Advanced Digital Animation Diploma

During this 11 Week intensive course you will be introduced to some of the more advanced digital animation software and techniques with experts in a busy design and development school/studio! Our unique school is located in the heart of a fully operation web development and small business solutions provider -- our parent company: northStudio.com Inc.
The Advanced Digital Animation Diploma Program provides a complete set of skills for Digital Animation using the most up to date techniques and software available.
Use Autodesk Maya to produce industry standard digital animation and more. Earn a Diploma in Digital Animation.
| School | Program | Cost | Total |
| VSBT | Advanced Digital Animation | $6,300.00 + GST | $6,678.00 |
The Advanced Digital Animation Diploma Program
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This program is taught from a design perspective, is project driven and is updated frequently to meet the demands of today's employers. |
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A one-of-a-kind program taught by professionals in the industry.
There is no better way to gain job ready industry standard skills than to learn from the people who are digitally designing and animating every day.
This Advanced Digital Animation Diploma Program is perfect for students to get up to date, job-ready skills in digital animation using industry standard programs such as Autodesk Maya.
Our design and development team and school are located in the same building, so you will be able to interact with our team of designers and developers while they are at work. You will gain valuable experience with access to a real design studio.
This is a 100% instructor-led program taught by our own digital animation team. Instructors are in the class with students at all times either instructing or helping with assignments. Help can also be found from all members of the northStudio.com team, including interns, co-op students, faculty and other staff members throughout the buildings. Its a busy place so there is always someone to help with whatever you are working on.
The course curriculum is continuous and each module flows perfectly into the next so that you understand the process and development techniques needed to build beautiful digital animations.
Prerequisites
- Previous computer skills are necessary
- Students who have completed the Introduction to Digital Animation program have met all prerequisites.
Instructors
The instructor for each component of the course will be taught by an industry professional currently working in the industry. You will also have speakers from northStudio.com's Design, and Project Management Departments to gain real-world understanding and see real client projects.
This Digital Animation Program is designed for:
...students who would like to create and design digital animation for personal or professional use in large organizations, design studios, or even to work on a freelance basis designing and developing digital animation.
This Program is for you, if you:
- are currently running/starting your own business and
would like to create, manage or update your own digital animation; - want to start your own Digital Animation Company;
- would like a job in the Digital Animation industry;
- are looking to augment other career choices or your existing career;
- are interested in Digital Animation;
- want to create high end professional animations;
- have an interest in Design Technologies;
- are interested in having fun, learning and playing with design programs (and supporting yourself at the same time);
- want to create Animation or work with Audio and Video
- Autodesk Maya.
- Education versions of Autodesk Maya are greatly discounted from store prices once you are registered with VSBT.
- Students will be required to purchase their own copy of software for home use or if using their own laptop at VSBT.
- VSBT students using VSBT computers will be supplied with all software needed.
While not mandatory, certain books are highly recommended as an aid to instruction. Books are not included in the course cost. Contact us for more details.
Computers available to students are all brand new within the last few months, and are loaded with all software and hardware needed throughout the WDC Program.
Our computers are all brand new, with 19’ Flat Panel monitors
* AMD 64 3200+
* 2G of Ram
* A8N-VM Mother Boards
* DVD Burner
* Floppy
* Wireless Internet
* 200G Hard drives
If you have your own laptop you can use our wireless connection.
Program Content:
Our program content is always being adapted to meet the new and changing design and development needs of employers and clients. The expertise of the instructors, designers and developers helps to keep content fresh, up to date, fun, and 100% applicable to the needs of people today. We are using the latest versions of both software and computers for our programs.
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | |
| week 1 | Intake, Basic Introduction to Learn Facility and Administration | Introduction Advanced to Animation Develop/ Design Characters for 3D review of previous course, Work on Model Sheets |
Review of Interface, Help File, Online Tutorials, Attribute/ Channel Box Panels and Tools, Review of Maya Polygon Modeling |
Review of Subdivision Surfaces in Maya | Review of Curves and Curve Modeling with Maya |
| Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Model Sheets, Director | Day 10 | |
| week 2 | Introduction to NURBS Tools and NURBS Modeling, NURBS Curves on Surface/ Trims/ NURBS Surface Tools in Maya | Attaching Lofted Surfaces NURBS/ Intersecting NURBS Surface and Trims/ NURBS Fillets/ NURBS Stitching/ Blend Fillets/ Birails in Maya | Introduction to Maya Cloth | Maya Hypershader review: Texture, Maps, Shaders, Material review | UV Texture Editor (edges, faces, polys, vertices, shells) review UV Snapshot, review advance UV Mapping types |
| Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 | |
| week 3 | Building maps(skins) in Photoshop with exported snapshot shells in Maya and reapplying maps to 3D objects | Building specular/transparent/ diffuse/bump maps (skins) in Photoshop with exported snapshot shells in Maya and reapplying maps to 3D objects |
Review of Lighting and Light Manipulators in Maya | Lighting, Shadows, Projection Shadowing, Glows, Including and Excluding Objects from Illumination Maya | Cameras and Environments/ Image Planes |
| Day 16 | Day 17 | Day 18 | Day 19 | Day 20 | |
| week 4 | Introduction Artisan Tools, Painting onto 3D objects | Paint Effects Tools Brushes and Strokes, Paint Effect Canvas/ Paint effects to Scene, Editing Paint Effects | Working with Paint Effects | Particle Effects and Emitters; Particles from Objects | Particles: Collisions with Fileds, Volumetrics |
| Day 21 | Day 22 | Day 23 | Day 24 | Day 25 | |
| week 5 | Timelines, Working with Time, Keyframing in Maya, Basic Animation and Applying the Principals | Dopesheet, Graph Editor (Pre and Post Infinity, Curve Types) editing Animation Curves and Curve Handles | Joint Tools, IK Solvers, Create a Skeleton for Character Model, Limiting Joint Rotation, Spline IK, Constrats, | Tutorial on Rigging a Legs and Hips with Rotational Limits and Setting Controllers with Set Driven Keys | Tutorial on Rigging a Skeleton with Rotational Limits and Setting Controllers with Set Driven Keys |
| Day 26 | Day 27 | Day 28 | Day 29 | Day 30 | |
| week 6 | Adding Mathematical Expressions to Skeletal Rigs for Control, Hypergraph and Relationships | Skins Smooth Binding and Ridge Binding, Setting Preferred Angles, Tips for Binding and Unbinding | More Skinning, Editing Membership for Ridge Binding, Flexors and Ridge Bind | Again More Skinning, Smooth Skinning, Painting Weights, component editor for Smooth Bound Weights | Painting Weights, Cluster Handles, Input Order for Controlling Deformations, Editing Membership of Cluster Handles |
| Day 31 | Day 32 | Day 33 | Day 34 | Day 35 | |
| week 7 | Painting Weights, Painting Weights for Cluster Handles | Painting Weights | Painting Weights | Painting Weights | Painting Weights |
| Day 36 | Day 37 | Day 38 | Day 39 | Day 40 | |
| week 8 | Adding Influences of Objects within a hierarchy, Use Adding Influences Techniques to Create Muscles of a Character | Character Sets, Character Sub Sets, Track Editors and Character Set and Sub Sets, Importing Exporting Animation Clips, Editing / combining Animation Clips on Tracks View | Using the Visor with Animation Clips | Using Point Constrates so Character Can Pick-up and Release Objects, Double Constrains | Rigid Body Dynamics, Soft Body Dynamics |
| Day 41 | Day 42 | Day 43 | Day 44 | Day 45 | |
| week 9 * | Non-linear Editing Software, Putting it All Together, Importing/Exporting, Final Projects | Non-linear Editing Software, Putting it All Together, Review of Animation Principals in Maya, Final Projects | Non-linear Editing Software, Renderings Review, Final Projects | Non-linear Editing Software, Final Projects |
Non-linear Editing Software, Final Projects |
| Day 46 | Day 47 | Day 48 | Day 49 | Day 50 | |
| week10 * | Final Projects | Final Projects | Final Projects | Final Projects | Final Projects |
| Day 51 | Day 52 | Day 53 | Day 54 | Day 55 | |
| week11 * | Final Projects | Final Projects | Final Projects | Final Projects | Complete Final Projects |
* Two Floating Days for Professional from Animation to Present Seminars
Advanced Digital Animation Diploma Awarded
Upon successful completion of your advanced digital animation program you will be awarded a Diploma of Digital Animation.
Local Amenities
We are conveniently located across from the Saanich city hall, next door to HSBC Bank, Tim Horton's and Yoshi Sushi. Other amenities include:
- Boston Pizza
- Tim Horton’s
- Save On Foods
- Mother Computers
- Fairways
- Little Caesars
- Subway
- Walmart
- Fairways Market










