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Toon Boom Certified Animation Courses

Toon Boom Certified Training Course: Character Rigging

Course Introduction:

Unlock the secrets to creating unforgettable animated characters with our Character Rigging course. This hands-on training provides the tools and techniques needed to bring your 2D puppet to life with personality and appeal, using industry-standard techniques. Whether you’re an aspiring artist or an experienced animator, this course offers the perfect opportunity to dive into the creative and technical aspects of character building, all with the support of expert Toon Boom instructors. 2D rigged puppet characters are the new industry standard used by Disney, Warner Brothers and Mercury Filmworks.

Step into the captivating world of character creation with our Character Rigging course, perfect for anyone curious about animation and storytelling. Over the course of this learning journey, you’ll learn how to develop characters that can be used to make 2D animation. Using Toon Boom Harmony, a leading software in the animation industry, you’ll explore key techniques such creating rigs with turnarounds, expressions and parts libraries.

The course provides a great exploration of how to build rigs that can be easily manipulated by animators to create professional looking animation. You’ll also delve into the technical side of adding master controllers and deformation, ensuring your creations are production-ready.

By the end of the course, you’ll have the basic skills needed to rig puppet characters that truly captivate audiences, whether for film, TV, or digital media. This course is designed for artists at all levels, providing you with the knowledge and confidence to create characters that will leave a lasting impression on any project. Join us to bring your characters—and stories—to life!

Course Outline:

Participants will learn to assess production needs and build standard rigs using a nodal system, deformers, masks, and optimized drawing tools in Harmony Premium. This course is intended for artists who are new to the rigging task and want to learn the fundamentals of constructing character rigs for studio productions.

Topics Covered Include:

• Harmony Software Introduction
• Interface Overview
• Basic Concepts & Settings
• Introduction to Sketching & Animating
• Exporting
• Drawing Tools
• Rigging Concepts
• Design & References
• Breakdown Fundamentals
• Rigging Technical Fundamentals
• Posing
• Rigging for Production
• Production Library
• Introduction to Master Controllers

Course Format

• This class is an instructor-led, hands-on activity lab.

Objectives

• Understand and assess the production needs
• Create a standard production rig optimized for the production need
• Issue recommendations on character design for optimal rigging
• Populate the library with production assets to be used by the animators
• Troubleshoot a nodal system and properly organize a rig structure

A detailed course breakdown will be shared with those candidates who are selected for the course.

Certification

• A Toon Boom course certificate will be provided to participants who complete the program.
• Participants are eligible for the additional Toon Boom Harmony software certification exam after completing both Character Rigging and Digital Animation courses.

Dates 14 – 26 June, 2025 (2 weeks)

Hours
The course duration is 40 hours.
Broken into weeknights (3.5 hours evenings) and 7 hours on Saturdays.
Each session takes place from Saturday through Thursday.
Sunday to Thursday from 4:30 PM to 8:00 PM (including a 30-minute break)
Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM (including a 1-hour lunch break)

Language: English

Group Size: 10 participants

Course Fee: 2,000 QAR per module

Selection Information and Eligibility

• To take this course, attendees should have a basic understanding of the cutout animation pipeline and what a rig is.
• Open to citizens and residents of Qatar and the Gulf
• The Doha Film Institute will not be responsible for the visa and travel procedures

Submission Deadline: 16 March 2025

Submission Requirements

Please send the following in Word or PDF format to animation@dohafilminstitute.com

1. Letter of motivation mentioning the title of the course you are applying to (up to one page)
2. Copy of Passport or ID
3. Contact information (email and phone number)
4. If available, an artist portfolio or CV
5. If available, any previous film or creative works (illustrations, animation, online portfolio, website etc.)

Selection Process
Candidates will be selected by the workshop mentor. Shortlisted candidates not selected for the lab will be placed on a waiting list in case of cancellations.

Mentor and Instructor

Stacey Eberschlag
Emmy Award-Winning Master Storyteller and Animation Maestro

Embark on a journey through the illustrious career of Stacey Eberschlag, an Emmy Award-winning animator and director hailing from Toronto, Ontario. With a rich tapestry of over 30 years in the animation industry, Stacey has become a beacon of creativity and expertise. His work has spanned an array of projects—from captivating animated series and feature films to innovative commercials and video games.

Stacey’s magic touch has been seen in his collaborations with industry giants such as Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros, Universal, and Nickelodeon. His remarkable contributions have shaped the narratives of beloved projects like ‘Thomas and Friends’, ‘Final Space’, and the revitalized ‘Animaniacs’.

But Stacey’s journey extends beyond the studio walls. Over the past 15 years, he has embraced the role of a global animation ambassador, living in Asia and Africa. As a certified Toon Boom instructor, he has illuminated the paths of numerous studios and aspiring animators, imparting wisdom in animation skills and techniques. His passion lies at the intersection of storytelling, animation, and rigging, where he consistently pushes the boundaries of what’s possible. This passion culminated in winning an Emmy Award with DQE Entertainment for ‘Tutenstein’, an animated series that breathes life into a 12-year-old mummy in a modern museum setting. Today, Stacey resides in Toronto with his wife and two children, continuing to inspire and lead in the world of animation.

About Toon Boom

For 30 years and counting, Toon Boom Animation has been the global leader in pre-production and 2D animation software, with clients in over 140 countries. The organisation has made its mark with products that include Harmony (end-to-end animation) and Storyboard Pro (storyboarding and layout), which continue to build upon their reputation for high-performance tools that push the limits of creativity. Producer (production management) and Harmony Gaming (drawing and animation tools for game development) are the most recent new products to join the line-up. Disney Television Animation, Atomic Cartoons, Bento Box, Fox Television Animation, Dog Head, Toei Animation, The SPA Studios, Xilam and Boulder Media are just a few examples of Toon Boom Animations’ high-profile clients. To learn more about Toon Boom, visit www.toonboom.com.

Presented in collaboration with the Qatar Museums Vocational School for Creative Industries

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