Alberta, Canada'sLost Pencil Animation Studios Inc. is now offering a training DVDfocusing on character animation. THE ANIMATOR'S GYM contains nearly 4hours of training video that teaches the fundamental principles ofcharacter animation. Using Maya 4.0 Complete, THE ANIMATOR'S GYMprovides viewers with examples of completed short animations todiscuss how and why it was animated, where there are still problemsand room for improvement. The DVD also includes sections where theanimator works from scratch, so students can see the animationprocess in action and contains the original scene files of thecompleted Animator's Gym animation, and a number of character rigsfor students to learn and play with. Although most beneficial tousers of Maya 4.0 Complete, the intent of the DVD is not to teachMaya but to focus on character animation, meaning the training can beuseful for character animators that use different animation packagesthat have a similar toolset. However, Maya is required for playingwith the included scene files and character rigs. For moreinformation about THE ANIMATOR'S GYM training DVD, visitwww.lostpencil.com.
