When it comes to choosing courses for learning 2D animation, you can find various options, among which there are both useful courses and guides that are just waste of time. We have collected the best 2D animation courses based on such aspects as price, duration, and expertise level.
Price: From $9.99 to $34.99
Duration: Self-Paced
Level: Beginner/Intermediate
These 2D animation courses are useful if you want to learn how to work in such programs as After Effect, vector animation software, GIF makers, and how to create animation for social media. You will understand how to use 2D animation software like Adobe Animate to your advantage, how to work with composition and rhythm, to animate logos and titles, and take advantage of animated filters.
Be sure to check the requirements in advance to prepare the necessary tablet and software before starting your course.
Price: Free
Duration: From 33 minutes to 54 hours
Level: Beginner/Intermediate
This Pluralsight page contains some free 2D animation courses online. You can find videos for beginners as well as for those with a basic understanding of animation. Pluralsight uses software such as Unity, Photoshop, and After Effects in their classes.
Pluralsight also offers paid courses to master After Effects CC or Maya. By paying $29 for a basic package subscription, you get access to various resources provided by the service.
Price: $29.99/month
Duration: 11 hours
Level: Beginner/Intermediate
We recommend this 2D animation course online if you are considering animation as a professional opportunity.
You will receive useful content weekly – Dermot O'Connor, the curator of the course, gets in touch with students every Tuesday to share some secrets about animation that will greatly simplify their work, help create a separate animation or an entire animation scene faster and easier.
You will learn how to make delays, overshoots, and basic gestures that help create realistic movements. Moreover, you will learn how to draw different body shapes for both men and women, and understand different styles of motion.
Price: $99/year
Duration: 3 hours
Level: Intermediate
You can learn 2D animation online using the course created by Walt. This course is aimed at beginners and it demonstrates how to create animated characters, giving students an idea of the core principles and providing vivid samples.
This tutorial covers a wide range of topics such as the basics of vector art in Animate, nested animations, adding audio to animations, etc. This short course is suitable for those considering animation for personal rather than professional purposes.
Price: $50
Duration: About 20 hours
Level: Intermediate
This 2D animation online course instructed by Aaron Blaze is definitely worth your attention. Aaron is one of the world's most powerful animation specialists at Disney, who helped create such great cartoons as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Mulan. Plus, he even co-directed Brother Bear. His online course consists of 13 video lessons where Aaron explains to students 12 basic principles of animation developed by Disney’s Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.
Besides the main course, Blaze offers an additional short class of 6 lessons where he talks about his approach to animation. Aaron creates animations in real-time and describes the process of work simultaneously.
A nice bonus is the variety of additional sources, both video and texts in PDF format, which will deepen your knowledge of animation, help you create unique scenes, and boost your skills in this direction.
Price: $699
Duration: 8 weeks
Level: Intermediate
This eight-week course from the Computer Graphics Graduate Academy (CGMA) will help you learn how to create interesting and realistic characters. Surely many have watched the cartoon named Toy Story, where the main character was designed by Nate Wragg, the curator of this long course.
The course describes the elements that help create strong and beautiful characters that work great for animated scenes. Starting with simple shapes, you go deeper into more advanced design elements.
Keep in mind that the course primarily covers the creation of animation characters, rather than animating them. You have to pay $699 to join the course. Besides, having Photoshop and a Wacom tablet (or similar) is a must.
Price: $12.99
Duration: 4 hours
Level: From Beginner to Advanced
This course dwells on how to use Smith Micro's Moho for character animation. The instructor tells you more about the program, the interface, settings, how to get started and create the first characters.
You will learn everything needed for tracking characters in Moho. You will get some time-saving tips to get ready for animation faster. The next step involves advanced animation with professional tricks and top-tier tools.
Price: $12.99
Duration: 28 minutes
Level: Upper-Intermediate
These 2D animation classes online cover such topics as shot types, frame composition, camera angles, and movements. You will learn how to create more professional scenes and add characters to the frame. The concepts of panning, tilting in 2D, rule of thirds, and dialogue coverage are described in detail.
If you don't like the course, you can get the payment back within 30 days. The course is suitable for beginners with a bare knowledge of animation.
Price: $1185/month
Duration: 9 months
Level: Advanced
This 10-month 2D animation course is designed by artists from DreamWorks and Disney. The course turns students into true industry professionals. You will take a closer look at the best software that includes Toon Boom Harmony. The world’s leading studios use this program.
Curators place great emphasis on drawing the characters. You not only receive a guide with exercises and recommendations but also get constant feedback to fix mistakes and achieve the desired result.
