Top 20 Online 2D Animation Courses In 2021

When it comes to choosing courses for learning 2D animation, there are numerous options available, including both useful courses and guides that are a waste of time. We have compiled a list of the best online 2D animation courses based on factors such as cost, duration, and level of expertise. Animation has come a long way since the first animated cartoon in 1908, but thankfully, as animation technology has advanced, so have the opportunities for amateur animators to not only learn but also improve their craft. That is why we have compiled this list of the best animation courses available online. 

The internet has nearly limitless resources available, and if something cannot be found, it can easily be created and shared with people all over the world. When it comes to animation, learning new tools and techniques to make things look and move the best they can is crucial. With that in mind, we wanted to share nine online classes with you that will help you improve your skills or serve as a refresher if you’re just getting back into the game. But first, let’s do some research and figure out what you should look for in an online animation class. 

You might also be interested in our articles on the Best Animation Laptops and the Best Animation Drawing Tablets. If you look online, you will find a plethora of online animation classes, some of which are far superior to others. The classes on the list below, in our opinion, provide the best value for your time and money.

What To Look For In A Web-Based Animation Course

Knowing what to look for in an online class can help you decide if the class is a good fit for you and will do everything possible to help you succeed and improve your skills. Before enrolling in any class, keep the following points in mind.

• Level of expertise

As previously stated, the internet has made a plethora of resources available to anyone looking to learn new skills or brush up on old ones. However, because there are so many different classes available, not every class may be appropriate for your skill level. For example, if you only need a refresher, taking an introductory class may be a waste of your time and money.

• Style of instruction

One aspect that few people consider before enrolling in an online class is the teaching style. Some of the less expensive classes may include pre-recorded video lessons with no interaction with the instructor. Others may provide one-on-one interaction with the instructor as well as feedback tailored to the work you are doing; however, these types of classes are generally more expensive.

• Level of dedication

The final factor to consider is your level of commitment. You must consider how much time you can devote to the class, as many classes can last anywhere from thirty minutes to twenty hours per week for several weeks. Knowing how much commitment and time you can devote to an online class will make it much easier to choose the right one.

What Is The Best Online Animation Course?

We recommend the following animation courses to teach yourself animation online, depending on the type of animation you want to learn and how in-depth you want your learnings to be:

1. Domestika – Online 2D Animation Courses

This is one of the free online 2D animation courses that offer free online animation courses with certificates. These 2D animation courses can help you learn how to use programs like After Effects, vector animation software, GIF makers, and how to create animation for social media. You will learn how to use 2D animation software such as Adobe Animate, how to work with composition and rhythm, how to animate logos and titles, and how to use animated filters. Before beginning your course, double-check the prerequisites to ensure that you have the necessary tablet and software.

Price range: $9.99 to $34.99

Time Frame: Self-Paced

Beginner/Intermediate level

2. Pluralsight – 2D Animation Courses & Tutorials

This Pluralsight page contains some free online 2D animation courses. There are videos for both beginners and those with a basic understanding of animation. Pluralsight’s classes make use of software such as Unity, Photoshop, and After Effects. Pluralsight also provides paid courses to learn After Effects CC or Maya. By paying $29 for a basic package subscription, you gain access to the service’s various resources. This is one of the top 20 online 2d animation courses in 2021 that offer the best online animation courses for beginners.

Free of charge

Duration varies between 33 minutes and 54 hours.

Beginner/Intermediate level

3. 2D Animation 101 Courses

This is one of the free online 2D animation courses that offer free online animation courses with certificates. Autumn Leave Films has 10 years of experience in the film industry and a great collection of short films – nearly 30, 2D Animation 101 Courses (a group of animators) enjoy sharing tips on all stages of animation. 2D Animation 101 now offers eight courses, as well as free and proprietary animation software. Their “Free Step-by-Step Plan” is especially appealing to beginners in the field of 2D Animation. It consists of daily 10-minute lessons, online 2D animation tutorials, recommendations, and tips on how to use the required software. 

In addition, you must complete eight tasks to assess your knowledge of the subject. This is one of the top 20 online 2d animation courses in 2021 that offer the best online animation courses for beginners.

Prices range from $27 to $397.

Time Frame: Self-Paced

Beginner’s level

4. 2D Animation: Tips and Tricks

This is one of the free online 2D animation courses that offer free online animation courses with certificates. If you’re thinking about a career in animation, we recommend taking this 2D animation course online. You will receive useful content weekly – Dermot O’Connor, the course curator, contacts students every Tuesday to share some animation secrets that will greatly simplify their work and help them create a separate animation or an entire animation scene faster and easier. You will learn how to create realistic movements by using delays, overshoots, and basic gestures. 

You will also learn how to draw different body shapes for men and women, as well as different styles of motion. This is one of the top 20 online 2d animation courses in 2021 that offer the best online animation courses for beginners.

Monthly cost: $29.99

11 hours in length

Beginner/Intermediate level

5. Skillshare – 2D Animation for Beginners with Adobe Animate

This is one of the free online 2D animation courses that offer free online animation courses with certificates. You can learn 2D animation online by following Walt’s course. This course is designed for beginners and demonstrates how to create animated characters by providing students with an understanding of the fundamental principles and vivid examples. This tutorial covers a wide range of topics, including vector art basics in Animate, nested animations, adding audio to animations, and more. 

This short course is appropriate for those interested in animation for personal rather than professional reasons.

The cost is $99 per year.

3 hours in length

Intermediate level

6. Aaron Blaise – Complete Animation Course

This is one of the free online 2D animation courses that offer free online animation courses with certificates. This 2D animation online course taught by Aaron Blaze is well worth your time. Aaron is one of Disney’s most powerful animation specialists, having worked on such classic films as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Mulan. He also co-directed Brother Bear. Aaron’s online course is made up of 13 video lessons in which he explains to students the 12 basic principles of animation developed by Disney’s Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. 

In addition to the main course, Blaze offers a six-lesson short course in which he discusses his approach to animation. Aaron creates animations in real-time while also describing the work process. A nice bonus is a variety of additional sources, both video and PDF texts, that will help you deepen your knowledge of animation, create unique scenes, and improve your skills in this area. This is one of the top 20 online 2d animation courses in 2021 that offer the best online animation courses for beginners.

$50 (USD)

Duration: approximately 20 hours

Intermediate level

7. Nate Wragg – Character Design for Animation

This is one of the free online 2D animation courses that offer free online animation courses with certificates. The Computer Graphics Graduate Academy’s (CGMA) eight-week course will teach you how to create interesting and realistic characters. Many people have probably seen the animated film Toy Story, in which the main character was designed by Nate Wragg, the curator of this lengthy course. The course describes the elements that contribute to the creation of strong and beautiful characters that work well in animated scenes. 

Beginning with simple shapes, you progress to more advanced design elements. Keep in mind that the course focuses on the creation of animated characters rather than their animation. To enrol in the course, you must pay $699. Aside from that, Photoshop and a Wacom tablet (or something similar) are required. This is one of the top 20 online 2d animation courses in 2021 that offer the best online animation courses for beginners.

the cost is $699

8-week duration

Intermediate level

8. 2D Animation in Moho

This is one of the free online 2D animation courses that offer free online animation courses with certificates. This course focuses on using Smith Micro’s Moho for character animation. The instructor explains the program, the interface, the settings, how to get started, and how to create your first characters. In Moho, you will learn everything you need to know about character tracking. You will be given some time-saving tips to help you prepare for animation as quickly as possible. The following step entails advanced animation using professional tricks and top-tier tools.

The price is $12.99.

4 hours in length

Beginner to Advanced level

9. Udemy – Cinematography for 2D Animation Essentials

This is one of the free online 2D animation classes that offer the best animation courses online free. These online 2D animation classes cover topics such as shot types, frame composition, camera angles, and movements. You’ll learn how to make more professional scenes and how to add characters to the frame. The concepts of panning, tilting in 2D, the rule of thirds, and dialogue coverage are all thoroughly explained. If you don’t like the course, you can request a refund within 30 days. The course is appropriate for beginners with no prior knowledge of animation.

The price is $12.99.

28 minutes in length

Upper-Intermediate (Upper-Intermediate) (Upper-Intermediate)

10. Advanced 2D Animation Diploma

This is one of the free online 2D animation classes that offer the best animation courses online free. DreamWorks and Disney artists created this 10-month 2D animation course. The course prepares students to become true industry professionals. You will examine the best software that includes Toon Boom Harmony in greater detail. This program is used by the world’s top studios. Curators place a high value on character design. You not only get a guide with exercises and recommendations, but you also get constant feedback to help you fix mistakes and achieve your goals.

Monthly cost: $1185

Time frame: 9 months

Advanced level

11. Professional Character Animation (Skillshare)

This free online 2D animation course from Skillshare will teach you basic techniques for animating characters in After Effects. In this class, you will learn how to give your characters a polished and natural appearance. The instructor will show you how to rig your characters so that they can squash and stretch and rotate from left to right. This Skillshare course is free, but only for 14 days. So, you can use the free two weeks to clear out some important items. This is one of the top 20 online 2d animation courses in 2021 that offer the best online animation courses for beginners.

12. How to animate 101 (Animator Island)

This is one of the free online 2D animation classes that offer the best animation courses online free. With 2D animation, there is no limit to the animated characters you can create. If you want to make animations of dragons, robots, bunnies, aliens, warriors, fairies, and toasters. You will learn how to animate in this class. To begin, the course began with the fundamentals of animation and will progress to advanced animation techniques. However, if the class lasts several weeks or months, the instructor will create a full 2D animation. However, he encourages you to check in as frequently as possible so that you can receive course updates. The course’s advantages:

• Free animation principles and theories videos are available.
• There are numerous animated examples and animation exercises.
• Interpolated keyframe animation and frame-by-frame animation

13. A Beginner’s Guide to Frame-By-Frame Animation in Photoshop (Skillshare)

This is one of the free online 2D animation classes that offer the best animation courses online free. Photoshop is an excellent tool for transforming your creative ideas into live animations that you can share anywhere on the internet. Have you considered making a GIF in Photoshop but don’t know where to begin? Don’t worry, you’ve found a course that will teach you everything you need to know. This class provides a solid foundation for you to jump right into creating your animations. Students will learn how to do the following:

• Create a document with the proper dimensions.
• The key points of animation should be planned and sketched.
• Colour and draw the frames
• Navigate Photoshop’s frame-by-frame interface. Timeline function
• Export animations as GIFs or individual PNGs.

14. Storyboarding for Film or Animation (Skillshare)

This is one of the free online 2D animation classes that offer the best animation courses online free. This course introduces students to the art of storyboarding for film, television, or animation. This course will teach you everything you need to know about the creative process of storyboarding for film or animation. You’ll learn how to draw characters, how to draw in perspective, camera angles, and shots for your text, and how to make your shots and scenes flow together. Whether you’re into games, animation, drawing, comics, or movies. The concepts and techniques covered in this course will assist you in getting started on the path to professional success.

15. Intro to 2D Animation: Frame-by-Frame for Beginners (Skillshare)

This is one of the free online 2D animation classes that offer the best animation courses online free. This Skillshare class will teach you the fundamentals of 2D frame-by-frame animation and animation in general. However, classes will cover the fundamental concepts of animation, such as frame rates and navigating the software we will be using Adobe Animate CC. The course covered the techniques used to create 2D animations, such as extreme drawings, breakdown drawings, and inbetweening. 

Without a doubt, the course is geared toward illustrators and designers with little or no experience with animation. Those who want to learn 2D animation and turn their illustrated characters into cool animations. This is one of the top 20 online 2d animation courses in 2021 that offer the best online animation courses for beginners.

16. 12 Principles of Animation with Justin Harrison (Udemy) – $19

Beginner level of ability | Duration: slightly more than 2 hours

This is one of the free online 2D animation classes that offer the best animation courses online free. The 12 Principles of Animation course, offered by 3DMotive, is intended to be a short course that explains the fundamentals of animation, with a focus on Maya, an animation software. The class, taught by character and technical animator Justin Harrison, covers the 12 fundamental principles of animation, how to use them to bring your character animations to life, and how those principles apply to everyday objects and characters. The course is slightly more than two hours long and covers fundamentals such as timing and spacing, as well as slow-in and slow-out. It is also reasonably priced, so it will not put a significant strain on your wallet.

17. Learn 3D Animation – The Ultimate Blender Guide (Udemy) – $139

Beginner level of ability | Duration: approximately 26 hours

This is one of the free online 2D animation classes that offer the best animation courses online free. The Ultimate Blender Guide course, taught by 3D artist and instructor Alex Cordebard, teaches you how to use Blender to create 3D models and animations. Perfect for beginners who want to learn more about 3D arts or anyone who wants to improve their skills. The course will teach you skills such as exploring Blender basics and techniques, creating 3D models, and, at the end of the course, creating a full 3D animation project. 

While the course may be a bit pricey for some, the amount of knowledge and hands-on experience makes it worthwhile. This is one of the top 20 online 2d animation courses in 2021 that offer the best online animation courses for beginners.

18. Maya 2020 Essential Training (LinkedIn Learning) – $39

Duration: 8 hours | Skill Level: Beginner

This is one of the free online 2D animation classes that offer the best animation courses online free. The Maya 2020 Essential Training course, taught by Animation Director and Producer George Maestri, gives you the tools you need to create high-quality 3D models and animations. Modelling, texturing, rendering, and animation are among the core Maya skills covered. The techniques taught in the course will be applicable to film, motion graphics, and game design in addition to animation. 

By the end of the course, George Maestri will have taught you how to use the animator tools in the Maya software to add movement and life to your work. This is one of the top 20 online 2d animation courses in 2021 that offer the best online animation courses for beginners.

19. The Beginner’s Guide to After Effects (Skillshare) – Free 2-week trial then $99/year

Beginner level of ability | 6 hours in length

This is one of the free online 2D animation classes that offer the best animation courses online free. The Beginner’s Guide to After Effects, taught by motion designer Jake Bartlett, is a great class for anyone interested in the world of motion design and looking to learn Adobe After Effects and hit the ground running. The course covers everything you need to know to get started creating your animations, as well as topics like Timecode, Resolution, Frame Rate, and more!

20. How to Create Lifelike Movement (Skillshare) – $99/year

Intermediate level of ability | Time: less than an hour

This is one of the free online 2D animation classes that offer the best animation courses online free. The How to Create Lifelike Movement course, taught by Emanuele Colombo, an animator and motion designer who has worked with companies such as Google and NBC, is ideal for anyone looking for a more condensed online animation course. The course walks you through the top four animation principles developed by two Disney animators in the 1980s. 

By the end of the course, you will have mastered the After Effects program and will be able to create an entire scene with a story in mind, as well as a landscape, a sense of realism, movement, and intrigue. With the course’s tips and tricks, you can hone your skills and create incredible, lifelike characters. This is one of the top 20 online 2d animation courses in 2021 that offer the best online animation courses for beginners.

Conclusion

Taking an online class can be a fun and rewarding experience. Choosing the right class, however, by paying attention to the skill level, teaching style, and level of commitment, can make it even more difficult. Now that you’ve seen these online 2D animation courses in 2021, it’s up to you to make your decision. Animation can be used to make a product more appealing and marketable. We talked a lot about 2D animation and animation in general. As previously stated, free online 2D animation courses allow you to learn the fundamentals of the subject. 

We also investigated the best animation schools and online 2D animation schools for those seeking a college education. However, the online 2D animation courses I’ve listed here can assist you in becoming a professional animator. This allows you to pay less and learn more advanced syllables. Overall, any course you choose from this list will undoubtedly make you a better animator. We hope that our list of the best online animation classes helps you on your animation journey, whether you want to work for Disney one day or just draw funny pictures for your kids.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• What exactly is animation?

Animation is a method of representing successive drawings, models, or even dolls in a sequence to create the illusion of movement. Traditional animation, on the other hand, uses images drawn or drawn on transparent striped papers to represent them.

• What exactly is vector animation?

Vector animation is animation in which the art of movement is controlled by vectors rather than pixels. Because images are rendered and resized with mathematical values rather than stored pixel values, it often allows for cleaner, smoother animation.

• What exactly is traditional animation?

Traditional animation is also referred to as classic animation, fluid animation, hand-drawn animation, or simply 2D or 2D animation. It is a method of animation in which each frame is drawn by hand. Until the advent of computer animation, this was the most common form of animation in films (3D animation).

• What exactly is digital animation?

Digital animation, also known as computer animation, encompasses all animation techniques performed solely on computers. Digital animation allows you to create 2D (two-dimensional) and 3D (three-dimensional) animations.

What are the five most common types of animation?

The following are the main types and types of animation: Cel (Celluloid) Animation, 2D Animation, 3D Animation, Motion Graphics, and Stop Motion.

Is Blender suitable for 2D animation?

Yes, using Blender for 2D animation is a fantastic experience. Blender is a very good 3D package for creating 3D animations, but it is also good for creating 2D animations.

What is the primary distinction between 2D and 3D animation?

Characters and objects used for processing in 2D animation have only two dimensions: height and width. While 3D animation is more realistic than 2D characters because it processes characters and objects with three dimensions, height, width, and depth.

What exactly is cut-out animation?

Cutout animation is a type of stop-motion animation that employs flat characters, props, and backgrounds made of materials such as paper, cards, stiff fabric, or even photographs.

What exactly is masking animation?

Masking is a simple technique for selectively revealing portions of a layer or layers beneath it. You can go beyond simple, static peepholes by adding tweening to either or both the mask layer and the masked layers, allowing you to create masks that move, change shape, and reveal moving images.

What exactly is a cel animation?

Cel animation is the handcrafted art of creating 2D animation on sheets of transparent plastic known as “cels.” The majority of 2D animations are still drawn by animators, but digital software is used to speed up the process.

What exactly is a keyframe in animation?

In animation and filmmaking, a keyframe (or keyframe) is a drawing or shot that defines the beginning and endpoints of any smooth transition. These are referred to as frames because their position in time is measured in frames on a film strip or on a digital video editing timeline.

What exactly is flipbook animation?

A video animation A flipbook is a small book of drawings that conveys a series of pictures in progressing forms of movement in such a way that when the pages are flipped in rapid succession, they animate a scene or create the illusion of movement.