Philosophy
Acquiring the fundamentals of observational drawing as well as validating students motivation to embrace the drawing and design professions.
It is essential to master the classical techniques of drawing in order to never be limited by your own level.
This is why we offer to our students introduction courses to acquire technical and artistic fundamentals.
The aim of our school is to offer to our students a superior artistic education and to give them a broad openness that will enable them to integrate the teams of the biggest and renowned animation and graphic art studios.
FUNDAMENTALS
UNDERSTANDING THE BODY
SKETCHING AND PRACTICING THE HUMAN BODY
EXPRESSIONS AND BODY LANGUAGE
They will learn to master the specific softwares and all the techniques related to their disciplines.
The fundamental goal of the school is not to give theoretical training to students but to train and prepare future professionals who will be ready to work and perform on all kind of projects and challenges.
There are many job opportunities in Vietnam and more widely in Asia.
SHORT-TERM PROGRAMS
DESIGN ADVANCED
Concept: with this 6 months training program, our students will learn the advanced drawing techniques from sketching to final drawing. This program is mainly oriented on drawing.
Audience: ideal for students looking for jobs that require a high level of design, such as animation, illustration, game design or comics-manga.
Main courses:
-Perspective: Courses and exercises
The different types of perspective
Rules of perspective
Measures
The reflections
The shadows
Cheat with perspective
-Background design
Presentation
Composition
-Composition: The rules & broke the rules
-Characters design: from cartoon to realistic style
Advanced concepts of living model and anatomy:
Fast poses
Attitudes
Expressions
The sketch
History
The styles (realistic, cartoon, caricature …)
Creation and method (rough, rendering, presentation)
Understand and hold the volume without losing the model
The personalities
Attitudes and acting
Silhouette
Caricature
– Acting and body language
Why us ?
This program will allow our students to have an international level in drawing, in order to integrate the best studios, without being limited by their own level.
Equipment & Software:
Our program is oriented toward digital drawing with the use of Wacom Cintiq tablet and softwares such as Photoshop and Sketchbook Pro.
Jobs opportunities:
-Animation
-Graphic design & illustration
-Game design
-Comics-Manga
Faculty staff:
-Fred Serra
-Hoa Sen Teacher
ANIMATION-LAYOUT 2D ON TOON BOOM HARMONY
Concept: with this 6 months training program, our students will learn advanced drawing techniques and animation 2D basics on Toon Boom Harmony.
This program will be very close to our “Advanced Design” program, but we will focus on the adaptation of drawing techniques to the animation sector.
Audience: This program is perfect for fine art students who would like to specialize in 2D animation (layout and animation).
Main courses:
-Perspective: Courses and exercises
The different types of perspective
Rules of perspective
Measures
The reflections
The shadows
Cheat with perspective
Background design
-Layout
Understand the storyboard
Composition
The fields
Posings
Background
The Hook Ups
Presentation
-Animation: Animation basics, acting and body language
Technical introduction
Books: 12 animation principles /Richard Williams /Preston Blair.
Weight-Timing & Spacing: 1bouncing ball/3 different bouncing balls
Overlaps & Follow-through: ball with Tail C and S shapes in overlaps
Posings : through selected pictures + student own references
Overlaps: Fist pound
Biped Walk
Biped Run
Push heavy box
Jump
-Process and software’s of the 2D animation production
Why us ?
This program will allow our students to have an international level in drawing and 2D animation in order to integrate the best studios.
Equipment & Software:
Work on Wacom Cintiq with ToonBoom Harmony 15.
Jobs opportunities:
-Layout
-Animation
Faculty staff:
-Fred Serra
-Our partnership with 2D animation studios based in HCMC will provide us experienced and talented professionals to teach our students.
ANIMATION 3D
Concept: with this 6 months training programs, our students will learn the basics of 3D animation on Maya including animation styles, body mechanics and acting.
Audience: this program is tailored for students who would like to specialize in 3D animation, and acquire an international level that will allow them to integrate the best 3D and game studios.
Main courses:
– Animation & layout: Animation basics, acting and body language
Technical introduction
Books: 12 animation principles /Richard Williams /Preston Blair.
Weight-Timing & Spacing: 1bouncing ball/3 different bouncing balls
Overlaps & Follow-through: ball with Tail C and S shapes in overlaps
Posings : through selected pictures + student own references
Overlaps: Fist pound
Biped Walk
Biped Run
Push heavy box
Jump
– Process and software’s of the 3D animation production
Why us ?
This program will allow our students to have an international level in 3D animation in order to integrate the best studios.
Equipment & Software:
Maya
Jobs opportunities:
-Layout 3D
-Animation3D
Faculty staff: Our partnership with the studio Sparx-Virtuos based in HCMC will provide us experienced and talented professionals to teach our students.
STORYBOARD
Concept: with this 4 months training programs, our students will learn to create sequences of drawings representing the shots planned for a film or television production.
They will be able to create stories, directions and dialogue on Toon Boom StoryBoard Pro.
Audience: This program is perfect for graduate students from design schools who would like to specialize in storyboarding and integrate 2D and 3D production studios as well as cinema production.
Main courses:
– The styles
– Reading and understanding
– Language
– The sequences
– Fittings
Why us ?
This program will focus on drawing, narration and the technical way to create movies.
It will allow our students to master storyboarding in order to integrate 2D and 3D animation studios and movie production.
Equipment & Software:
Wacom cintiq 13 with ToonBoom StoryBoard Pro
Jobs opportunities:
-Animation 2D production
-Animation 3D production
-Video and cinema
-Advertising
Faculty staff:
StoryBoard specialist from our 2D animation partners
COMICS & MANGA
Concept: with this 6 months training programs, our students will learn to create professionals digital comics with Medibang Pro.
Audience: This program is suited for graduate students of art schools who would like to specialize in comics and manga, and integrate studios or become graphic novels authors.
Main courses:
– Concept creation
History
The styles
Research
– Storytelling and dialogs
– Composition
– Acting and body language
-Perspective: Courses and exercises
-The different types of perspective
-Rules of perspective
-Measures
-The reflections
-The shadows
-Cheat with perspective
-Background design
– Colors
Why us ?
This program will allow our students to have an international level in drawing and use it for create comics & mangas.
They will learn the styles and how to develop their own style.
Equipment & Software:
MediBang Pro
Jobs opportunities:
-Comics & Mangas studios
-Graphic novel author
Faculty staff:
-Nguyen Thanh Phong, graphic novel author
-Fred Serra
TOONBOOM HARMONY
Concept: This 1 month course allows students to learn the advanced concepts of drawing, timing and animation in Harmony to create a traditional paperless animation (see details bellow in the developed Harmony program in the 2D animation years program)
Audience: This technical program is designed for 2D animators, layoutmen, 2D animation production assistants and 2D animation technicians.
Main courses: This program will be “à la carte” according to the motivations and the profile of the students. This is a purely technical program to master ToonBoom Harmony.
-Understand the Timeline and Xsheet
-Create traditional paperless animations
-Mastering advanced interpolation tools
-Main the techniques of tracing and setting-in-net
-Advanced coloring techniques
-Understanding color palettes
-Managing drawing tools in Toon Boom Harmony (theoretical notions) for a mastery of the layout: This course allows students to understand Harmony’s basic compositing concepts.
Students will learn to animate the movement of the camera, position the elements, add effects and make projects.
-Understanding the Node View and the Bookstore
-Position and animate the cameras.
-Master the concept of slot
-Master keyframes of the timeline
-Import external items
-Ability to organize the Node view
-Ability to configure the Node view for rendering
-Understand the concept of multi-plan
-Control the effects
-Ability to parameterize key effects
-Master key effects such as blur, transparency, mask, glow, shadow and color scale
-Modify Trajectories
Why us ?
This program will allow our students to master different levels of ToonBoom Harmony 15 in order to integrate animation studios.
Equipment & Software:
Our program is oriented toward digital 2D animation with Harmony 15.
Jobs opportunities:
-Animation 2D
-Layout 2D
-Compositing 2D
Faculty staff:
The teacher will be a ToonBoom specialist, provided by the software company.
2D ANIMATION: Design, Animation, Layout, Storyboard, Realization, Production assistant, Compositing.
The first year will allow students to acquire a mastery of drawing, volume and perspective, as well as the first notions of animation.
Living model:
-Dynamic, attitudes and body language
-Lines of strength and construction
-The rough and rendered
-Anatomy
DRAW GOOD POSES
Learning to draw objects and view, Documentary study.
Perspective: Courses and exercises
-History of perspective
-The different types of perspective
-Rules of perspective
-Measures
-The reflections
-The shadows
-Cheat with perspective
Basics
Technical introduction
Books: 12 animation principles /Richard Williams /Preston Blair.
Weight-Timing & Spacing: 1bouncing ball/3 different bouncing balls
Overlaps & Follow-through: ball with Tail C and S shapes in overlaps
Posings : through selected pictures + student own references
Overlaps: Fist pound
Biped Walk
Biped Run
Push heavy box
Jump
Character design workshops:
-History
-The styles (realistic, cartoon, caricature …)
-Creation and method (rough, rendering, presentation)
– Understand and hold the volume without losing the model
-The personalities
-Attitudes and acting -Silhouette
-Model sheet and references (presentation)
-Caricature
Decorative workshops (background design):
-History
-The styles
-The composition
-The readability
-Tenjantes
-Depth of field
-Perspective
-Model sheet and references (presentation)
– Integration of animation and transition to layout
-Drafting workshops: courses and exercises
Intermediary
Blocking Pass (pose to pose; keyposes, extremes, breakdowns)
Breakdowns poses
Weight shift (using student’s own reference)
Moving hold (using student’s own reference)
Constraints animation shot
Acting no dialogue (using student’s own reference)
Facial animation (principles, pliability, flexibility, emotions, asymmetry, points of inflexion, subtext, etc…)
Lipsynch (head only)
Drawing will take place on both paper and digital Graphic work on drawing software:
-Software (photoshop, harmony …)
-The techniques (Wacom cintiq and use)
-The rough drawing
-The clean drawing
-The digital design (characters and sets)
-Layout and animation on Harmony
Toon Boom Harmony:
This course allows students to learn the advanced concepts of drawing, timing and animation in Harmony to create a traditional paperless animation.
– Understand the Timeline and Xsheet
-Create traditional paperless animations
-Mastering advanced interpolation tools
-Main the techniques of tracing and setting-in-net
-Advanced coloring techniques
– Understanding color palettes
-Managing drawing tools in Toon Boom Harmony (theoretical notions) for a mastery of the layout: This course allows students to understand Harmony’s basic compositing concepts.
Students will learn to animate the movement of the camera, position the elements, add effects and make projects.
Understanding the Node View and the Bookstore
Position and animate the cameras.
Master the concept of slot
Master keyframes of the timeline
Import external items
Ability to organize the Node view
Ability to configure the Node view for rendering
Understand the concept of multi-plan
Control the effects
Ability to parameterize key effects
Master key effects such as blur, transparency, mask, glow, shadow and color scale
Modify Trajectories
Story Board Analysis:
-The styles
-Reading and understanding
-language
-The sequences
-Fittings
We will be watching movies every week and we will have art history classes to broaden the culture and references of our students:
-Vision Viewing and Sequence Analysis
-History of Animation (Pioneers, Golden Age, Modern Animation)
-The styles (cartoon, stylized, semi realistic / realistic)
-Movement
-The weight
-The balance
-The steps
-History of Arts and Media
Advanced Perspective Notions:
– Full control of the rules
-Learn to cheat with rules
-The deformations
-Drawing just in perspective without building (accustom your eye to see the errors)
-Reflections and shadows
Advanced concepts of living model and anatomy:
-Fast poses
-Attitudes
-Expressions
-The sketch
Animation Styles and Application in Positions:
-Attitudes and posing, body language
-Lines of strength and construction
-How to go from realistic pose to stylized, to cartoon
Advanced layout notions: Paper and Digital
-Layout work
-Techniques and Language
-Partition and method of work
-The sequences
-Fittings
-Using sheet models
-Interpret the story board
-Composition
-Posing
-Render and retakes
-Compositing suits the layout
Advanced animation: Paper and Digital
-The styles
-Method of work and rendering
-Animation on Harmony
-Animation paper cut
-Full animation
-body language
-Acting
-Lipsynch
Advanced
Acting and Lipsynch (mid shot)
Acting and Lipsynch (Full shot)
Action shot
Characters interaction
Quadruped body mechanics-posings-walk-run
Creature animation
FX
Advanced notions of design and composition:
-Presentation and Language
-Rendering
-Coherence of models and fitting
-The shadows
-Passage to color
Advanced notions of character design:
-Presentation and Language
-The rendering (sheet model, turn around and expression board)
-The styles (advanced notions)
– Personalities and body language
Initiation to the realization:
Realization of short films per team of 5
-Method and steps
-Writing workshop
-Design
-Follow-up and validation of the color design (exercise carried out by the illustration section)
-Story board
-Design after story board
-layout
-Passage to color: BG (exercise carried out by the illustration section) and validation
-Animation (rough and clean)
-Passage has the color of the animation (exercise carried out by the compositing section)
-Compositing in partnership with the compositing section
-FX and editing
Advanced notions:
-Animation
-Design BG and characters
-Storyboard on toon boom story board
-Compositing
-Mounting
Writing media, scenario:
-History
-The styles
-Techniques and rendering
-Writing workshop
Very advanced concepts in drawing in order to develop their ability to make sketches very fast, very important to pass ideas to a team or for corrections requests.
Team management and coaching:
-The workstations
-Communication: local or offshore team
-Production monitoring
-Validation of the steps
Implementation of individual projects on a yearly basis:
Follow-up by the professors concerned at each stage, plus a project manager.
-Writing
-Design BG and characters
-Story board
-Design after story board (if necessary)
-Layout (exercise carried out by the students of 1st year and the director himself)
-Passing of the BG to the color (exercise carried out by the students of the illustration section 2 nd year) and validation
-Animation Rough and clean (exercise carried out by students of 2 nd year and the director himself)
-Passage of the animation to the color (exercise carried out by the students in compositing)
-Compositing with the compositing and validation section
-Installation (with an external worker)
GRAPHIC DESIGN AND COMICS
LOGO DESIGN
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
PAINTING AND ILLUSTRATION
MOBILE APPS
GAME: Concept, Design, Animation, Realization.
3D ANIMATION: Design, Layout-Animation, Storyboard, Realization, Production assistant, Compositing.
The 3D training will be primarily oriented towards modeling, layout and animation, with optional drawing courses.
It will allow our students to move towards 3D animation, game and 3D design.
This 2-year course can be extended to a third year (optional) for students who wish to continue their training up to coaching and completion.
2D compositing training aims to train skilled technicians who can be ready to enter the labor market at the end of their training.
They will take courses based on the Toon Boom Harmony software. They will be able to integrate the compositing teams of the 2D animation studios.
It should be noted that for all our training courses, we will offer job search support with a dedicated worker in permanent contact with the various employers.
Specialties: Animation film director,graphic author, story boarder , designer, animation and layout supervisor, layoutman, layout teacher, graphic design teacher.
Experience
Arts and Animation School Development in Vietnam
january 2017 – Present
Creation of Ruby Soho Art prints
october 2016 – Present
Ruby Soho art print shop can reproduce any high quality photo on different medium, canvas of course, but as well wood and metal sheet.
Layout Director at Xilam Animation
august 2016 – october 2016
ToonBoom Harmony layout training program
LAYOUT DIRECTOR at Xilam Animation
february 2013 – august 2016
Recruitment and training of a new layout team for Armada TMT studio Vietnam. Layout director on TV show “the Ronks”, “The Dalton”, “oggy and the cockroaches 5”.
LAYOUT DIRECTOR
“Oggy and the Cockroaches” Long feature at Xilam Animation
january 2012 – january 2013
Creation and Design of Ruby Soho Saigon Bar and Restaurant (Collaboration with Mr Patrice Compagnon)
january 2012 – march 2012
LAYOUT DIRECTOR at Xilam Animation
october 2007 – december 2011
“OGGY AND THE COCKROACHES” “RAHAN”
“THE DALTON”
ANIMATION SUPERVISOR at Xilam Animation
february 2007 – august 2007
2007 Animation supervisor in China. Long feature “ LUCKY LUKE” in Jade animation and Blue sky animation ( Shenzen).
Director Of Design And Development
january 2006 – january 2007
Trailer director for long feature film project “ THE ZOMBIES THAT ATE THE WORLD”
layout director and designer
january 2003 – december 2005
Layout “KID PADDLE” for Dupuis studio France
Design for long feature “The Zombies That Ate The World”
LAYOUT DIRECTOR
october 2001 – september 2002
Layout director at Armada TMT, “KAPUT AND ZOSKY”
ANIMATION SUPERVISOR
january 2001 – august 2001
Animation and layout supervisor studio HANH SHIN ( South Korea) for Dupuis studio Paris TV show “Cédric”
DIRECTOR and DESIGNER
january 1999 – december 2000
1999 2000 Codirection with Philippe Leclerc of TV serie “ WILD INSTINCT” graphic author of “wild instinct”
supervisor of animation from may to august in South Korea, studio Hanh Shin
ANIMATION DESIGN
january 1998 – december 1998
Background design for TV show “WHEEL SQUAD”, studio PRAXINOS Layout on special “Un jouet comme les autres”, studio LA FABRIQUE Design and codirection of pilote “WILD INSTINCT” in Praxinos studio Graphic author.
ANIMATION DESIGN and LAYOUT
april 1994 – december 1997
Background design “Calamity Jane” studio Praxinos France Story board demo “ASTERIX” studio INFOGRAMES Background and characters design on Praxinos projects
Layout on “ Noah’s island”, “THE BRATS”, “ Animals crackers”
ANIMATION DESIGN
january 1993 – february 1994
ANIMATION DESIGN and LAYOUT
january 1992 – december 1992
Education
Denis Diderot Marseille
BTS/DUT Graphic Design, 1990 – 1991
Denis Diderot Marseille
BTEC National Diploma, F12 Arts, 1986 – 1989