Grafia kouluttaa: Character animation workshop

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In this workshop, we will be familiarizing ourselves with the basics of character animation. We will discuss what are considered high-quality animation techniques in character animation, what constitutes good character design, and explore movement in general. The workshop includes both theory and practical exercises. The animation we will use will focus on classic frame-by-frame animation, but if you already have experience with another technique, you’re welcome to take advantage of that.

You are free to choose what software you would like to use during the workshop, as long as it has some kind of animation capabilities or at the very least the capability to draw individual frames. Examples of software that have simple animation capabilities are Adobe Animate, Adobe Photoshop, Procreate, and Procreate Dreams. Before the workshop, make sure to familiarize yourself with the software you’ve chosen and watch a short tutorial about the basics of its animation capabilities. This way, we can focus more on the actual theory of character animation, without having to spend too much time on the software, and leave more time for making, either on a laptop or iPad. There are plenty of tutorials available online for the above-mentioned applications, but it is also possible to get advice during the workshop.

For the workshop, please bring either a laptop or iPad, with the software of your choice already downloaded, both for animating and drawing. Paper and pencils or a drawing table can also be useful, depending on how you work. Your mobile phone’s camera can also be useful. If you already have a character that you’ve created that you’d like to work on, you can bring this with you. The workshop doesn’t require any previous animation knowledge, but it is required that you have some basic knowledge of some kind of drawing software.

The workshop will be led by Juho Maurinen, who is an animator and artist specializing in comedic, animated short films and music videos, who has also worked as a comic book artist, storytelling and animation teacher, and as an illustrator. His work has been seen in Finnish television, as well as internationally at animation festivals. This year Maurinen’s animation music video has won the grand prize at Oulu Music Video Festival and the audience’s favorite award and the judges’ honorable mention at Filmifonia festival.

This workshop is only for members of Grafia. There is room for 10 participants.

Note! Members traveling from outside of the Helsinki metropolitan area to attend the workshop qualify for travel aid (max. 80€), according to the least expensive public transportation method. Please get in touch with Grafia’s office beforehand: grafia@grafia.fi.

Image: Juho Maurinen