Class Creatives

In this foundation course we will be learning the fundamentals of Character Animation and game development. (specifically for the Unreal engine, but this method will also work for other game engines such as Unity).

Learn everything necessary to learn Character Animation utilizing Autodesk Maya taught by a AAA game professional with university level accredited instruction!  We will cover the basics starting with the Ball Bounce, Pendulum, and how to apply the 12 principles of animation to the human form.  We will apply all fundamental aspects taught to create full in game polished animations of: Idle, Walk, Run, Jump and more.

Autodesk Maya is the industry standard 3D animation software, understanding the concepts in this course will help you land a job in the game, film, tv, or music industry.  In this course you will learn how to animate your custom created character from scratch.

Over 130 lectures and more than 18 hours of Animation instruction!

This course is updated frequently with new lessons, industry workflows, and resources exclusively for the Class Creatives website.

July 2025 - NEW!  Why the Best Characters in the World are Created with Maya & ZBrush

June 2025 - NEW!  Mixing Akira Cinematography with The Spider-Verse with Blender Grease Pencil & Maya

May 2025 - NEW!  How HBO's The Last of Us VFX are Created | Maya, ZBrush, & Unreal Engine

Apr 2025 - NEW!  Unreal Engine & Autodesk Maya for Professional Projects | Games, VFX, & TV

Mar 2025 - NEW!  The Evolution of Captain America | Autodesk Maya for Animation and Pre-viz

Feb 2025 - NEW!  Foot Roll Controller | Best Practices | Advanced Skeleton Controllers

Jan 2025 - NEW!  How VFX Movies Dune, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Godzilla x Kong Use Autodesk Maya for 3D Animation

Dec 2024 - NEW!  How the Venom Marvel Film Franchises Use Autodesk Maya for Animation

Nov 2024 - NEW!  How the Marvel Cinematic Universe VFX is Animated with Autodesk Maya

Aug 2024 - NEW!  How to Get Hired at a Top Japanese Anime Studio

July 2024 - NEW!  How to create Spider-Verse style animation with Maya & Blender Grease Pencil

May 2024 - NEW!  Retargeting Animation with Unreal Engine 5.4: Biped, Auto Retarget, Post Retarget Phase, QUL, and more

Apr 2024 - NEW!  Retargeting Animation with Unreal Engine: Paragon to Mannequin

Dec 2023 - NEW!  How Call of Duty and the Modern Warfare series uses Autodesk Maya for Animation

Nov 2023 - NEW! Advanced Skeleton Vs. ARTv1 Python 3 and Post Maya 2022 Unreal Mannequin

Oct 2023 - NEW! How Marvel Spider-Man 2 uses Maya for Game Animation

Oct 2023 - NEW! How Assassin's Creed Mirage uses Autodesk Maya and Zbrush

Sep 2023 - NEW! How to Import/Export Unreal Mannequins & MetaHumans rigged with Advanced Skeleton

Aug 2023 - NEW! Unreal Engine's MetaHuman Animator | Complete Step-by Step Workflow

Apr 2023 - NEW! How The Last of Us uses Maya for Animation

Mar 2023 - NEW! How the Mandalorian VFX was created with Unreal Engine & Maya

Feb 2023 - NEW! How Dead Space Characters & Animations are Remade

Jan 2023 - NEW! How Game of the Year Attack Animations are Created

Nov 2022 - NEW!  How God of War and other AAA studios utilize Autodesk Maya

Oct 2022 - NEW! How to use Epic Art Tools with new Unreal 5 Mannequins

Aug 2022 - NEW! How to fix the most common run cycle mistakes

Jun 2022 - NEW! IK/FK Settings and Options best practices

April 2022 - NEW! How to combine multiple animations in the timeline to create one animation master file

Mar 2022 - NEW! How to fix the most common walk cycle mistakes

Jun 2021 - NEW! Unreal Engine & Autodesk Maya Retarget Process with Paragon/Unreal Marketplace Assets

This course will be completely FREE with the Class Creatives PRO Subscription.

We will cover the following core skill sets:

• Getting started with Maya and understanding the animation process

• Understanding how to utilize the reference image plane in Maya to create realistic game engine ready animations

• Strong Fundamentals of Animation Body Mechanics

• Process of using IK/FK controllers and best practices of Unreal Engine's A.R.T. tools for Autodesk Maya

• Unreal Engine's A.R.T. rigging tools for Autodesk Maya

• Advanced Skeleton character rigs for Autodesk Maya and Unreal Engine

• Understanding hotkeys to animate quickly

• Animating with keyframes

• Animation foundation instruction animations: Ball Bounce, Pendulum, & Basic Body Mechanics

• Animating a production ready Idle, Run, Walk, Jump quickly and efficiently

• Fundamentals of motion capture and how to edit motion data

• Advanced polish process to create professional level animation ready for game engine (Unreal/Unity) export

• Applying for animation jobs in the industry and what recruiters at top tier studios look for in a demo reel

• Includes all the rigs necessary to learn while following along

We’ll be utilizing the latest software packages that top tier gaming studios of today use to create all of your favorite titles!

• Autodesk Maya, Unreal Engine’s Maya Animation Rigging Toolset (A.R.T. for short), Advanced Skeleton, and the Unreal game engine.

**NOTE - Course does NOT include custom character mesh. This course includes ART tools V1 zip which will include mannequin mesh/rig which will allow all animation and lessons to be animated without a mesh or completing a custom rig. Course is strictly showing the process of animating a character of choice, for ANY character regardless of software or rig limitations.

***UPDATE  - We now provide and support current versions of Maya with a provided Advanced Skeleton Unreal Mannequin rig for the animation course if you choose not to use the ART tools Mannequin rig for Maya 2022.