Jumbla launches six in-studio animation courses for pro communicators, illustrators + freelancers

Jumbla Studios has launched six new animation and motion graphics courses at its South Melbourne headquarters in the first major overhaul of its education division since 2016.

The courses were designed to equip students of all abilities with the skill to add motion to their repertoire, tackle advanced techniques, and master software packages ranging from After Effects to Maya and Cinema 4D.

Jumbla’s managing director Andrew Dehnert said the growth of Jumbla Academy from one to six courses came after two years of heavy demand and maximum-capacity classes.

The original 15-week Jumbla Academy course will be replaced by a suite of 10 and 20-week offerings designed to meet the needs of students with diverse skill levels and needs.

Says Dehnert: “We’ve seen the opportunity to build on the initial success of Jumbla Academy by extending our offerings in response to overwhelmingly positive student feedback.

“What we learned these past two years is that people are upskilling in animation and motion graphics for a multitude of reasons.

“Our creative directors have responded by developing programs that cater for everyone from advanced practitioners to complete beginners; illustrators to marketers, and studio owners to freelancers.

“While the courses are new, the goal of Jumbla Academy remains the same – helping people upskill or find better jobs via hands-on learning in our working studio.”

New animation and motion graphics courses include

Motion Design Foundations (20 weeks) – An introduction to the world of animation and design for beginners – particularly in-house creatives and communicators looking to add motion to their work. Initial weeks focus on learning the fundamentals of software, design elements and principles, before covering best-practice 2D workflows and techniques for motion design.

Animating a Logo (10 weeks) – A great short course for illustrators, professional communicators and aspiring motion designers that covers motion graphics fundamentals and equips students with the skills to animate text, photography and other graphic elements.

Animation in After Effects (20 weeks) – Students will learn how to create high-quality design, character and text-based animations in After Effects with rigging, transitions, plugins, 3D and more. This course is best suited for existing designers who have a solid understanding of Photoshop and Illustrator, and want to add motion to their repertoire.

Cinema 4D (20 weeks) – After the success of Jumbla’s two-week intensive Cinema 4D course in 2017, this expanded offering will help students delve deeper into 3D modelling and motion design principles using Maxon’s powerful software. Students will learn the tool inside-out to master best-practice 3D workflows & transforms.

3D Character Design and Animation (20 weeks) – Students will be introduced to Autodesk Maya and learn how to develop stylised characters, scenes and logo animations. Great for creatives looking to build their knowledge of 3D character design, rigging and animation principles.

Character Design and Animation with Puppet Rigging in After Effects (10 weeks) – Students will learn how to create realistic walk cycles and animate characters with purpose and presence, using Adobe After Effects. Character conceptualisation, head rotations, track matting and lip syncing – it’s all here.

Learning animation and motion design by doing

Says Callan Woolcock, executive creative director, Jumbla: “We’ve always had the philosophy that the best way to learn is to do, and all of our new courses are based on this.

“Students will gain the skills and knowledge they need to land work – or do better work – as freelancers or in-studio practitioners.

“We’re all about developing the next wave of animation and motion graphics talent and hope to make an even greater impact in this arena with our new suite of courses.”

Callan said student input was the driving force behind the overhaul of Jumbla Academy.

Says Callan: “We gathered feedback from previous graduates and prospective students for insight into how we could potentially restructure Jumbla Academy to suit more people. It revealed a lot of interest in shorter courses, and courses focusing on specific techniques and software packages.

“Another thing we learned was that some students couldn’t spare an entire day for in-studio study due to other commitments.

“The new courses are now four hours per day and spread over 10 or 20 weeks, making them more accessible.”

Applications for the first semester of Jumbla Academy’s new-look course suite close on Friday 25 May.