characters and props and how color creates personality and individuality within the characters. In this course students will be painting and discussing the design process using character models.

LAB120 Software Lab: ZBrush

1.00 credit

Interface, over several weeks, while the students sculpt a dinosaur. Once they have gone through this, we will have the students sculpt any character that they want. This will allow the students to specifically learn areas of ZBrush that they want to learn based on characters they would want to work on in their career in the future. At the end of the class the students will have two portfolio pieces that they can add to their website.

LAB070 Drawing Lab: Drawing from Imagination

1.00 credit

This lab is designed to help sharpen your observation skills and offer you various possibilities while sketching environments to use for production. Using design tools, you will practice various ways of accomplishing a strong composition that will help you think outside the box when breaking down an idea for location/setting. Students will develop the ability to communicate visual ideas quickly and effectively. Students will also develop the ability to draw complex forms in proper perspective and will encourage students to provide a sense of context and narrative element within their sketches. We will touch upon value, color, grouping, shape enhancement, sharpening the focus and more. Students will work from life, videos, reference, and imagination.

YEAR 1 QUARTER 4 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

SB2004 Advanced Storyboarding

3.00 credits

In this course, students will apply their storyboard skills to create compelling animatics and prepare storyboards for animation production. Students will go beyond rough thumbnail boards, and focus will be on camera placement, layout, continuity, acting, posing, and timing of animatics. Attention will also be paid to staging action scenes, musical scenes, and crowd continuity. Students will continue to refine their storyboarding and cleanup skills to create storyboards that are well drawn, staged accurately, and have all the visual information needed for animation.

AN1301 Retakes, Compositing and Effects in Post-Production

2.00 credits

Retakes
Students will learn what it means to be a Harmony retake animator (sometimes called an Animator or Technical Director). Discussions will include what is expected on the job, the skillset needed to be a successful and valuable retake animator, and what employers look for when hiring.  Students will learn to identify and adjust certain art-related problems in an efficient manner.

Additional focus will be on rigged Harmony animation retakes, including how to change a rig to get the best performance out of digital actors and common mistakes that retake animators need to look out for.

Compositing
Students will learn to import pre-made artwork, positioning, and scaling background elements/ props, and adding a character to it. Lectures will be supplemented with practical exercises that illustrate the effects of adding specific nodes to drawing elements within the node view.

Students will also enrich scenes by adding dramatic light to both background elements and a character within the scene and adding extra dimension to the set by creating a multi plane camera movement.

Rigging
Rigging complex characters in Harmony is one of the most technically challenging things to learn in Toon Boom, but it can also be creatively rewarding. It is also an important skill for anyone wishing to animate with puppets in Harmony or land a job as a rigger, animator, retake animator, or Technical Director on a Harmony show.

This class will also cover Visual Effects, where students will learn how to use Effect Nodes to create a myriad of effective 2D visual effects, including fire, water, steam, smoke, and weather effects. Students will also learn how to create, use, and customize Particle Emitters and Light Shading.

DS3008 Advanced Digital Painting for Entertainment Art

4.00 credits

This class will focus on finished portfolio ready production paintings. The process is developed using digital tools, with a focus on the industry standard use of Photoshop as the primary painting program. The students will produce strong, coherent compositions, using design tools, strong lighting, and a find a creative way of using handmade brushes along with filters to speed up the finishing process and generate lively painterly looks. This class will be homework intensive.

Note: This course will give guidance and also focus on how to best prepare your portfolio for your career goals.

WR0102 Pitching a Story

2.00 credits

Where do new animated shows come from and how are they developed? In this course students will learn how to pitch original ideas and how to present ideas in a sales pitch. Students who want to create content or have ideas for an animated show will need to know where to take it and how to present it. The course will include discussions on what to include in a pitch, from artwork to character descriptions. How much is too much? How much is not enough? Who do you pitch to? Students will learn ways to focus their pitch to an audience, whether it is for children or adults, and make ideas stand out!

Students will share pitches and get feedback. This will be an open forum to discuss ways to improve pitches and give students the confidence to share it with development execs. Each student will get time to give their own “elevator pitch” to get real-time reactions and advice. Discussions will also include how pitching series has changed with new formats and technologies.

BS1900 Business of Art

3.00 credits

Through a variety of visiting professionals that currently work in their respective fields’ students will learn of the practical necessities of being a successful animation artist.

This class prepares students for the business side of art. During the class, the students will be exposed to a variety of artists, currently working in their respective field, to learn the Business of Animation and practical methods of managing time, interview techniques and portfolio strategies, that will contribute to making them successful animation artists.

LAB140 Software Lab: Harmony

1.00 credit

This is a lab course designed to give the students experience using Toon Boom Harmony to create 2D animation for production. The focus will be on using drawing and animation tools, workflow, techniques, timing, rigging, effects, import and exports and final rendering. Students will be given exercises and assignments that will give them practical experience in using the software tools that will help them produce 2D rigged and hand-drawn animation.

LAB080 Drawing Lab: Drawing for Storytelling

1.0 credit

Images tell stories all the time. Students will learn how to develop strong story elements and create ideas into compelling images. Students will express the content and character using imagination. Students will experience the possibilities of risk-taking in concept development, using basic media. Students will work from life, videos, references, and imagination.

YOU MUST HAVE YOUR PORTFOLIO FINISHED AND READY TO UPLOAD PRIOR TO FILLING OUT THE APPLICATION.

Portfolio Requirement for Animation Program

IMPORTANT: You must name your images in this format Last Name_First Name_ Number 1 through 8.

A life-size scale drawing of a glass and an egg. The drawing must be done in charcoal or graphite on white paper. It may be any glass and egg of your choosing. We are looking for quality of execution and innovative concepts.
Several short observational sketches FROM LIFE or MASTER COPY. A short sketch should take about 5-15 minutes, conveying gestures and form. A single page may have multiple images.
One longer more studied piece FROM LIFE OR MASTER COPY (may also be a Self-Portrait) either taken to a finish or demonstrating an attempt at finish. Finished means an image that you would consider a complete, toned, and shaded study of the subject.
One walk cycle: minimum of 12 successive drawings of a character walking in place, in profile. This may be submitted as either individual still frames, or as an animated GIF. There are many free websites such as imgflip where you can easily generate animated GIF files from still images.
Minimum 3 pages of sample rough storyboard panels, consisting of 3-5 panels per page featuring at least 1 character. The storyboards must illustrate an original idea or concept, and may not be directly copied from existing works.
One sketchbook page of layouts of Interior Spaces and Exterior Spaces.
One sketchbook page that shows multiple images from your imagination.
One piece that you are most proud of. This may be traditional or digital.

In building your portfolio, embody realism and personal relevance in your choices. Prioritize selectivity, kicking off and ending with your strongest pieces, while highlighting your passion and commitment. Align your work with your professional aspirations, be it traditional or animation. Include realistic representations of observed objects/scenes, using any drawing medium to display your skills, diversity, and willingness to learn. Composition matters, ensure your elements are well-planned and your overall image well-arranged. Demonstrate your ability to capture shape, proportion, tone, perspective, surface qualities, detail, space, and form.

Tuition & Fees

Program Description	Quarterly Tuition Cost	Program Tuition Cost
1-Calendar Year Animation Certificate (Distance Learning)	$5000.00	$20,000.00

Tuition rates are at the same cost to Domestic and International students.

Fees	Cost	Description & Notes
Application Fee	$25.00	One-time fee when applying to any program of instruction.
Registration Fee	$250.00	One-time deposit to be applied towards the 2nd quarter payment and is non-refundable. This deposit is required to secure your spot.
Administrative Fee	$100.00	Recurring, quarterly fee.
STRF Fee	$0.00	Recurring, quarterly fee. Non-refundable $0.00 per thousand dollars of tuition paid by student (not paid by a third-party/lender). See Page 97 for STRF explanation.
Late Payment Fee	$50.00	Two maximum fees per quarter for outstanding tuition balances.
Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF) Check Fee	$35.00	If your check is returned for non-sufficient funds (NSF), you must pay this fee plus the original amount of the check in the form of a cashier’s check or money order before your next class meets again.
Supplies and Equipment Cost	$300.00-$1500.00	Costs vary by quarter and by program. Covers additional books, supplies and material needed for the program. Students are responsible for the purchase of all class material and supplies. Students will not be required to purchase any supplies directly from LAAFA.
Transcript Fee (The first 2 transcripts in any given calendar year are free.)	$5.00-$20.00	A $5 fee is charged for each additional copy. Transcripts will be processed within seven (7) to ten (10) working days. Rush transcripts are charged at an additional $5.00 fee per transcript. Rush transcripts are processed within 24 hours of the request. Transcripts sent to an address outside the U.S. and Canada is $15.00 each. Express service is available for an additional charge per address.

Total Program Cost

Program

Application Fee

(non-refundable)

Registration Fee

(non-refundable deposit)

Administrative Fee

(non-refundable)

STRF Fee (maximum, non-refundable)

Estimated Tuition Cost

(Effective Fall 2024)

Estimated Total Program Cost

1-Calendar Year Animation Certificate (Distance Learning)

$25.00

(one-time fee)

$250.00

(one-time fee, applied to 2^nd quarter)

$400.00

$0.00

$19,600.00

(includes Registration Fee)

$20,025.00

(includes Application Fee)

Want to sharpen your skills before you apply? Check out our streaming art lessons on ArtSchoolVideos.com or have a look at our schedule of online and on-campus Extension Classes.

1-Year Accredited Animation Certificate (Distance Learning).

Tuition & Fees

Total Program Cost

Information

Campus Address

Business Hours