Course Information

The Animation Guild is organizing a course consisting of three workshops during September!

The main topic of the course is free software: our goal is to teach free software alternatives, especially to subscription-based software. Workshops are held remotely. When planning the course, the Guild has identified three areas of animation production that are mainly done using paid software: 2D animation (Harmony, TVPaint), compositing and FX work (After Effects) and video editing (Premiere, Final Cut).

Based on this, we have planned a 2D animation with Blender’s Grease Pencil -workshop, as well as compositing and video editing with DaVinci Resolve -workshop. These softwares are free.

Blender will be taught by Sander Joon, teaching language will be English. Resolve will be taught by Albert Laine, teaching language Finnish or English depending on the course participants

The workshops consist of teaching, joint exercises and independent work. The workshops are recorded and the recordings are shared among the course participants. During the course, participants have the opportunity to complete an animation exercise that will walk them through the entire Blender pipeline, from animation to compositing and editing. Participants will be given instructions and materials to use in the course.

For an optimal learning experience, 15 participants will be accepted for the course. This ensures that teachers have time to help each participant with problem areas.

Time and Place

Place: Google Meets. The link will be shared with participants before the workshops begin.

Time:

Blender (Grease Pencil): Saturday 12.9. at 12:00–16:00
DaVinci Resolve I: Editing and Compositing: Saturday 19.9. at 12:00–16:00
DaVinci Resolve II: Editing and Compositing: Saturday 26.9. at 12:00–16:00

Each workshop includes a one-hour lunch break.

Signing up for the course

Registration form: https://forms.gle/ewyD6wDb8sFYMczE9

Participation in the workshops is free for Guild members, for others the participation fee is 30€.

15 participants will be accepted for each individual workshop. Register for the workshops using the link above before 4.9.

If you have been accepted to a workshop, but are unable to attend, please notify us as soon as possible.

Workshops and Teachers

12.9. — Sander Joon — 2D animation with Grease Pencil

In the Grease Pencil workshop we will learn to use Blender for 2D animation!

About the software:

Grease Pencil is a 2D animation tool built into the 3D program Blender, and is constantly evolving. Mixing drawing animation with a 3D environment offers countless creative possibilities, but in this course we will focus on creating purely 2D animation in order to focus on the absolute basics of using the software.

Every new update brings something new to Grease Pencil, and we will be using the latest Blender 5.2 version in the course. We will send a download link and installation instructions to participants.

Learning goals:

A person who participated in the course will…

Learn the basics of Grease Pencil for 2D animation
understand the use-case and deeper possibilities for using the program
create cleaned-up and colored animation that will be exported from the program in a way that can be applied to any animation production and in the upcoming DaVinci Resolve workshop
Be able to repeat the things done in the course independently and, if necessary, can solve problems using the learning materials shared in the course.
feel that they will be able to practice using the software in the future
build confidence in using the software so that when software-related skills become rusty, they will be able to re-learn the program by themselves

About the teacher

Sander Joon, an Estonian film director, is known for award-winning animations Velodrool, Moulinet, Sounds Good, and the Oscars-shortlisted Sierra. In 2023, the Estonian president honored him with the “Young Cultural Figure Award” for his contributions to Estonian culture. Now he’s working on his next short, “Hair of Hare”, fully animated in Blender, to be released in 2027. He has taught animation at the Estonian Academy of Arts and has given Blender workshops concentrating on the use of 2D in 3D space. He has now fully converted to using Blender in almost every aspect of his production pipeline – 2D and 3D animation, sculpting, and compositing.

19.9. and 26.9. — Albert Laine — editing and compositing with DaVinci Resolve

We recommend attending both workshops, as the lessons learned in editing will make compositing easier and vice versa. Editing will be held on 19.9. and compositing on 26.9.

About the software

DaVinci Resolve is Blackmagic’s free editing and compositing software that has been the industry standard for color grading for years. In addition to its cutting-edge color grading, Resolve is a powerful and constantly evolving editing program. Resolve also includes a node-based compositing tool called Fusion, which allows for seamless workflow between editing and compositing.

At the teacher’s request, we will use the software version in the courseV20, as there are still bugs in the latest V21 version. We will send you the download link and installation instructions by email.

Learning goals

A person who participated in the course will…

Learn the basics of Resolve for editing and compositing work
understand the use-case and deeper possibilities for using the program
import video material into the software, cut video, use compositing tools and export video from the program.
be able to use the program for their future editing and compositing needs.
Be able to find new solutions and ways of working, if necessary, utilizing the sources shared in the course
builds self-confidence in using the software so that when software-related skills become rusty, they will be able to relearn the program again

About the teacher

Albert Laine is a Helsinki-based animation artist and long-time creator of digital motion pictures. He studied animation at Turku University of Applied Sciences and graduated with a Master of Arts (MA) in Animation from Aalto University.

His latest project was the film Pikkuli ja Tähtipeura, where he did concept work for the 3D style of the characters and props and developed the animation style. Over the years, Albert has produced numerous commercial animation productions and short films that have toured festivals. Laine has been working as a teacher since 2015, teaching animation and digital tools at Aalto University and Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts, among others.

He has a long history of experience with Blackmagic tools: (Eyeon) Fusion since 2003 and Resolve since 2011. He has used them extensively in both commercial projects and artistic productions, and has a deep understanding of both creating smoothly working pipelines between the softwares and practical working methods.