Maya
Animation Course
Pro Animators Mentor You to Be Successful
Choose your own mentor. Review available mentors and Q&A times before you register. All live Q&A times are shown in Pacific time.
Why Take Maya Workshop: Animation Basics at Animation Mentor
1-on-1 Feedback From a Studio Pro
For six weeks you'll have live, weekly Q&As with your mentor. In addition to receiving recorded training video from a professional animator and an assignment designed to review and critique your work each week, your mentor will review and critique each of your assignments and provide you with a video of their feedback so you can improve your work each week.
Get Access to Pro Rigs
Gain access to professionally designed rigs like the classic bouncing ball, pendulum, Squirrels and Stewart. After you finish the course you can keep them for your future projects.
Live Weekly Q&As
Join live weekly Q&A sessions with your mentor, scheduled in Pacific time, on top of the recorded lectures and weekly animation assignments.
On-Going Rig Access
Keep access to the Stewart and Squirrels rigs after the course ends, so you can keep practicing and building your skills.
What You'll Be Able to Do
- Get comfortable with the Maya interface, allowing you to focus on animation without getting lost in the software
- Navigate the 3D viewport and move fluidly around your scene
- Understand workflows and keyboard shortcuts to allow you to work faster and more efficiently
- Have a basic understanding of how to animate 3D characters in Maya
- Be able to model basic polygons, so that you can create and populate your scenes with low-poly props and groups
- Work with basic objects and learn to navigate confidently in 3D space
- Build a foundation you can carry into mentor-led character animation courses
Skills You'll Gain
What You'll Build
Each week of the Maya Animation Course pairs a recorded lecture with a hands-on assignment, so you finish the workshop with practical Maya skills and exercises you've built yourself.
Maya Interface Exercises
Hands-on assignments getting comfortable with the main aspects of the Maya interface and navigating in 3D space.
Basic Object Builds
Create and work with basic objects and low-poly props, building scenes from simple polygons.
First Character Animation
Apply fundamental concepts of animation to start animating a 3D character in Maya.
The Maya Workshop: Animation Basics Curriculum
Maya Overview
Get comfortable with the main aspects of the Maya interface, navigating in 3D space, and working with basic objects.
In this session we cover all the basics of Maya, getting you comfortable with the main aspects of the interface, navigating in 3D space, and working with basic objects.
- The Maya interface
- Navigating in 3D space
- Working with basic objects
Introduction to Animation in Maya
Learn the basics of animation tools and interface, and start animating in Maya.
In this session we dive into Maya's animation toolset and interface. By the end of this session you will have a basic understanding of how to animate within Maya.
- Maya's animation tools
- The animation interface
- Basics of animating in Maya
Fundamental Concepts of Animation
Cover the concepts, tools, and techniques from the previous sessions and animate your Squirrels rig performing a bouncy jump.
Using the concepts, tools, and techniques from the previous sessions, you'll animate our Squirrels rig performing a bouncy jump.
- Applying fundamental animation concepts
- Working with the Squirrels rig
- Animating a bouncy jump
Character Animation in Maya I
Work with more intermediate character animation topics within Maya. You'll create an advanced animation shot using a mechanical robot arm.
This week we work on more intermediate character animation topics within Maya. You'll create an advanced animation shot using a mechanical robot arm.
- Intermediate character animation
- Advanced animation shot
- Animating a mechanical robot arm
Character Animation in Maya II & III
Apply concepts to work ready to be moved into the more complex animations later on, with advanced character animation topics.
Now we're ready to cover more intermediate character animation topics within Maya. You'll create an advanced animation shot using a mechanical robot arm. This will prepare you for the more complex animations later on.
- Advanced character animation topics
- More complex shot work
- Preparing for advanced courses
Ready to Start Animating?
The Maya Animation Course is a 6-week, mentor-led course for beginners: recorded lectures, weekly assignments, and live weekly Q&As. Enroll at Animation Mentor.
- 6-week beginner course
- Live weekly Q&As + 1:1 feedback
- Taught in Autodesk Maya
- $899 USD
Frequently Asked Questions
This course focuses on the fundamentals of using Maya for animation: getting comfortable with the interface, navigating 3D space, working with basic objects, and starting to animate characters.
The course is designed to get beginners comfortable animating in Maya. It covers the core interface, navigation, and animation tools you need to start animating.
This is a beginner-friendly course covering the essential techniques of 3D animation in Autodesk Maya, from the interface through your first character animation.
Autodesk Maya is the industry-standard 3D animation software used across film, TV, and games studios, which is why this course teaches you to animate in it from the ground up.
The course runs 6 weeks with a recorded lecture, a weekly assignment, and a live weekly Q&A with your mentor. You should plan time each week to complete your assignment and meet with your mentor.
