Layout 301 is an advanced level online course teaching layout for traditional animation. This course is a credit course and a requirement for our 3-year degree program.

Layout design for animation is the process of conceptualizing environments based on the story of the animated film, and adapting it to the stylistic choices of the film. The primary role of the layout artist is to design the stage on which the animation of the character or special effects takes place.

In traditional animation, a background layout is the line drawing of the background for a scene. It is not the finished background painted in a color that you see on the screen

Some of the topics covered in this course are:

• 1,2,and 3 point perspective
• overlapping shapes, line quality,  and size for perspective
• gathering reference
• step by step background design
• individual elements of a background
• working on backgrounds for various locations and themes