Animator Guild
  • Contest
  • Courses
    • Getting Started
    • Mastering Motion >
      • Hand-Drawn Camera Movement
      • Combat Choreography
    • Sakuga Destruction
  • Store

MASTERING MOTION

The course to take you from amateur to professional in 2D animation
BUY NOW

By completing this course, you will be able to:

☑ Create impressive animation effects
​
☑ Invent dynamic fight choreography

☑ Simulate 3D looking "camera movement"           in your 2D hand-drawn animation

☑ Be guided by an award-winning animator
​

☑ Train the methods used in Anime and                  elite western studios

☑ Animate believable character performances

☑ Connect with a focussed class of animation       students


WHAT'S INSIDE


MASTERING DRAWING

Picture
More Information
​All exclusive to the Mastering Motion course.​
  • 10 Lessons recapping the principles of drawing
  • 12 Lessons on mastering drawing (beyond principles)
  • Total Video runtime: 4 hours
  • 3 Assignments
  • 2 test quizzes​​
Strengthen your ability to draw from observation and from imagination. Drawing is an inseparable part of high level frame by frame animation.
​This chapter teaches you to:
Picture

​✔  Design better characters for your animation

✔  Draw with more confidence

✔  Draw with more energy

✔  Draw your concepts faster
​​

MASTERING ANIMATION

Picture
More Information
​All exclusive to the Mastering Motion course.
  • ​22 Lessons
  • Total Video runtime: 6.5 hours
  • 6 Assignments
  • 6 Source Files
  • 2 test quizzes​
Try a sample lesson here
5 NEW SPECIAL ANIMATION PRINCIPLES to enhance your animation beyond the 12 we established in my Getting Started course. Learn these principles with easy-to-follow exercises step by step. Whether you plan to work in Anime or western animation studios, these make your animations:​
Picture

​✔  "faster" more energetic animations

✔  More visually interesting

✔  More dynamic

✔  Unique to this course


REFERENCE PROCESS

Picture
More Information
​All exclusive to the Mastering Motion course.
  • ​23 Lessons
  • Total Video runtime: 4.3 hours
  • 3 Assignments
  • 3 Step-by-step demonstrations
  • 3 Source files​
Try a sample lesson here
Reference footage is a crucial process in creating a convincing piece of animation. In this section, I show my step-by-step process for finding, creating and interpreting reference footage. After this unit you will know how to:
Picture
​✔  Obtain the best reference footage
✔  Creatively capture references
✔  Extract the best poses
​✔  Re-time keyframes to look dynamic and powerful
✔  Ascend the 3 levels of interpreting reference footage
​+ It's a great way to adopt another animator's style - for those wanting to work in studios.
​

HAND-DRAWN CAMERA MOVEMENT

Picture
More Information
​Available for individual purchase for $97
  • 35 Lessons
  • Total Video runtime: 8.2 hours
  • 4 Exercises increasing difficulty
  • 4 Step-by-step demonstrations
  • 8 Source files​
Try a sample lesson here
Exercises and demos which gradually increase in complexity. These will guide you through to mastery of this tough animation technique. Your animations will have more depth and dimension to them. It will feel like you can move anywhere in your scene.​ This course includes:​
Picture
✔  Learn the 8 principles of 3D parallax
✔  Construct dynamic action scenes from any angle
✔  Characters feel like they are moving in 3D space
✔  Source files to explore
✔  Assignments of gradually increasing difficulty
BUY

COMBAT CHOREOGRAPHY

Picture
More Information
Combat Choreography is exclusive to the Mastering Motion course.
  • 20 Lessons
  • Total Video runtime: 3.3 hours
  • 3 Assignments
  • 3 Step-by-step demonstrations
  • 3 Source files​
One of the most popular subjects is also one of the toughest to master. This chapter will provide a full package of resources so that you can:
Picture
​✔  Create an action scene of your own from scratch
✔  Freely improvise movement of the human body
✔  Boost the energy and flow of your choreography
✔  Have plenty of ideas for action scenes
BUY

CHARACTER ANIMATION

Picture
More Information
​All Character Animation lessons are exclusive to the Mastering Motion course.
  • 45 Lessons
  • Total Video runtime: 10.3 hours
  • Supplementary tutorials on Adobe Premiere, Photoshop, OBS
  • 1 Complete walkthrough from planning to final render
  • 4 Assignments
  • 2 Source files​
Try a sample lesson here
Create a character animation scene from concept to finished render - with practical exercises set to help you learn.
​Beyond the technicalities of drawing keyframes, I go in-depth with how to create a great character acting performance. You will learn how to:
Picture
✔  Act out your reference footage
✔  ​Shooting and interpreting
✔  Lip sync and character expressions
✔  Cel shade and colour fill
✔  Environment painting and animation
​✔  The full workflow from concept to final render
​✔  Acting performance workshop

Picture
Students have the option to have structured learning plans sent to their email. These are designed to keep you on schedule to finish the course within a reasonable timeframe, and can be selected as full-time schedule (email once per week, lasting 6 months) part-time schedule (email once every two weeks, lasting 12 months).

ASSIGNMENTS

Picture
Hand-picked assignments throughout the course to exercise your creativity and introduce new animation concepts. The assignments build in difficulty as the course progresses. Watch your portfolio grow as you make your way through these chapters.

EXCLUSIVE COMMUNITY

Picture
Connect with other like-minded students in our private Discord server. This is a dedicated server where students can exchange resources, feedback, job postings and hold each other accountable to our goals. 

USE THE SOFTWARE YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH

Picture
Picture

20% DISCOUNT - TVPAINT SOFTWARE​

Save yourself ~$295 when buying TVPaint professional edition, or ~$118 with standard edition.

Members of my courses benefit from a 20%* discount on TVPaint software
TVPaint is not a requirement, but it is the software I recommend the most to my students.
​

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

These are more like recommendations. No one will be turned away, but following these recommendations will help you to get the most out of the course.
Picture
✓ Animation Software
  • This course does not teach software. Sometimes you might need to adapt your approach if you don't have TVPaint.
  • The best software to use with this course is TVPaint (because that's what I use), but other inferior software will be sufficient. These are mostly frame by frame principles.
  • My pipeline after the animation phase includes Adobe Photoshop (for backgrounds), After effects (for compositing) and Premiere (for sound and final edit). There will be times in the course where I show you how I use these extra software.
​✓​ A Working Graphics Tablet
  • You are expected to have a ​working graphics tablet. Any will do.
​✓​ Basic Drawing Ability
  • These Basic drawing fundamentals are taught in my previous course. We also have a refresher seminar inside Mastering Motion to help you remember.
✓ Understand the 12 Principles
  • A rudimentary understanding is helpful to get the most out of the lessons. there is a  refresher seminar inside Mastering Motion to help you remember

Not ready? Take my other course GETTING STARTED IN 2D ANIMATION  


MEET YOUR MENTOR


Picture
My name is Howard Wimshurst
​I'm an award-winning animator from London
I have been making animations for a little over 10 years. During that time, ​I have worked professionally for a variety of clients, ranging from documentaries to medical animations to commercials and music videos.
I have guest lectured at universities, produced over 
170 videos on YouTube reaching millions of people. It has been a joy to read the responses of animators who have benefitted from my lessons. Now I will show you advanced animation methods you won't find anywhere else.
anchor: MMbuy

READY TO START?

Picture
30-Day Money-Back Guaranteed.
If this course somehow doesn't work for you, you get a full refund. No hassles and no bad feelings.
If the course options above don't load, try disabling ad blocker

PAST REVIEWS

These are just a few of the past reviews of Mastering Motion and Getting Started. You can read more reviews of my last course on this page.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

​What if I change my mind?
You have 30 days from pre-ordering to change your mind. I don't want to rush anyone into a decision they later regret.

​What if I'm slower than the other students, or I need to take a break?
There is no time limit to finishing the lessons. I outline a proposed schedule for you to complete the lessons, but it is just a guideline. Life happens, and sometimes there are obligations that take a higher priority to your learning.

​I'm getting stung by VAT (value added tax). Is there any way to avoid this?
Teachable identifies the location of your purchase and calculates the tax of your country. Unfortunately it is the law of the land. It goes to the government.

​I'm treating this as a business expense. Can you issue me an invoice / receipt?
Yes. My email is listed below. Send me a request and I will send you an official VAT receipt.

What if I'm not experienced enough?
Take my beginner course - Getting Started in 2D Animation - it assumes you know nothing about animation yet. It builds your drawing, animation and film making fundamental skills from the ground up. Mastering Motion is only a small step up in difficulty from Getting Started. There is also some overlap to remind you of the foundation principles you learned in Getting Started. 

​Can I download the lessons for offline use?
Yes.
How long does it take to complete the course?
It is estimated to take 6 months for full-time students, and 12 months for  part-time students. We have built a weekly checklist schedule to help keep you on track with these timelines. However, there is no restriction to course content, so you can skip ahead to lessons you care most about, or you can re-visit lessons as much as you like. It is a very flexible course where you can learn at your own pace.

Does the TVPaint 20% Discount Stack With My Student Discount?
Yes, if you are a registered student at a government-recognised institution your 50% student discount should stack with my discount at -15%.

Can I take Mastering Motion without taking the Getting Started course?
Yes. If you have already learned about the basics of animation, or are getting taught the basics somewhere else, Mastering Motion will be ready for you to jump into. I have even added some principles recap lectures just as a refresher for you before getting into the harder concepts.

What can I do to prepare for the course?
Firstly, you can take my Getting Started course if you haven't already. You can get familiar with your animation software of choice. I also recommend doing cafe sketch sessions. Bring your sketchbook to a coffee shop and draw the people / things you see. Do this as a daily practice.

​What devices can this course be viewed on?
It should be viewable on any computer, mobile or tablet made in the last 20 years. It is viewable in your web browser - no need to download an app.

​What if I can't afford the course at the moment?
Wait and save up. You can join later on.
BUY NOW

CONTACT

If you have any questions about the course, or if there is anything holding you back,
​feel free to reach out to me, and I will try my best to help you with an answer.
howarddw@hotmail.co.uk

​Images of books and downloads are visual representations only. Everything offered is digital. 
​Animator Guild retains the right to terminate or refund any sale or membership at their discretion.
The content of and within Mastering Motion is not permitted for redistribution under any circumstance
Picture
Picture

​ © 2023 Animator Guild Limited