Acting in Traditional 2D animation Course 3

In this course, you’ll focus on character acting in 2D animation, learning how to bring emotion and personality into your work. You’ll develop expressive performances by studying references and analyzing character emotions then translating them into believable movement.

You’ll go beyond mechanics and learn how to create authentic, engaging performances that connect with the audience.

Start date
June 8, 2026
Duration
12 weeks
Price per month
415€/month (excl. VAT)
Sign up for the course
Acting in [hl]Traditional 2D animation[/hl] Course 3
Edward Kurchevsky

Mentor

Edward Kurchevsky

2D animator and director, worked on Primal, Scavengers Reign, Tales of Alethrion and others.

About the course

This course is designed to take you from strong animation fundamentals to creating expressive, believable character performances. You’ll focus on acting in animation by learning how to communicate emotion, intention, and personality through exaggerated movements.

You’ll develop your ability to analyze references, break down emotional states, and translate them into clear, readable animation. Special attention is given to subtle details such as facial expression, body language, and secondary motion to help your characters feel alive and relatable.

What you’ll achieve
▪Create expressive character performances with clear emotions.
▪Understand how to analyze and apply reference in animation.
▪Animate subtle acting details like facial expressions and body language.
▪Develop believable, engaging scenes that connect with the audience.
▪Build polished acting shots for your demo reel.

Instead of just theory, you’ll follow a structured, mentor-led step-by-step process used in real animation workflows. Each lesson includes practical assignments where you apply what you learn immediately and refine your work through feedback.

Each week you will meet with your mentor and peers in a group lesson review to critique you progress and gain inspiration from your fellow classmates. You will also get support from moderators and other students through an exclusive Discord channel on our main server. Where you can Ask questions, share your progress, and learn alongside others on the same path.

So you won't be learning alone!

Follow a structured 12-week progression:

▪ Start with head construction, rotation, and understanding facial movement
▪ Develop acting principles, emotion, and expressive character performance
▪ Move into color, environment, and storytelling through scenes
▪ Finish with polished acting shots and a complete demo reel

You’ll begin with foundational exercises focused on head rotation, structure, and how facial features move in space. From there, you’ll develop acting skills by studying emotion, timing, and subtle body language, learning how to create believable performances.

As you progress, you’ll explore color scripts and environment design to support storytelling, combining acting with staging and visual context. By the end, you’ll refine your work into polished acting scenes and assemble a demo reel that showcases expressive, character-driven animation.

After the course

By the end of the course, you’ll have created a series of polished acting shots that demonstrate your ability to animate emotion, personality, and performance.

You’ll have strong portfolio-ready work and the confidence to take on more advanced animation challenges, collaborate on projects, or continue developing toward professional-level character animation.

After the course

After you’ve properly done all the assignments and completed the course you will create professional demo reels with high-quality projects and will be able to complete any task assigned by an animation director.

The course is suitable if you:

  • You want to be a 2D animator

    If you aspire to a creative career and wish to avoid the hassle of starting from scratch, you're in search of a mentor who can guide you in developing your skills right from the beginning.

  • An ambitious indie studio

    You aim to enhance both the quality and efficiency of your employees' work, achieve higher production levels, gain a deeper understanding of software and its potential, and infuse fresh energy into your projects with innovative ideas.

  • Graduate of the course "Traditional 2D animation. Course 2 — Body Mechanics"

    Fluent in applying the 12 basic principles of animation in practice, good at drawing and familiar with perspective, able to work with the mechanics of character movement and ready to move on.

The course is [hl]suitable[/hl] if you:

Сurriculum

First month

4 lessons

  1. Head turn. Let's get acquainted with the types and techniques of depicting a character's emotions.
  2. Drawing a head.
  3. The wave principle: from theory to practice
  4. Integration of the character with the environment
  • 4 weeks (please, make sure to have 6+ hours per week for homework)

    4 weeks (please, make sure to have 6+ hours per week for homework)

  • Get acquainted in practice with the transfer of emotions of the character in classical animation and practice the principle of the wave on the examples of animation of hair and parts of clothing

    Get acquainted in practice with the transfer of emotions of the character in classical animation and practice the principle of the wave on the examples of animation of hair and parts of clothing

First month

Second month

4 lessons

  1. Interaction between wind and character
  2. What is acting? Working with references and sound
  3. Color Script: project color palette
  4. Environment design.
  • 4 weeks (please, make sure to have 6+ hours per week for homework)

    4 weeks (please, make sure to have 6+ hours per week for homework)

  • Begin to perform a complex emotional shot using a reference and soundtrack. Become familiar with Color Script and environment design

    Begin to perform a complex emotional shot using a reference and soundtrack. Become familiar with Color Script and environment design

Second month

Third month

4 lessons

  1. Acting. Minor character action
  2. Acting. Tightdown and drawing
  3. Acting. Adding breakdowns
  4. Preparing a demo reel.
  • 4 weeks (please, make sure to have 6+ hours per week for homework)

    4 weeks (please, make sure to have 6+ hours per week for homework)

  • Create a complex and high quality, emotion-filled acting shot and formalize your demoril

    Create a complex and high quality, emotion-filled acting shot and formalize your demoril

Third month

You will learn

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Course author

Edward Kurchevsky, a director and 2D animator who has been in the industry for over 10 years.

Acting in [hl]Traditional 2D animation[/hl] Course 3

Acting in Traditional 2D animation Course 3

Course fee

415€/month (excl. VAT)

Start

June 8, 2026

Spots left

8 spots

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