Characters in Motion – Intermediate Animation by Rebecca Perez

This course is all about the nuts and bolts of character movement. You’ll break down how weight, balance, and timing work together to make a character feel real. No fancy acting shots yet—just solid, believable motion that you can build on for any future project.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Apply the core animation principles to any character shot
• Analyze and execute proper weight transfer and balance
• Create natural overlapping action and follow-through
• Block out and refine body mechanics for locomotion
• Use timing and spacing to sell the motion

✅ Requirements

• Skills: Basic understanding of 3D animation software and the animation interface
• Tools: Autodesk Maya or equivalent 3D animation software
• Hardware: Computer capable of running Maya smoothly

📝 Description

This is a 12-week deep dive into the mechanics that make characters move believably. You’ll start with the fundamentals—timing, spacing, and posing—and work your way up to full body locomotion. The focus is on practical, hands-on assignments that force you to think about how weight shifts, how balance works, and how overlapping action sells the motion.

The course is structured to build your skills progressively. Early weeks focus on simple exercises like a ball bounce to nail down timing and spacing. From there, you move into more complex body mechanics, learning how to transfer weight and create natural arcs. By the end, you’ll be animating full walk and run cycles with confidence.

What sets this course apart is the emphasis on the why behind the motion. You won’t just copy a reference—you’ll understand the physical principles that make movement work. That understanding is what lets you animate any character, in any situation, without relying on rote memorization.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• Animators who have a basic grasp of animation software but want to strengthen their understanding of movement
• Students transitioning from simple object animation to character animation
• Anyone who wants to build a solid foundation in body mechanics before moving on to acting and performance

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Rebecca Perez is an experienced animator with a background in feature film and game animation. She has worked on a variety of projects that demand strong character performance and believable movement. Her teaching approach focuses on breaking down complex concepts into digestible, practical exercises that build real skill.

🏁 Final Result

By the end of this course, you’ll have a portfolio of animation exercises demonstrating your understanding of body mechanics, including polished walk and run cycles. These pieces will show your ability to handle weight, balance, and timing—skills that are essential for any character animation role.

📢 Guys, this is a Group Buy campaign, check the GBC forum thread to get access

You can find the course preview in the download section below.