Foundations of Animation

• In this course, you will learn to:
• Classify the basic tools and techniques used in animation and VFX production
• Define the roles of animation and VFX in various industries
• Identify the selection, drawing, and scaling tools in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator
• Organize workflows for working with layers, blend modes, and masks
• Reorganize different tools and techniques for creating and modifying digital art
• Summarize the steps involved in photo restoration projects
• Compare the features and applications of raster and vector graphics
• Report on the ethical considerations in character design and copyright protection
• Categorize different types of animation and VFX styles used in creative industries
• Diagnose issues in digital compositions and suggest solutions for improvement
• Operate advanced tools like the Perspective Grid Tool and the Mesh Tool
• Find innovative ways to create compelling characters and visual storytelling elements
• Predict future trends in animation, VFX, and digital compositing techniques

• At the end of this course, learners will be able to:
• Estimate the time and resources required for animation and VFX projects
• Appraise the quality of animations and digital art based on industry standards
• Combine multiple images and elements to create advanced compositions and artworks
• Solve challenges in photo restoration and digital compositing
• Predict industry trends in animation, VFX, and digital design
• Survey diverse illustration styles and their relevance to various creative industries
• Compare different animation and VFX techniques for their effectiveness in storytelling
• Examine the ethical implications of character design and copyright in the creative process
• Assess the functionality and efficiency of tools like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator for specific tasks
• Arrange design elements, layers, and tools to optimize workflows in digital art projects
• Create engaging characters and visual stories using innovative tools and techniques
• Design effective workflows for animation and VFX production pipelines
• Develop unique digital art projects by combining techniques like matte painting, surreal compositing, and digital painting

The academic approach of the course focuses on ‘work-centric’ education. With this hands-on approach, derive knowledge from and while working to make it more wholesome, delightful and useful. The ultimate objective is to empower learners to also engage in socially useful and productive work. It aims at bringing learners closer to their rewarding careers as well as to the development of the community.

• Step 1: Learners are given an overview of the course and its connection to life and work
• Step 2: Learners are exposed to the specific tool(s) used in the course through the various real-life applications of the tool(s).
• Step 3: Learners are acquainted with the careers and the hierarchy of roles they can perform at workplaces after attaining increasing levels of mastery over the tool(s).
• Step 4: Learners are acquainted with the architecture of the tool or tool map so as to appreciate various parts of the tool, their functions, utility and inter-relations.
• Step 5: Learners are exposed to simple application development methodology by using the tool at the beginner’s level.
• Step 6: Learners perform the differential skills related to the use of the tool to improve the given ready-made industry-standard outputs.
• Step 7: Learners are engaged in appreciation of real-life case studies developed by the experts.
• Step 8: Learners are encouraged to proceed from appreciation to imitation of the experts.
• Step 9: After the imitation experience, they are required to improve the expert’s outputs so that they proceed from mere imitation to emulation.
• Step 10: Emulation is taken a level further from working with differential skills towards the visualization and creation of a complete output according to the requirements provided. (Long Assignments)
• Step 11: Understanding the requirements, communicating one’s own thoughts and presenting are important skills required in facing an interview for securing a work order/job. For instilling these skills, learners are presented with various subject-specific technical as well as HR-oriented questions and encouraged to answer them.
• Step 12: Finally, they develop the integral skills involving optimal methods and best practices to produce useful outputs right from scratch, publish them in their ePortfolio and thereby proceed from emulation to self-expression, from self-expression to self-confidence and from self-confidence to self-reliance and self-esteem!