Back to listing

Toon Boom Certified Animation Courses

Toon Boom Certified Training Course: Digital Animation

Course Introduction

Step into the fascinating world of animation with our Digital Animation course! This course is the perfect starting point for anyone who’s ever been curious about how animation brings stories and characters to life.

Join us for a fun and engaging journey into the world of animation with our Digital Animation course. This is perfect for anyone who’s ever been curious about how animated characters are brought to life in movies and TV shows. You’ll be guided by a top expert from Toon Boom, a leader in animation software. Over the course of this training, you’ll dive into the magical process of animation — that’s just a cool way of saying how we make our characters move and express emotions.

Don’t worry if you’re new to this; the course is designed for beginners. You’ll learn how to build the basic structure of animated characters using easy-to-understand tools and techniques. This is your chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at how animators create characters that can walk, talk, and jump right off the screen!

Whether you’re an aspiring artist, a curious enthusiast, or just looking to try something new and creative, this course will give you a solid foundation in the art of character animation. You’ll leave with not just knowledge, but the excitement of having taken your first step into the vibrant world of animation. Imagine playing with digital paper puppets, but in a way that turns them into animated characters in a movie or a TV show. That’s what cutout animation is all about! In this course, using Harmony Premium animation software— you’ll learn the basics of this fun and creative technique.

Course Outline

In this workshop, attendees will learn about digital animation. The format of this class is an in-person, hands-on activity lab with the goal of giving participants an understanding of the steps to digital animation using Toon Boom Harmony software. This course includes a brief history of cutout animation and introduces participants to different styles of digital animation. This course takes you through the core concepts of Harmony to master their basic uses. You will also be introduced to the two main animation techniques Harmony is used for—traditional paperless animation and cutout animation.

Topics Covered Include:

• Introduction and Examination of Different Styles of Digital Animation.
• A Brief History of Cutout Animation.
• A Look at the DFI-supported Animated Short ‘Above the Tamarind Tree’ with Writer and Filmmaker Buthyna Al-Mohammadi.
• Software Overview.
• Introduction to Animation Tools
• Animate Bouncing Ball
• Timing Exercise: Overshoot vs Pendulum timing and when to use each
• Posing Rigs
• Head Tilts
• Breakdowns and Troubleshooting.
• Working with Props
• Walk Cycle
• One line Lip Sync
• Tension and weight to your actions.

Course Format

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

Objectives

• Use keyframes and computer-generated interpolation to digitally animate
• characters and props
• Apply principles of animation to cutout puppets using digital tools
• Animate typical motions and cycles frequently recurring in production
• Understand the fundamentals of a rig and the nodal system

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 the Digital Animation Course and the Character Rigging courses.

Dates
28 June – 10 July 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)

Participation is required for all 12 days of each session

Language: English

Group Size: 10 participants

Course Fee: 2,000 QAR per module

Selection Criteria

• Candidates should understand basic animation principles
• 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.)

*Please indicate if you are able to bring your own pen tablet or personal Mac to the course.

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

Top of page