The Advanced 2D Animation Diploma prepares you for an exciting career in 2D animation. You'll learn from industry experts who have worked at top studios, gain valuable industry insights, build critical job skills, and develop a polished portfolio to show employers.
Why study 2D animation at CG Spectrum:
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Focusing on cut-out style character animation, your mentor will guide you through fun and challenging exercises, offering insightful feedback to help you progress faster as an artist. Mentors actively work in the industry, so you know you’re receiving the most up-to-date training.
Get plenty of hands-on experience, techniques that save time and frustration, and graduate with a portfolio to impress employers with. Classes are held online, so they’re available to you wherever you are in the world. Get your career off to a great start at CG Spectrum online animation school.
Advanced diploma
9 months
20 hrs weekly
Advanced
2D Animation Diploma or portfolio submission
Weekly online classes, feedback and support
Toon Boom Harmony
Feb 1, 2021
Whether straight out of high school, changing careers, or upgrading skills, our specialized expert-led animation programs help you build practical job skills that serve throughout your career
Learn from mentors who have worked on top films and games
Plan your studies around work and family commitments
Build practical, relevant job skills that studios are looking for
Options to help you pursue your passion and start working sooner
Building on principles gained in the 2D Animation Diploma, you'll add cutout animation to your skillset, learning techniques using Toon Boom Harmony’s peg and node animation system, then moving onto complex physical animations, rigging and animating bipeds and quadrupeds. With your mentor's guidance, you'll analyze strong cutout scenes and apply lessons to your own work.
Learn how to:
By the end of this term, you will have strong understanding of advanced cutout style animation techniques, and confidence in rigging and animating characters and creatures.
Push your skills further than you thought possible in term 2. You'll jump into a variety of projects including single and two-character dialogue acting scenes using the cutout animation technique. You'll be introduced to Harmony’s FX and compositing tools, and use them to add these elements to your dialogue scenes.
Learn how to:
By the end of this term, you will have a better understanding of how, when and why you should add FX to your animations, and have hands-on practice using Harmony's compositing and FX tools.
This final term is about getting you job-ready! Using the technique of your choice (tradigital, cutout, or both), you will be mentored in the planning and production of a short animation demo reel, which includes design and animation of multiple characters, creation of background elements, and addition of camera movement, FX, and compositing.
Learn how to:
All diploma students receive additional 1-on-1 career support, portfolio reviews, and industry insights from CG Spectrum's Career Development Manager.
To be the best, it helps to learn from the best. All 2D classes are taught by industry mentors with years of experience working on major films and TV shows.
Mike's been animating films and games for 28 years at Disney, Netflix and Eidos Interactive. Credits include Pocahontas, Hercules, Tarzan, Fantasia 2000, and F is For Family.
Read full bioDept. Head of 2D Animation
Known for Tarzan
While at Disney and DreamWorks Scott animated classics like Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame and Road to El Dorado. He later won an Oscar for best special effects for Life of Pi.
Read full bioAnimation Manager
Known for Hercules
The most affordable way to learn from top industry mentors in a fun, collaborative environment, while still getting plenty of personalized feedback.
Progress faster and enjoy more flexiblity with private mentorship. Ideal for busy schedules, career-changers, or artists upgrading skills or changing specialties.
(9 x payments)
Save 10%
(3 x payments)
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(1 x payment)
(9 x payments)
Save 10%
(3 x payments)
Save 25%
(1 x payment)
With a focus on portfolio preparation, we help students build their competitive edge with high quality work that gets noticed. See what they are creating.
It's been extremely helpful for my portfolio and my confidence as an artist!
I've learned so much about not only animation, but the thought process an artist goes through when creating a piece.
If you’re looking to enhance your specialist skills to industry level, CG Spectrum is the place to be.
CG Spectrum has been an invaluable learning experience. Having never done an online course, I didn’t expect to receive the level of personalised learning and quality teaching that I have experienced so far. The amount of 1-on-1 is second to none. The techniques I have been taught have not only improved my animation skills by leaps and bounds, they have also taught me to be a better storyteller. Aside from the skills learned, I have also gained a great amount of insight into the industry which will definitely aid in my career as an animator.
I landed a job immediately after finishing the course.
When I started CG Spectrum's animation program, I wasn't sure what to expect. Now, I can surely tell that choosing CG Spectrum was the best decision I've ever made. My mentors were incredibly knowledgeable, dedicated and supportive. They took the time to introduce new concepts, and the critiques were long and detailed. Nothing was ever rushed. The small classes also allowed the instructors to spend more time with each student, analysing shots to the tiniest detail.
Getting access to industry mentors is huge.
There's a world of information out there, but nothing really compared to talking to someone in the know. When I first committed to specializing in animation, I approached it with tenacity. I sought out information wherever I could find it. CG Spectrum was one of those places. I really liked the 1 on-1 format. It was the first time I had an experienced animator open my scene file. It was what I needed to get over a couple of technical hurdles.
We've built our animation courses based on industry input and focus on teaching skills studios are hiring for.
The three courses below form a complete study pathway designed to fast track your education so you can land your first job sooner. Each course can also be taken separately depending on your skill level and career goals.
Overview:
The Introduction to 2D Animation Certificate teaches you solid foundations, giving you an idea of what it takes to pursue a career in this field.
This course serves as the first term of the 2D Animation Diploma, so you’ll already be one-third of the way through the diploma if you choose to continue your journey.
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The 2D Animation Diploma develops your skill level further with more complex techniques and a focus on producing the quality of animation expected in film and television production.
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The Advanced 2D Animation Diploma takes your skills to a feature film level and focuses on building your professional portfolio.
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Study options for all skill levels, from short introduction courses to full industry diploma programs.