Animator & Director

Character Animation Bootcamp | School of Motion

I took Character Animation Bootcamp through School of Motion to get sharper and faster with character work, especially in ways that would carry into freelance projects. The six-week course focused on the fundamentals, but what made it useful was how each assignment pushed a different part of the process, timing, weight, anticipation, and performance.

By the end, I was not just more comfortable animating characters. I was better at spotting what felt off and knowing how to fix it.

Squish & Squash

The first assignment was built around a character rig and the basics of movement. A few weeks later, I came back to the same animation and reworked it with a better feel for timing and control.

That second pass made the improvement really obvious. The motion felt looser, more confident, and a lot more alive.

Ollie Walk and Run

This assignment was all about cycles. I built a standard walk, a casual walk, a sneaking walk, and then a run, each one pushing on rhythm, weight shift, and personality in a different way.

The useful part was seeing how much character can come through in a basic loop when the mechanics are doing their job.

Squish & Squash Jump

For this one, I returned to the week one character and animated two different jump variations. The focus was on squash and stretch, and how much those principles can change the energy of a simple action.

It was a good reminder that even a small movement can feel flat or full of life depending on how the weight is handled.

Dolly Throw

Here the challenge was animating a throw, so I turned the character into a baseball player and leaned into that setup. The shot depended on anticipation, timing, and making the action feel believable without overcomplicating it.

It ended up being a really good exercise in restraint. A throw only works if the buildup and release feel connected.

Olly Scene

The final project brought everything together in one longer scene. Instead of focusing on a single exercise, I had to carry a full piece from start to finish and make the character performance hold up across the whole thing.

That was probably the most useful assignment in the class because it turned all the smaller lessons into one continuous problem.

Animation - Patrick Flaherty