Intense Animation Academy goes Online

SINGAPORE: Intense Animation Academy, a specialist 3D animation training facility, is going online! Intense Animation Academy Online will be launched by the 2nd quarter of 2010, targeting a global audience.

Students will be able to download the video tutorials and follow the assignments. Students are then required to upload their collated assignments according to the deadline set in the curriculum (usually 1 week). The students may not progress to lesson 2 until they hand in the lesson 1 and so forth. The mentors will assess the students' assignments and provide critique. Students will also have email and online (instant messaging) support from the mentors.

Intense has broken down the current courses into smaller parts to make these more manageable for internet training and have introduced new subjects that will be taught as specific modules (character setup and rigging for example).

Talking about the main idea of an online academy to Animation Xpress Asia Pacific, Tony Sealy, Founder, Intense Animation Academy shared, "We had many enquiries from many regions from students who were interested to study animation with Intense but couldn't manage to get to Singapore. We have a small campus and not everyone can come. We have always believed animation training MUST be done in small, intimate numbers so online training is the best way to extend our curriculum and maintain the kind of service and interaction in which we specialize. We also wanted to make animation training more affordable for students outside of Singapore. The students can study from anywhere as long as they have an internet connection."

This innovation will attract aspiring animators from around the world who are drawn to Intense's curriculum but have been unable to get to campus in Singapore. Intense has gone to great lengths to ensure students receive the same thorough learning experience from their interactive training as they would receive if they attended the campus themselves. Each specialist course lasts between 8 and 16 weeks, and covers all aspects of Digital Animation.

At the moment Intense has three faculty members and will expand to no more than 10 during phase one. He further shared, "We are currently recruiting international faculty with production experience. Naturally, we need specific skill sets for each subject matter. We are interviewing modelers, character animators, characters TD's and effects TD's. As usual with all Intense mentors extensive production experience is essential."

Initially Intense will be offering more entry-level courses for beginners and novices. This is aimed at simplifying the learning process and ensuring the delivery system works before Intense moves on to any complicated subject matter. Tony added, "It is normally beginners who baulk at long term commitment to travel and study animation, so the online academy will allow those new to the industry to "test the water" before they make a larger (or longer term) commitment. As we progress we can see the online academy moving into more complicated subjects. Ultimately we'd like to open a professional-level market for those already working in the industry who wants to upgrade their skills but have no time to get out of the studio."

Intense has always sought new and innovative means of teaching animation. Tony shared, "We have done a great many different things here in Singapore but as we all know, Singapore is a small and immature market for animation. So, we hope this innovation will allow more people from different economic circumstances to learn animation and hopefully open career paths they may not have thought possible. The 3D animation world is growing, and every production studio (including our own) constantly faces manpower shortages. What we hope to achieve by opening an online academy is allowing greater access to quality teaching for a greater value for money."