What is the 2D Academy's "Virtual Apprenticeship Series"?

These are a series of on-demand animation classes, taught by award-winning master animator, Tony White, who at the beginning of his career apprenticed with some of the greatest Master Animators from the past. Luminaries such Ken Harris (Warner Brothers/Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner), Art Babbit (Disney/Pinocchio/Fantasia), and Richard Williams (3 x Oscar winner) made Tony realize that standing at their shoulders as they worked and hearing their thinking processes as they animated is the finest way of learning. Consequently, Tony is trying to give a similar experience to the young animators of today as they begin their animation journey.

Why walks?

As all of Tony's teachers explained to him in the past, "animated walks" are the hardest thing to create convincingly. However, they further explained to him that if you could pull one off successfully, then you are capable of animating pretty much anything - as the principles involved in making a good character walk well are effectively used in most other aspects of character animation, beyond walks. Tony went on to prove this fact many times in his long and award-winning career and continues to do so.

How is this course structured?

Instruction on each of the key animated walks featured is broken down into 2 parts specifically - "Blocking" and "Polishing". This is because the process of all good animation is done this way. As a result, for each of the 6 walks featured - that is, i) "Generic" walk, ii) "Double Bounce" walk, iii) "Sneak" walk, iv) "Sad/Lazy" walk, v) "Limping" walk and vi) "Front" walk - Tony initially explained their "Blocking" processes. Then, in a separate video, he goes through his personal "Polishing" process. At the end of each walk video, students will have witnessed how a master animator works, as well as become equipped to confidently handle that action themselves. This process of thought and application applies to all animation students - whether they be 2D, 3D, Claymation, Stop-frame or any other kind of animation to be pursued.

Other apprenticeship courses:

Tony will be adding other apprentice courses in the future. (Such as "Drawing for animation", "An Introduction to film pre-production/production", "Animated graphic novels and comic books", "iPad Animation", "Once upon a time in Hollywood" ~ a personal history of animation", etc. - in addition to his existing "In The Classroom" series.) Tony hopes in the meantime, however, that this definitive course on animated walks will provide every student - whether beginner, college student, or existing professional - a process that will serve them well on their animation journey. It is likely too that Tony will build a "live and online" course around his new book, "Animation masterclasses ~ From Pencils to Pixels", which I due to be published by Taylor and Francis in August of 2022.