Free Professional Online Animation Lessons and Character Rig Now Offered by CG Spectrum

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Dec. 10, 2014 - PRLog -- CG Spectrum, a leader in online digital art and animation training for film and games, is now offering 6 weeks of their online video lessons for Introduction to Animation with Autodesk Maya ® for free. The lessons are 6 weeks’ worth of training from the full 12 week course.

The 6 free lessons are hosted by Vimeo and cover these topics:

1.    Introduction to Animation (Posing)
2.    Timing and Spacing
3.    Anticipation
4.    Follow Through and Overlapping Action
5.    Basic Pose Transition
6.    Constraints

Students who sign up will learn the basic animation principles that will help establish a solid foundation for them to build upon while learning intermediate functions of Autodesk Maya ® software. These video lessons are mobile device friendly so they can be watched on tablets or mobile phones.

As a bonus to the lessons they are also allowing individuals who sign-up a free character rig to download for the course. The rig was designed and developed by CG Spectrum mentors and animation industry professionals.

If students enjoy the free lessons they can finish the remainder of the course and have access to supportive materials and assignments. They will have the chance to interact with other classmates from around the world all for $195 USD one-time fee. Although this is our only course that is un-mentored students will have the opportunity to see what the quality of our video lessons are like and interact through the same learning management system (LMS) our students use for our other mentored courses and programs.

The 6 remainder lessons that require the $195 payment are hosted by Litmos (LMS) and cover these topics:

7.    Applying Overlap to a Basic Character
8.    Overlap Applications - Sit to Stand
9.    Pose Transitions - Fully Body
10.  180 Degree Turn - Lower Body
11.  180 Degree Turn - Full Body 01
12.  180 Degree Full Body Turn 02

The free lessons and entire 12 week course is taught by industry veteran animator Mark Pullyblank. Mark has worked in animation for over 10 years and is currently the head of CG Spectrum’s animation department. He has been an animation supervisor at Rainmaker Digital and Frantic Films, a senior animator at Sony Imageworks, and has worked in various departments at Weta Digital. His films include Avatar, The Adventures of Tintin, The Smurfs, Night at the Museum, and many others. As well as being the Animation Department head of CG Spectrum, he currently works at California State University in Chico California.

Ten students who sign up for the free lessons will be picked at random to have their work critiqued by one of CG Spectrum’s industry professional mentors. Students are encouraged to share the lessons through means of social media to earn a chance to have their work from the lesson be critiqued.

“We are giving people the chance to see what it’s like to be an animation student

at CG Spectrum for the first 6 weeks absolutely free. This is not a one-time offer, but something we are going to be offering on a continuing basis to give them a great deal on a boost in getting ahead in their 3D animation career. We encourage future students to try out this subject and class before they buy it to set them up for success.”

Bob Ward – CG Spectrum Marketing Director

Related Links:

Click here (http://www.cgspectrum.com/apply_free_lessons_1_animation) Link to learn more about and sign up for the free lessons

Click here (http://cgspectrumcollege.litmos.com/self-signup/register/...) Direct Link to sign up for the full course

Click here (http://www.cgspectrum.com/mentors/30/Mark-Pullyblank) to Mentor of animation Mark Pullyblank’s bio page

About CG Spectrum College:

What better way to break into the film and games industry than to be personally trained by those who have worked on your favourite movies or video games?

Giving students this opportunity is what inspired Directors Nick Fredin and Jeff Pepper to co-found CG Spectrum, the Vancouver based online school for visual effects, animation, modeling and concept design. In 2011, their dream of building a school that gives students the opportunity to receive quality education through personalized training by the best artists in the industry, without paying a fortune or being one of hundreds of graduates pumped out annually, became a reality. The school offers the world’s smallest class sizes which is great for students to get the attention they deserve from their mentors. Students can be taught properly and have the most student to teacher time possible. They believe in creating relationships between students who attend and the industry professionals they are taught by.

Nick having worked in the industry for 10 years, has had the opportunity to work on some amazing films and saw a unique opportunity to teach the skills that he acquired through his experience by creating a school that he would be proud to have attended. Jeff While working in the industry, often worked extra hours & weekends to help artists under his supervision become efficient and produce higher quality of work. Frustrated at the low quality of demo reels that he had to review he decided there was a great need for affordable quality education.

Mission Statement:

To see each of our students as individuals with goals and dreams, not just as a number lost in the crowd. To provide them with the world's most personalized education from the industry's best artists by catering to their specific needs through the provision of constant feedback and support, giving our students a competitive edge to succeed in an ever changing industry.

For more information about CG Spectrum's programs and courses visit http://www.cgspectrum.com/