Explainer Camp
A Full-Project Freelancing Masterclass
This project-based course throws you into the deep-end, giving you the training and tools to create a fully-realized piece from bid to final render. At the end of this 12 week course, you'll have a piece that's created entirely by you and ready for your portfolio.
Class Start Date:
August 7, 2023
July 10, 2023
July 10, 2023
Course Length:
Session Duration:
12 Weeks
3 Payments of
Instant Access! Start learning immediately.
100% Free! Start learning immediately.
This Course Bundle Includes:
12 Weeks
of video lessons,
guides, and access to our 24/7 motion community
podcasts, guides, and support
from our amazing team!
guides, and access to our
24/7 motion community!
podcasts, guides, and access to
our 24/7 motion community!
podcasts, guides, community
and critique from pros!
WEEK 1
Visual Metaphor
It’s time to leap into your freelance career. Gain a foundation in building good taste and recognizing what makes a piece of motion design good. Then you’ll receive your first assignment meant to get you thinking about the use of different visual metaphors to tell a story.
Bids, Budgets & Concepts
What happens when a client actually has a project for you? This week, get comfortable getting your project organized, creating a bid and schedule that is ready for the client, and then choose your client brief. We’ll also share some tips on finding inspiration.
Storyboarding & Animatics
You generally don’t want to just hop into After Effects and start keyframing. You need to build a strong foundation for your work. We’ll teach you how to sketch out a storyboard to ensure that you are on the right track with your project before you’re in too deep to turn back. You will also learn about the importance of cutting an animatic, and how to assemble one to help visualize what your project will look like before you start animation.
Dissecting Client Briefs
This week gives you a breather to let you really finesse your concept and animatics, but the learning won’t stop. You'll take a deep dive into breaking down client briefs, and learn why it's important to start a project out with a solid foundation.
Creating Style Frames
It’s time to bust out those Design skills! You’ll create Style Frames and Design Boards to show the client a solid concept and what the visuals of the final piece will be. Jake has a few color tips to help you out in this area. We’re also diving into client notes, including how to handle a difficult situation when a client asks for the impossible (or just the undesirable) on a project.
Workflow Tips for Complex Projects
It's time to start animating. You will gain a solid understanding of how to tackle a longer :30 piece when it comes time to animate. This can be a bit daunting, because there are many moving parts and pieces, but with some good organization and some additional tips you should be well on your way. Don’t dawdle, though, because you’re expected to have your first pass of the animation done by the end of the week.
Using Design & Animation for Good
This week is another light one meant to give you time to focus on animating your final piece. We'll give you a bit of bonus content with some insights and techniques to be more persuasive in your work.
Navigating Client Comments During Animation
Animating a full thirty second spot takes time, and this week is another opportunity for you to keep animating. You’ll also learn how to navigate client comments, how to best present your work to ensure that your project goes smoothly, and how to direct VO talent. Throughout the week, Jake will provide you with tips on polishing your animation, handling client feedback this late in the process, and adding little extras that help your piece shine.
Adding Polish to your Project
During this final week, you will get a crash course in adding VO and sound design to bring your piece together. You will also see how to present your work in a way that will get extra attention, adding breakdowns and process information to show off your skills to prospective clients and studios through a case study.
Extended Critique Period
You’ve got an additional 3 weeks to finish your project and to get target feedback from your Teaching Assistant. This piece should be a great one for your reel, so take advantage of the resources available to you in Explainer Camp!
Learn the secrets of high-end work
Better than in-person training
School of Motion instant-access courses are unlike anything you've ever experienced. Along with world-class training, you'll also get access to tons of professional project files and a 24/7 network of likeminded artists, and more support than you'll know what to do with.
Over 20,000 artists have taken School of Motion courses, find out what all the hype is about.
School of Motion courses are unlike anything you've ever experienced. Along with world-class training, you'll also get 1-on-1 feedback from an industry pro, a 24/7 network of likeminded artists, and more support than you'll know what to do with.
Over 17,000 artists have taken School of Motion courses, find out what all the hype is about.
This instant-access course features
Exercises and project files for every lesson
Each course comes packed with free project files, assets, and additional material to keep you learning and growing long after the course ends. Our exercises are designed from real world briefs, so you’re learning the skills you need to excel on your next project or venture.
Permanent access to course materials
We all need a refresher now and again, which is why you’ll keep access to your course—and all the assets and project files—for the rest of your life. Come back to listen to exclusive interviews, review old lessons, and try out new techniques using your old assets.
Support from the School of Motion team
Reach out to our incredible support team at any time to answer questions about the material, or to help you find the best way to achieve your career goals. We are here to help.
This instant-access course features
Exercises and project files for every lesson
Each course comes packed with free project files, assets, and additional material to keep you learning and growing long after the course ends. Our exercises are designed from real world briefs, so you’re learning the skills you need to excel on your next project or venture.
Real-world examples and video training
We go above and beyond when producing our courses, making sure that the curriculum is presented in the right order, with the right examples, and using the best practices currently used in the industry. In short, you're learning to do things the way they're done in the real world.
Permanent access to course materials
We all need a refresher now and again, which is why you’ll keep access to your course—and all the assets and project files—for the rest of your life. Come back to listen to exclusive interviews, review old lessons, and try out new techniques using your old assets.
A world-wide artist community
You’ll gain instant access to our 24/7 motion design community, The Square. Here you can network with professional artists at every stage of their career. You’ll get to meet new friends, ask for help, and build your network.
This instant-access course features
Exercises and project files for every lesson
Each course comes packed with free project files, assets, and additional material to keep you learning and growing long after the course ends. Our exercises are designed from real world briefs, so you’re learning the skills you need to excel on your next project or venture.
Real-world examples and video training
We go above and beyond when producing our courses, making sure that the curriculum is presented in the right order, with the right examples, and using the best practices currently used in the industry. In short, you're learning to do things the way they're done in the real world.
Permanent access to course materials
We all need a refresher now and again, which is why you’ll keep access to your course—and all the assets and project files—for the rest of your life. Come back to listen to exclusive interviews, review old lessons, and try out new techniques using your old assets.
A world-wide artist community
You’ll gain instant access to our 24/7 motion design community, The Square. Here you can network with professional artists at every stage of their career. You’ll get to meet new friends, ask for help, and build your network.
What makes us different?
Cohort-Based Learning
Join artists from around the world on our custom learning platform. Never learn alone, as you’ll have immediate access to a forum of fellow students to share work, ask questions, and improve together.
Exercises and project files for every lesson
Each course comes packed with free project files, assets, and additional material to keep you learning and growing long after the course ends. Our exercises are designed from real world briefs, so you’re learning the skills you need to excel on your next project or venture.
Technical and creative support along the way
You’ll be assigned a Teaching Assistant with years of experience in your chosen course. They’ll provide technical and creative feedback to guide you through new skills, improve your techniques, and provide encouragement along your journey.
Verified credential upon course completion
Completing a course isn’t just about bragging rights. Once you’ve completed at least 70% of your work in a given course, you’ll earn a verified credential that can show current and future employers exactly what you’ve accomplished.
Permanent access to course materials
We all need a refresher now and again, which is why you’ll keep access to your course—and all the assets and project files—for the rest of your life. Come back to listen to exclusive interviews, review old lessons, and try out new techniques using your old assets.
A world-wide alumni community
You’ll gain instant access to our alumni platform, The Square. Here you can network with professional artists at every stage of their career. You’ll get access to new job opportunities and exclusive alumni events, such as meetups, virtual hangouts and reel reviews.
Meet your instructor
Jake Bartlett
Digital Creator & Educator
Jake Bartlett is a motion designer and online instructor based in Denver Colorado. After working at a production company in Los Angeles for nearly five years he decided to quit his day job to pursue the freelancer’s life, teaching animation online. His creativity runs on coffee, lego bricks and “Weird Al” Yankovic. Throughout his career he’s had the opportunity to work for clients like Coca-Cola, Twitter, Skype, Evernote, HGTV, NatGeo Wild and Norah Jones.
School of Motion alumni work at
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Our no-risk money back policy
We want to make sure you have a positive learning experience with us, so for any session based course you're enrolled in, you can request a refund any time within 30 days of purchase.
We want to make sure you have a positive learning experience with us, so for any session based course you're enrolled in, you can request a refund up until the end of Week 3 of the course
Registration Opens
June 24, 2023
Class Start Date:
August 7, 2023
July 10, 2023
July 10, 2023
Course Length:
Session Duration:
12 Weeks
3 Payments of
Instant-Access! Start learning immediately.
100% Free! Start learning immediately.
Join over 20,000 alumni around the globe
Frequently Asked Questions
Explainer Camp is for students who have solid animation and design foundations. If you have a strong understanding of Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and After Effects, this project-based course will be a great fit for you. In this course, you'll learn about creating bids and schedules, concepting, pre-production, animatics, design and art direction, and finally putting it all together into a polished project. At the end of this course you'll have a piece that's created entirely by you and ready for your portfolio
Adobe Photoshop CC 2017.1.1 (18.1.1 or Higher)
Adobe Illustrator CC 2017.1 (21.1.0 or Higher)
Adobe After Effects CC 2017 (14.2.1 or Higher)
Explainer Camp is a 12-week course. You'll have the flexibility to watch the course content and complete your course work on your schedule. However, you can expect to commit at least 15 - 20 hours per week on course material. The video lessons are 1-2 hours in length. There are 10 assignments total. Assignments are typically assigned on Mondays and Thursdays with soft deadlines the next day. We have designated catch-up weeks built into the schedule so students have extra time to complete their assignments if needed. There is also an extended critique add-on for those that want more time with a Teaching Assistant after the 12-week course or need more time to complete assignments towards earning a credential.
Yes! Once you complete Explainer Camp, you’ll have lifetime access to all the course lessons and materials, so you can revisit them whenever you like. Also, if we make any changes to Explainer Camp following your session, you’ll automatically receive access to the latest version.
Please note: Video critiques change each session, so you’ll only have access to the video critiques during the session you're enrolled in. The written critiques you receive in your homework locker as well as the classroom content will also remain available to you forever!
This course brings you from Script to Final Render of a motion design project and assumes that you have a strong foundation in animation and design skills, and a very strong grasp on Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and After Effects. If you do not meet this criteria, we strongly suggest that you take Animation Bootcamp and Design Bootcamp before enrolling in Explainer Camp. Although it is not required, taking Advanced Motion Methods may be beneficial before taking this course.
Explainer Camp is a 12-week course. Lessons become available at a specific time each week but you can watch them and do your work whenever it is convenient for you. The lessons include pre-recorded videos, podcasts, PDFs and assignments with working files.
All student work is critiqued by our highly trained Teaching Assistants. School of Motion TA's are professional Animators with real life experience in the industry.
During the course you will be invited to a private classroom that contains all of the students and Teaching Assistants in your session. This is a great tool for connecting, asking or answering questions, sharing thoughts or insights, and winning cool contests!
Yes, if you complete, submit, and have 70% of your course assignments approved by your Teaching Assistant you will be eligible for a Course Credential through Credly. With your Credly Course Credential, you can share your accomplishments across your social networks, the blockchain, or to print out yourself.
You will not recognize your work when class is over.
Our courses have been meticulously designed to simulate real-world situations so that you're learning best-practices from day one. You'll be challenged, supported, and celebrated by your fellow artists as you level-up in real-time.
Are you ready to take the next step in your career?
Registration Opens
June 24, 2023
Class Start Date:
August 7, 2023
July 10, 2023
July 10, 2023
Course Length:
Session Duration:
12 Weeks
3 Payments of
Instant-Access! Start learning immediately.
100% Free! Start learning immediately.