James Whitelaw Animation

"Animating with OpenToonz" covers everything an animator needs to know about OpenToonz, from setting it up, and all the basics, all the way to more complex techniques and tools that one can use to really let OpenToonz show its' power. This is a very hands-on course, leaning more to the application of OpenToonz, rather than just all the theory of it. 

There are 2 scenes in the course that I create, step by step. The first is relatively simple, and the second is quite complex. I go through every bit of their creation, step by step, so that the animator may follow it easily. It is encouraged that the animator at least do some of the creation of either or both scenes, but even if he/she does not do anything, he/she will be able to follow all the technical theory that goes into the creation of the scenes. It comes with downloads needed for the scenes plus some locomotion templates to make the animation of certain parts much easier. 

There is a lot of content in this curse, and it covers: 

1. Basics - installing, FF Mpeg, Tools and workplace windows etc. 

2. Drawing - the 2 main methods; vectors & raster, and how to use them to the full 

3. Animating - covering the various methods and techniques OpenToons offers 

4. Advanced Tools & Techniques - we dive into some of the more advanced parts of OT 

5. Extra Tips & Techniques - we look at some creative ways to use OpenToonz 

6. Examples & break downs - we work through some finished animation examples, step by step. 

7. And much much more...

The course is broken into a few sections; 

1. Basics - covering all the basics you need to get going with OpenToonz, including the installation of the latest version of the software, and the installation of the FF Mpeg files.

2. Tools - we cover all the drawing tools, and all the various tools ad methods to get animating with OpenToonz.

3. Scene 1 - we start creating straight away in Scene 1, from drawing to animating. Scene 1 is relatively simple, and is a good start for someone who is new to using OpenToonz.

4. Scene 2 - the creation continues in a second scene, a lot more complex than Scene 1 - and for the more advanced animator. If you have worked through Scene 1, you will be able to work through Scene 2. 

5. We use some editing software to composite the scenes (1 & 2), making them play out and we can see our work. 

6. This is the fun part - we apply special effects to our 2 scenes, and render out the finished animation, again, compositing the scenes in the editing software.

7. The final part is adding sound to the scenes, and then we do a final render of each scene, and we are done!

In between each part of the creation there are videos on the specific part of OpenToonz that we are covering in that part of the creation, so the student can see specifically and in more detail what we are using and how we are using it. 

There is a section at the end of each scene covering what we have learnt and what we have used, just to once again reinforce the tools of OpenToonz and how we have used them. 

The course is aimed at both the novice animator, who has never used OpenToonz, and also the more advanced animator, who is looking for new ideas and methods to animate in OpenToonz.