Nowadays info graphics and creative visualizations are something which really catches the viewer’s attention. Cartoons, 3d animation, graphics; all this comes within the umbrella of animation. Not only is the skill in demand but it also makes for a fun part time hobby. These courses below will help you understand the subject better and develop new skills in the wide world of animation.

Online Teach.com; Flash Animation

This site provides you with 16 free lessons on animation. They start with the basics of system requirements which determine how well the software will run and how advanced the features will be that you use. Furthermore you can also download a certificate for it.

The Animation Resource Center

This is a blog containing courses and topics on animation. ARC or Animation Resource Center as it is known, will bring to you different techniques and discussions on animation. The top posts you see are about methods Disney uses in their cartoons to depict movement.

Larry’s Toon Institute

This is a free site run by an animator. Larry Lauria is a animator and her work has been shown on TV, aired on radio and much more. The list of tutorials found are specific methods to execute that scene. E.g. a bouncing ball, butterflies, etc.

Utah State University, Opencourse on Flash

This Drawing Tools and Animation course looks at the technical aspect of animation. It includes the software used, system compatibility, best application of each program and so on. Simply click on a topic from the list and wait for it to load in the flash based player.

Digital Tutors.com; Maya Animation Course

Digital Tutors has provided a course for getting you apt at animation in an animation program called Maya. Apart from the videos which are almost one hour long, you also get project files to practice with. You can choose any of the videos from the list, should you want to skip some video, you easily can.

Free3d Tutorials.com

This site has a collection of tutorials on 3d effects and animation. You learn about modeling items like swords, balls, tables, applying different textures, setting their motion range and a lot more.

Clipping Videos by IIT

This course is provided by Tuffs University and uses the program Blender 3d to explain and teach a wide variety of animation techniques. Click on the different categories on the left to get familiar with the interface before you start.

Computer Graphics, Fine tuning and Curves

This course is part of a series as the previous one but with a different topic. Here you learn how to give final touches to objects such as smoothening effects, re-shaping, etc. It is done using a standard program so you can easily replicate the tasks.

MIT Opencourse on Animation

This course is by MIT and is rather technical. It looks at how algorithms are put to use and designed along with their applications in animation. You can download the material and syllabus etc from the list menu on the left.

Rendering Videos, Learnerstv.com

Rendering is done when the project designing is complete and is required in video output playable across different platforms. Here testing for compatibility takes place. This 51 minute video will teach you about the whole process.