School of Animation
Online Certificate Course
Build your character design skills and create a powerful portfolio.
Register for VFS’s School of Animation Online Certificate Course to gain experience in character design for animation & video games and acquire the prerequisites for Vancouver Film School’s one-year, full-time animation programs.
We welcome enthusiasts, high school students, mature students, and anyone looking to make a career change. When you finish an online certificate course at VFS, you will receive a digital certificate of completion confirming your experience.
Animation: Introduction to Character Design (online)
Ever wondered how famous characters like Batman are created? Want to learn what makes a character stand out in a compelling narrative? In this 7-week course, you will discover how to design effective characters for animated stories & video games and analyze & distill what makes a character memorable. From shape to clothing to prop colour choices, character designers consider every detail of how a character becomes an integral part of a story.
You’ll learn from industry professionals about the character design pipeline, from concept to research to actual design. By the end of this course, you will have designed a basic character that can be used as part of your portfolio to apply for post-secondary study.
- Identify what makes a character stand out and be memorable.
- Learn how design choices are made to enhance a character’s effectiveness.
- Create and organize character sheets – an important piece of the puzzle.
- Learn about the industry pipeline.
- Learn how to draw with intent.
- Explore how to give critiques and constructive feedback to your peers.
- Create stories for your character and design a basic character to use as part of your portfolio.
- Computer with dual monitors (recommended), microphone, and camera
- Stable Internet connection (wired connection recommended)
- Sketchbook and sketching materials (pen, eraser)
- Something to sketch on (i.e., a notepad, iPad, tablet, pen & paper)
- Drawing tablet/Cintiq/iPad (i.e., some sort of drawing tablet)
- Adobe Photoshop or drawing program of your choice (Procreate, Infinite Painter, ClipStudio Paint, Fresco, etcetera)
Some experience with character drawing OR knowledge of human anatomy relating to design
Course Details:
Dates: September 10 - October 22, 2026
Instructor: Dylan Moore
Duration: 7-week course, one online class per week
Time: Thursdays, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. PDT
Cost: $650
Introduction to Maya (online)
This seven-week course will introduce aspiring animators to fundamental surfacing and modelling techniques. Using a variety of assets in Autodesk Maya, you will focus on creating a still-life object from scratch. You will start with basic hard surfaces, and be introduced to intermediate modelling tools, theories, and techniques as the course progresses.
The course will consist of demonstrations, discussions, in-class exercises, and out-of-class assignments. By the end of this course, you will have developed industry-standard practices in Maya, including how to apply shaders, textures, and surfacing. You will also have created a still-life object you can use as part of your portfolio to apply for post-secondary study.
- Understand surface shaders and their real-world equivalents.
- Understand UV space and how to unwrap a model efficiently.
- Perform modelling tasks using tools in Autodesk Maya.
- Understand line flow and shape of a model.
- Understand the process of prop modeling from proxy to final.
- Model and create a still image object from scratch that you can use as your portfolio piece to apply to full-time studies at VFS.
- Computer with dual monitors (recommended), microphone, and camera
- Stable Internet connection (wired recommended)
- Autodesk Maya (you will receive a FREE 1-year license for Autodesk Maya that you must install on your computer before the start of the course)
Students are not required to have any previous training or experience.
Course Details:
Dates: July 7 - August 18, 2026
Instructor: Catherine McGinnis
Duration: 7-week course, one online class per week
Time: Tuesdays, 6 – 9 p.m. PDT
Cost: $950
*This course will be run using Microsoft Operating System. Although alternative operating systems may be used, instructors will only be able to assist you with Microsoft-related technical issues.
Animation: 2D Animation (online)
Learn traditional 2D animation and the fundamentals of all animation – from 3D animation to stop motion and more. Through traditional frame-by-frame methods of 2D animation, you’ll learn the principles and fundamentals of creating the illusion of life. Start with introductory exercises and end with advanced lessons in making characters move as if they’re living, breathing characters who abide by the laws of real world physics.
- Learn the 12 principles of animation
- Learn the technical process and physics of animation
- Understand the basic building blocks of conveying personality through animation
- Learn the best practices to effectively approach an animated scene
- Access to animation/drawing software that supports frame-by-frame 2D animation on desktop or tablet (i.e., Adobe Animate, Toon Boom Harmony, Clip Studio Paint EX, Procreate, Krita)
- Tablet or drawing pad is a plus
- Stable internet, with working camera and microphone.
- Students are not required to have any previous training or experience.
Course Details:
Dates: July 29 - September 16, 2026
Instructor: Dylan Moore
Duration: 7-week course, one online class per week
Time: Wednesdays, 5:30-7:30 p.m. PDT
Cost: $500 CAD
Contact Course
* Upon successful completion of this SHORT-TRACK course, the cost can be deducted from any full-time Advanced Production program tuition at VFS. Only one discount may be applied.
**Students must confirm they are at least 16 years old at the beginning of the course in order to register.
***Please note that courses may be cancelled at any time due to low enrolment. Upon cancellation, registrants will receive a full refund.
To meet your industry instructor(s), click here.
If you have any questions, please contact: industryworkshops@vfs.com
Dylan Moore
Instructor, VFS
Dylan started working as a Freelance Cartoonist in high school and began animating soon after. In Vancouver studios, he’s done everything from effects on animated commercials to lead animation on various TV shows. Independently, he’s animated music videos, promos, and animated segments in live features & under his banner, Outhouse Cartoons. Dylan has also written and directed the feature-length animated films The Case of the Midnight Murderer and The Snot That Ate Port Harry, and he is also the creator of a number of indie comic books.
Catherine McGinnis
Instructor
Catherine is a graduate of the University of Toronto, with an honours in Art & Art History, and a minor in Anthropology. She is also a graduate Sheridan College’s 3D Animation program. Catherine landed her first job working as part of the Art & Virtual Environments residency at The Banff Centre for the Arts, creating 3D worlds for use in immersive technology. Currently, she works as a Maya Quality Assurance Analyst at Autodesk.