Summer Workshops at Filmmakers
New Animation Workshops at Pittsburgh Filmmakers
Pittsburgh Filmmakers is presenting a new program of 17 summer animation workshops for the experienced media artist and dabbler alike. Aspiring animators looking for access to the newest digital systems to create their work can sign up for one or more of these workshops. They are open to the public and held at Filmmakers headquarters (477 Melwood Ave). The workshops require no long-term commitment – 8 to 20 classroom hours per session – and are scheduled throughout the summer. Discounts are available to members of Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. They are not available for college credit, but they do count for Act 48 education hours. Through a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Pittsburgh Filmmakers has updated its digital labs with new animation equipment and software.
Three easy ways to register for these courses:
By Phone or Fax:
Registrations with credit card payment only.
Phone: 412-681-5449 Fax: 412-681-5503
In Person:
Register at the Pittsburgh Filmmakers Front Desk
weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm.
By Mail:
Return the completed registration form to:
Artist Services, Pittsburgh Filmmakers
477 Melwood Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Download the catalog with course listings and bios here
Download the registration form here
Class Listings
Surreal Set Design & Stop Motion
Instructor: Merissa Lombardo & Josh Tonies
Dates: 6/6, 6/7, 6/13, 6/20
20 Classroom Hours
Saturdays & Sundays
10:00am - 2:00pm
Design, build and animate surreal, nightmarish and absurdly funny stories. This workshop includes a historical overview of surrealist animation, hands-on set building, puppet and character design. Work with two experienced animators on construction methods and working with materials to design and build sets. The workshop will meet at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts for the first weekend for discussion and to begin design. The second weekend will meet at Filmmakers and focus on filming participants’ sets and characters using traditional and experimental stop-motion techniques. $225 Members, $250 Non-Members
Toon Boom Ink & Paint
Instructor: Mike Schwab
Dates: 6/13, 6/14
8 Classroom Hours
Saturday & Sunday
10:00am - 2:00pm
In this two-day workshop, learn how to import original artwork into Toon Boom Animate, then clean up the drawings digitally to apply colors and textures to multiple frames. Workflow will be discussed, as well as the concept of using Symbols in an animation program. $75 Members, $100 Non-Members
The Artist as Animator/ The History of Animation
Dates: 6/15, 6/16, 6/17, 6/18
Instructor: Olivia Ciummo
12 Classroom Hours
Monday through Thursday
6:00pm - 9:00pm
This weeklong class will cover a history of animation and the artistic techniques involved in its evolution. This class is intended for learners who want to develop their knowledge of animation as an art form. The class will include basic animation workshops on different traditional animation techniques. There will be two days of discussion, and two lab days (lab days are mostly for production, but discussion will certainly be encouraged). There will be some reading in this class and the instructor will provide materials. $125 Members, $150 Non-Members
Discussions in Animation and Aesthetics
Dates: 6/20, 6/21
Instructor: Olivia Ciummo
8 Classroom Hours
Saturday & Sunday
10:00am - 2:00pm
This weekend workshop will present animation in many different forms. From the history of its use in the early days of cinema to the modern use in advertising, e.g. the Super bowl advertisements. This class will be very heavy in reading, viewing and discussion. So bring your thinking caps cause we are going to talk about Animation and Aesthetics! $75 Members, $100 Non- Members
Animation for Teachers
Dates:6/22, 6/23, 6/24, 6/25
Instructor: Olivia Ciummo
12 Classroom Hours
Monday through Thursday
6:00pm - 9:00pm
This class is intended to introduce educators to using animation in the classroom. Students will be expected to participate in group discussions, group labs, and participate in talking about the readings. At the end of the class each student will be expected to present a curriculum that fits his or her classroom. The instructor will provide all reading material. $125 Members, $150 Non-Members
Matchmoving
Dates: 6/27, 6/28
Instructor: Dean Mougianis
8 Classroom Hours
Saturday & Sunday
10:00am - 2:00pm
Learn how to convincingly combine animation with your live footage. Matchmoving is the art and science of analyzing the camera motion of film and video and using that information to make animated elements appear to have been part of a scene. Matchmoving, while a relatively recent technology, is used throughout the film and video industry, to create realistic and compelling animations and effects. Using the sophisticated but affordable matchmoving and tracking software package Syntheyes, students will combine animated computer generated imagery into live action video footage. Conversely, students will also combine isolated greenscreen live -action elements into full-screen computer-generated animation. Students will also learn how to use Sythneyes’ powerful tracking capabilities to aid with difficult animation and effects shots. In this workshop students will shoot and matchmove both greenscreen and full-frame footage and then composite the results with provided computer graphics animated scenes and elements. $75 Members, $100 Non-Members
Destabilization and the moving image, flip book workshop
Dates: 6/27, 6/28
Instructor: Joshua Tonies
8 Classroom Hours
Saturday & Sunday
10:00am - 2:00pm
Discover how color relationships and patterns can be slippery windows for a viewer to look through in this flip-book making workshop. This workshop will briefly talk about important historical figures in Op-Art history (Bridget Riley, Josef Albers, Richard Anuszkiewicz) and their contributions to the development of illusions and disorienting visual language. In this workshop we bring these ideas to life through constructing flip books. $75 Members, $100 Non-Members
Making a 2D cartoon: Hanna Barbera style
Dates: 7/6, 7/9, 7/13, 7/16
Instructor: Brian Staszel
12 Classroom Hours
Mondays & Thursdays
10:00am - 2:00pm
This workshop jumps right into making a simple 2D cartoon using some of the conventions found in Hanna-Barbera cartoons to speed up and simplify the animating process. The animation will be created with Flash, but original artwork can be scanned in or created in Photoshop as well. Students will make a drawing of a character, break it up into pieces and then animate them in a simple scene. Voice, sound effects and/or music will be added at the end. $125 Members, $150 Non-Members
Character Animation in After Effects
Dates: 7/11, 7/12, 7/18, 7/19, 7/25
Instructor: Dean Mougianis
20 Classroom Hours
Saturdays & Sundays
10:00am - 2:00pm
Create compelling animation using the powerful tools in the popular and versatile animation and visual effects software After Effects. By combining the hierarchical, camera, lighting, and effects capabilities of After Effects with new additions to the program such as the puppet tool, students will learn to build dynamic and dramatic character-driven animations. During two weekends of course work students will: create character study drawings; plan for animation; draw the characters in Photoshop or Illustrator (or other drawing software), organize and divide character elements into layers, work out detailed animation with dope sheets and other tools, keyframe and enhance with effects. $225 Members, $250 Non-Members
Rotoscoping and the Augmented Image
Dates: 7/11, 7/12
Instructor: Joshua Tonies
8 Classroom Hours
Saturday & Sunday
10:00am - 2:00pm
Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over live-action film movement, frame by frame, for use in animated films. Transform your own videos or found material into exciting new moving spaces using rotoscoping. Explore and employ various methods in rotoscoping using Flash & Photoshop to augment any actuality into something impossible, heighten the mood of existing footage, or add an edge to a music video using this powerful animation technique. $75 Members, $100 Non-Members
Flash Interactive Animation
Dates: 7/27, 7/30, 8/3, 8/6
Instructor: Brian Staszel
12 Classroom Hours
Mondays & Thursdays
6:00pm - 9:00pm
This workshop will explore animation that reacts to the mouse movements of the viewer. The goal will be to create a unique experience that is heightened by the changes the viewer makes — in other words, this is art you can play with! These animations may create an ambient atmosphere, manipulate color and shapes or offer aural feedback, depending on what the mouse or keyboard is doing. The animation will be done in Flash, with Photoshop and other multi-media software. $125 Members, $150 Non-Members
Lip Synch & More with Toon Boom
Dates:8/1, 8/2
Instructor: Mike Schwab
8 Classroom Hours
Saturday & Sunday
10:00am - 2:00pm
Over 8 hours, sample some of the advanced tools in Toon Boom Animate. Learn to use the built in lip-synching tools of Animate, then create your own. Sync your animation to audio recorded previously or your own audio recorded during the workshop. The various special effects available will be demonstrated. We will also explore the morphing tool in the timeline and talk about various techniques to improve your results. $75 Members, $100 Non-Members
3D Character Animation
Dates: 8/1, 8/2, 8/8, 8/9
Instructor: Dean Mougianis
16 classroom hours
Saturdays & Sundays
10:00am - 2:00pm
Explore the exciting techniques of 3D computer animation. Over the course of two weekends, workshop participants will go from initial character design to a finished animation. Participants will learn the techniques of designing characters with 3D computer animation in mind. You will then progress to the step of modeling – the actual building of the character inside the computer – with preparations for animation as part of the modeling process. Using the inverse kinematic technique, a skeleton will be built, to allow for easy animation and positioning. That skeleton will be attached to the 3D character model and adjusted so that the model reacts to motion smoothly and accurately. The workshop proceeds to animation, where participants will learn to use key-framing while taking advantage of the carefully created, or “rigged” skeleton. Finally, the completed animation will be rendered out for display. This workshop uses the software package Cinema 4D XL from Maxon. Familiarity with the Apple OS X operating system is assumed and some knowledge of basic animation technique is not necessary but will help the workshop participants significantly. $175 Members, $200 Non-Members