Animation Studio 

About the course

Animation Studio I is a foundation course in animation, taught entirely inside Unreal Engine 5.8. Unreal offers three distinct ways to animate, and they are all governed by the same animation craft:

• Hand-drawn 2D — draw and paint frame by frame inside Unreal using Odyssey: traditional animation, storyboards, and hand-painted texture.
• 2D/3D Motion Design — graphic and procedural animation: kinetic typography, shapes, cloners and effectors, and the Material Designer.
• 3D Animation Mode — hand-keyed 3D performance with Control Rig, Sequencer, Curve Editor, blend shapes, and deformers.

How you engage each week is yours to shape. Every week we explore a different Unreal tool aligned with animation principles; from there, you choose how to take it on. Your path is your own.

Who it's for

Designed for professionals who want to add real animation craft to their Unreal work, whatever their starting point. It welcomes:

• Independent creators and artists new to 3D who want a solid, principle-first foundation
• Animators from Maya or Blender translating their craft into Unreal
• Motion and After Effects artists moving into 3D space and real-time
• Unreal artists who know the engine but want to deepen hand-crafted animation
• Traditional and 2D animators curious about a real-time engine mixing 2D and 3D

Prior animation experience is not required. One prerequisite, and it's covered: be comfortable finding your way around Unreal. If Unreal is new to you, the self-paced 'Intro to Unreal Engine for Artists' is included free with any MB3 course.

How you'll learn — a studio, not a lecture series

You learn by making short pieces and refining them with feedback, the way a working animation team operates.

• Principles first — every technique serves the twelve animation principles, so your skills transfer to any tool.
• Three modes, one craft — the same principle explored as a hand-drawn sequence, a Motion Design element, and a 3D performance.
• Live critique — supportive, professional feedback on work in progress. No grades, no exams; the emphasis is craft and growth.

• Optional stretch challenges — the work stays meaningful whether a topic is new or familiar.

Format & schedule

Live online video sessions, all recorded for replay.

• Two evenings a week: Thursday (lecture) and Monday (work-in-progress review, studio Q&A, practice) — about two hours each.
• Optional in-person session once a week in New York City, offered when enough local participants enroll to form a group.
• Length: 13 weeks. Start date: Thursday, 1 October 2026.
• Between sessions: self-paced studio practice designed to fit around work.
• Cohort kept small so everyone receives real feedback.
• Session 0 setup module before Week 1, so no live time is lost to installation.

• Assessment: none in the school sense — supportive studio critique, and a certificate of completion after the final project.

What you'll explore, week by week

Part 1 · Foundations & the three modes (Weeks 1–2): animation as the design of movement; first principles, timing and spacing; Sequencer and keyframes; a guided tour of Animation Mode & Sequencer (3D), Motion Design (2D/3D graphics), and Odyssey (hand-drawn 2D).

Part 2 · The principles in motion (Weeks 3–5): weight and force; bouncing objects; anticipation and recovery; arcs; reading and shaping curves; pose-to-pose, breakdowns and tweens across the modes; modifiers, animators, text actors, cloners, Skeletal Mesh Editor tools, 3D deformers. Intro to Control Rig.

Part 3 · Bringing subjects to life (Weeks 6–9): Animation Mode advanced tools; animating a rigged object; morph targets and blend shapes; physics-based animation and secondary motion; modular rigs, Control Rig physics, locomotion.

Part 4 · Going deeper & the scene (Weeks 10–11): effectors, spline animation; intro to Niagara Particle System; mixing media; staging — cameras, lighting, virtual sets.

Part 5 · Finishing & sharing (Weeks 12–13): polishing, rendering and post-production; AI-assisted production and ethics; final piece and a closing showcase.

What you'll create

Your term project is a short animated piece, roughly 20–40 seconds, authored in a primary mode of your choosing and enriched with at least one element from a second mode:

• A clear animated subject, refined against the principles in your chosen mode
• Cinematic camera work, and lighting used to guide the eye
• A designed set or space — you build only what the camera sees
• Sound or music, synchronized with intention
• A final render through Movie Render Graph, with a short project statement and credits

The result is a portfolio-ready piece that demonstrates real range, and a working method you can carry into your professional projects.

Tools & what you'll need

• Unreal Engine 5.8 — free to download; we work in it throughout.
• The three modes: Animation Mode, Control Rig and Sequencer (3D); Motion Design (graphic animation); and Odyssey (a free UE 5.8 plugin on Fab) for hand-drawn work.
• A computer that can run UE 5.8; a capable graphics card is recommended — we send clear hardware guidance before the course begins.
• Optional: a graphics tablet if you'd like to draw in the hand-drawn mode (not required).

Unreal and Odyssey are both free, so there is no additional software cost to take part.

Investment

Tuition for the 13-week live online cohort:

• Full tuition — USD $1,600
• Early enrollment — USD $1,400 (through 15 September 2026) Discount coupon will be send by email after application is received
• Payment plan — three monthly instalments of USD $550

Included: all live studio sessions across the 13 weeks plus recordings; ongoing studio feedback; a closing showcase with your cohort.

A note on cost: this places the course alongside other live, cohort-based animation programs, while offering more live contact time than most — two sessions every week for a full term, in a small group. Unreal Engine and Odyssey are both free, so there is no additional software cost.

Apply before September 15th to receive your discounted coupon

A few common questions

• Do I need previous Unreal experience?  Be comfortable opening a project and navigating the viewport. If Unreal is new to you, the free 'Intro to Unreal Engine for Artists' is included — complete it before Week 1.
• I already animate in Maya, Blender or After Effects. Will it be too basic?  No. Your craft becomes the foundation; the value is translating it into Unreal and expanding across all three modes, with optional stretch challenges and a personal project pitched at your level.
• What if I miss a live session?  Every session is recorded, so you can catch up whenever suits you.
• Are there grades or exams?  No. Supportive critique focused on your growth. A certificate is awarded on successful completion and presentation of the final project.
• How much time will I need?  Plan for a few hours of studio practice each week. The pace is designed to fit around a working schedule.

Bring your artistic vision. Develop the tools to take it further.

The next cohort begins Thursday, 1 October 2026. Because the group is kept small, seats are limited; early enrollment helps us plan and gives you the reduced rate.

Or reach out with a question or to arrange a short call: marcelasbrag@gmail.com — no obligation, no pressure to decide quickly.