Programs
Learn the way that works for you
New this Summer — Virtual Animation Summer Camp
When: July 8 - July 26 2024
Enroll by: July 1 2024
Format: Three classes per week (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) that are 3.5 hours each, with two scheduled work sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays to keep on task facilitated through the Animation Tutor Discord. Homework assigned with each class, with some class time reserved for beginning the work.
Animation Foundation Track
4-Week Courses — Ages 13+
In this series of courses, you’ll be introduced to all of the foundational art skills you will require before developing your skills further with the Animation Portfolio Track. As with all of our courses, they are one-on-one with our animation instructor, and you can either sign up for 30-minute feedback sessions or 1 hour feedback sessions. There is more homework assigned to the students who sign up for the 1-hour long feedback sessions, so there is more to learn from the lengthier session.
Cost of 4-Week Courses
30 - minute feedback sessions: $360 CAD
60 - minute feedback sessions: $500 CAD
Course Sequence 1 - Drawing the World As It Is
Sketching I — Observational. A wonderful course to begin finding the correct way to draw.
Rendering Methods. Fine tuning your marks to deliver beautiful images.
Perspective I — Introduction. A starting point to draw great cities and objects.
Perspective II - Advanced. Continuing with more complexity to bring environments to life.
Course Sequence 2 - Designing the World As It Could Be
Dynamic Animation Storytelling. Creating the building blocks of engaging stories.
Sketching II — Imaginative. Converting the abstraction in your mind into the tangible and plausible.
Designing for Animation I — Geometric . Exaggerating real life and finding new objects.
Visual Development I. Developing the colour & design from the story’s written word.
Course Sequence 3 - Climbing the Animation Ladder
Designing for Animation II — Nature. Hidden rhythms within trees and rocks.
Composition I. Why does a picture work? When don’t they?
Composition II. How well can pictures work?
Visual Development II. Mood, atmosphere, and stories that pack a punch.
No dates? When do these courses begin?
These courses begin as soon as you sign up! If you want, you can sign up now and begin whenever you prefer.
What skill level is required?
Most of these courses assume you are at an early strage in your artistic learning, but if you’d like to schedule a call with us to share some of your work, please do so.
Animation Portfolio Track
8-Week Courses — Ages 15+
These courses were designed to help students develop their animation portfolios for College, or to improve their skills after completing an animation program. They are incredibly specific to this dynamic art medium, and have helped many students get accepted into their top animation programs. Animation Fundamentals 1 & 2 both cover the Sheridan Animation portfolio exclusively, but their criteria will also work for many other portfolios. The other courses are extremely beneficial for developing professional-level artwork that you’ll be proud to submit! See our Past Students’ Work to see a small sampling of the wonderful young artists who have trained with us.
Cost of 8-Week Courses
30 - minute feedback sessions: $590 CAD
60 - minute feedback sessions: $950 CAD
Figure Drawing & Anatomy. A foundational, necessary course to help you excel at figure drawing.
Animation Fundamentals 1. Covers the entire first half of Sheridan College’s portfolio.
Animation Fundamentals 2. Covers the second half of Sheridan College’s portfolio.
Worldbuilding: Character Design. A deeper dive into storytelling and character design for production.
Worldbuilding: Background Design. Creating vivid, believable environments for your characters to inhabit.
Colour & Light. The ins and outs of digital painting, colour theory, and advanced composition.
Storyboarding Fundamentals. Packed full of exercises to understand and improve your boards!
Program Bundles
Complete Animation Portfolio Group Bundle
Dive into the world of animation. This comprehensive series of Group courses is designed for young artists who have the passion and discipline to get into their top Animation programs at a variety of Colleges and Universities including Sheridan, Seneca, CalArts, The Animation Workshop, Gobelins, SVA, RISD, and more! The Animation Tutor studied at Sheridan College, and is an expert in assessing this portfolio in particular. We have taught this program for over 10 years, and make small revisions to this Bundle each year. Coming in 2024, there are a variety of ways to take this program depending on the amount of input you wish to have. Please read carefully below.
All variations of this Bundle include:
6 courses (this will effectively replace an entire semester at a general arts program in College, University, or even an advanced high school art program, spanning from October 2024 to March 2024 when the Sheridan portfolio is due)
Over 20 hours of video lecture instruction (lifetime access — never expires!)
10+ hours of feedback on all of your coursework (video recorded and delivered to you on a weekly basis after you submit your homework)
3 incredible animation-specific textbooks
1 lecture on careers in animation to kick off the semester
1 lecture on portfolio presentation to close the semester
This Bundle is different from the rest of the Bundles because it is taken as a Group. Due to this, it runs at a set time each year — from October to March each year. It’s our top selling program across all of our individual courses, mentorships, and other bundles, so sign up early to ensure your spot for the 2024 Portfolio Season!
There are three variations, please click learn more below to find out more.
Cost: Option 1: $2800 $2600 CAD, Option 2: $3420 $3100 CAD, Option 3: $4740 $4300 CAD,
Bundle 1 - Starting Out
Pick 3 of our 4-Week Animation Foundation Track Courses* (with 1 hour feedback sessions — totaling 12 hours of feedback)
Weekly study schedule
This is our most simple Bundle. It allows you to select three of our 4-week Animation Foundation track courses as well as giving you access to our weekly study prompts that are updated frequently. In addition, we’ve included the hour-long feedback sessions to give you time for your weekly exercises to be reviewed as well.
Most entry portfolios for College encourage students to keep an active sketchbook of their work. The weekly exercises, aside from improving your skills, will help you to build up your active sketching — something we highly recommend here at the Animation Tutor.
* - May exchange two 4-Week Animation Foundation Track courses for one 8-Week Animation Portfolio Track course.
Cost: $1550 $1400 CAD
Bundle 2 - Intensive Study
Pick 3 of our 4-Week Animation Foundation Track Courses* (with 1 hour feedback sessions — totaling 12 hours of feedback)
Pick 1 of our 8-Week Animation Portfolio Track Course*
(with 1 hour feedback sessions — totaling 8 hours of feedback)Weekly study schedule
Live lecture on Time Management and Consistency
Free Animator’s Survivor’s Guide Textbook
With this Bundle, you will develop a strong work ethic, and your skills will begin to grow considerably through the consistent week-by-week exercises of each of the courses. Not only does this Bundle include many more courses, but it also enables you to attend a lecture on time management and consistency. As a result of years of tutoring students, we have found these to be the two biggest determiners of future success, so we have dedicated time to ensuring you are well prepared to know what is expected in the animation industry.
Just as a thanks, we also threw in the wonderful Animator’s Survival Guide by Richard Williams.
* - May exchange two 4-Week Animation Foundation Track courses for one 8-Week Animation Portfolio Track course or vice versa.
Cost: $2750 $2500 CAD
Bundle 3 - Comprehensive Education
Pick 4 of our 4-Week Animation Foundation Track Courses*
(with 1 hour feedback sessions — totaling 16 hours of feedback)Pick 3 of our 8-Week Animation Portfolio Track Course*
(with 1 hour feedback sessions — totaling 24 hours of feedback)Weekly study schedule
Live lecture on Time Management and Consistency
Live lecture on Animation Career Planning
3 x Textbooks of your choice
This Bundle will considerably assist those who are applying soon to the competitive animation programs like Sheridan College, Seneca, CalArts, and more. It will give them plenty of portfolio work to use in their applications, and properly prepare them with thorough, career-centric training that will vastly improve their work habits, time management, and teach them a variety of new ways to understand human anatomy, perspective drawing, storytelling, animation design, and more. For students that are keen on studying animation, this level of training is highly recommended.
* - May exchange two 4-Week Animation Foundation Track courses for one 8-Week Animation Portfolio Track course or vice versa.
Cost: $5300 $4950 CAD
Bundle 4 - Full Year of Study
Pick 6 of our 4-Week Animation Foundation Track Courses*
(with 1 hour feedback sessions — totaling 24 hours of feedback)Pick 6 of our 8-Week Animation Portfolio Track Course*
(with 1 hour feedback sessions — totaling 48 hours of feedback)Weekly study schedule
Live lecture on Time Management and Consistency
Live lecture on Animation Career Planning
Live lecture on Professional Portfolio Presentation
Three additional lectures on various relevant animation topics (new lectures announced at the beginning of each portfolio season: September)
After Hours priority feedback times available in month of portfolio submission
Blog and YouTube feature at completion of program
Favourite artworks posted quarterly on our social media
4 x Textbooks of your choice from our top picks
This Bundle is designed especially to create a year of study that will involve considerably more one-on-one time with our instructor than with any College or University level education. With the diversity of courses at your fingertips, you’ll be able to cover a wide array of different disciplines that are invaluable to either continuing to study animation in College or University OR for those proceeding directly into the field of animation.
While we are naturally hesitant in offering any kind of guarantee with our training (due to the differing aptitudes for consistency and work ethic among our students), this high-level training option will drastically improve the chances of students getting accepted to any of the highly competitive animation programs worldwide. The sheer amount of one-on-one time with our instructor over the course of the year will give you an incredibly in-depth education in animation, as well as a good mentor and friend to guide you along your path as an artist.
Some of our best students who have completed this program have even been hired by our instructor to assist in his freelance animation career, as they are so thoroughly trained. The After Hours priority feedback spots are also invaluable, because in February of each year (the portfolio due date month for Sheridan College) our calendar gets fully booked, so students enrolled in this program will also maintain availability options that aren’t available to any other students.
* - May exchange two 4-Week Animation Foundation Track courses for one 8-Week Animation Portfolio Track course or vice versa.
Cost: $9720 $9,300 CAD
What comes with all Bundles?
Every Feedback Session is recorded on Zoom and uploaded to the student’s private Google Drive afterwards.
“Drawover files”, or any corrections made to artwork are uploaded.
Access to a private page of online Animation Resources that is updated regularly
Ability for students to ask questions to an animator working in the industry.
Not sure which courses to select?
No problem! We’re happy to meet with you on a Call to introduce ourselves and walk you through our various options. Prior to the call, please send hello @ theanimationtutor.com some of your artwork to help us gauge your skill levels with various animation-related artwork. It doesn’t have to be finished, polished artwork - just sketches will do.
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While these costs may seem high, the primary difference between our training and being in a College or University program is the amount of one-on-one time with our instructor.
As a comparable example, in Art Fundamentals at Sheridan, the 2024 cost for domestic students is $5,453.64 and for international students it is $19,212.64. This is only for tuition alone and does not include relocation and living costs.
This program is also a general arts program, and not necessarily specific to animation, although some, but not all, skills will carry over. As mentioned previously, the major stark difference is the amount of one-on-one time with the instructor. In Art Fundamentals, one teacher is with 30+ students for 3 hours a week. This results in minimal one-on-one time for each student.
Compare this to our Bundle 3 priced at $4,950. You have the ability to access this program wherever you’re located, it is highly-targeted towards animation, and you will have 40 x 1-hour feedback sessions across all of the courses. You also can attend the two lectures noted, and you receive three textbooks.
We’ve priced all of our Bundles to be as competitive as possible, and we’re very proud of the depth and breadth of the education we are providing within our pricing structure. We’re happy to explain further over a call, as we are incredibly transparent about the considerations th t are inherent in our programming options.
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Absolutely! These substitutions are allowed.
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We have an ongoing list of favourite animation and design-related textbooks. The choices are:
• The Animator’s Survival Guide by Richard Williams
• Art Fundamentals by 3D Total
• Classic Human Anatomy by Valeria L. Winslow (current life drawing textbook used at Sheridan College)
• Anatomy for Artists by 3D Total
• Atlas of Human Anatomy for Artists by Stephen Rogers Peck
• Framed Perspective vol. 1 or vol. 2 by Marcos Mateu-Mestre
• Force: Dynamic Life Drawing by Mike Mattesi
• Force: Character Design from Life Drawing by Mike Mattesi
..and more! We’re flexible with recommendations as well.
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Like any of our courses or mentorships, you can begin anytime! Enroll today and start whenever you’d like.
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Absolutely! We can accommodate 2, 3, 4, or 6 payments over as many months, and will invoice you individually. We’re flexible with what works for you and try to accommodate a variety of income levels. Rather than enrolling, please contact us and let us know that you’d like to enroll in Bundle X with X number of payments.
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Please contact us about your situation. Occasionally, we’re able to grant some degree of a work program in exchange for our courses or bundles.
Membership
Access all video lectures for The Animation Tutor courses with our Video Course Memberships
Unlock access to all video lectures for each course by The Animation Tutor. This membership caters to independent learners seeking a self-paced learning experience without additional guidance or direction. Minimum 3-month commitment required*
Mentorship
Personalized 1-hour mentorship sessions with The Animation Tutor
Private Lessons
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If you're an aspiring animator with clear goals set for an animation school or program, private lessons with the Animation Tutor are tailor-made for you. With a focus on no frills, one-on-one drawing feedback and support, these sessions allow you to bring any artworks you’d like feedback on to help you build a stellar portfolio and hone your artistic skills in dynamic and fluid ways. Our expert guidance will not only assist you in getting accepted into your dream animation program but also mark the beginning of a rewarding journey in the world of animation. If you’d like a more structured week-by-week curriculum, sign up for a Personal Mentorship instead.
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Personal Mentorship
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Crafted specifically for your unique animation goals. A Personal Mentorship offers a more structured and comprehensive experience that ensures your growth and progress. Nurture your development through a thoughtfully designed schedule of assignments and personalized guidance. Whether you aim to excel in a specific animation project, sharpen your skills, or master animation software, The Animation Tutor will curate a mentorship tailored to your ambitions. This result-oriented approach guarantees tangible outcomes, leading you towards success in your animation journey
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Extensive Sheridan Portfolio Review
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Do you want to receive an extremely comprehensive review of your portfolio artwork that you'll be submitting for Sheridan's notoriously competitive Bachelor of Animation program? Order this review from us to receive live feedback on your entire portfolio, receive a scoresheet using their rubric of where we think you stack up, AND receive two additional opinions of current Sheridan students.
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