Markus Magnusson @motionmarkus
Animator. Milky Way.
What does it take to create one of Motion Design School’s most popular courses?
We asked Markus Magnusson, the author of , about his experience of developing his course, collaboration with MDS, future plans and more.
— How did you start working in this industry? Tell us a bit about your personal motion journey.
— I first started animating back in the old Macromedia Flash days. Back then, I mostly played around with interactive websites, but after a while, I got bored doing rollover effects on buttons and decided to try my hand at more advanced animations. I got my first real breakthrough with my “To This Day Segment” and Rando trailer.
— Whose works inspired you? Was it difficult to find relevant learning materials at that time?
— There was really only a handful of studious and professionals that stood out back in the day. was definitely one of them, and Justin Harder totally owned the scene back in the early 2000’s, when I started to get into motion design.
— What made you decide to share your knowledge?
— People kept asking about tutorials… At first, I ignored that, but then I thought “Why not?”… After that, it just kept snowballing…
— Our students absolutely love your jokes. Have you ever taken a shot at stand-up?
— I’m afraid not, I’m actually really boring in person.
MDS Team: Except Markus told us that he is a schooled chef …
Just check the short compilation of Markus’s jokes from the Science of Character Animation course:
— You have experience of using Patreon as a teaching platform. How is your work with MDS different?
— I don’t want to compare them, as they both are awesome platforms in their own sense. However, I felt it was the right decision to pull the break on Patreon so we (me and MDS) could put together . Spending 5-6 months on a course is hard to do on a subscription-based platform such as Patreon.
And besides, MDS has a really great system in place which gives students the most knowledge & bang for their bucks.
Check our course.
— How challenging has been creating the course for you?
— It was 110% all the way for me! But I wouldn’t have it any other way seeing how much the students pay. Right now I’m on a little break as I’m trying to transition back to doing my old silly stuff.
— What are your impressions of the and its Lite version that was created specifically for your course? Are you planning to use it in your future projects?
— 100% love the script! I would say that even with its Lite version you can work on complex commercial projects.
— Why did you choose our platform?
— MDS has an awesome system in place for teaching animation. They also have a great and energetic team that likes humor which was a big plus for me. There are designers, editors, sound specialists and people with expertise in teaching animation that can help you basically with any question you have.
MDS Team: We had a lot of fun working on this course, we can’t deny this. We still insist on you trying standup.
— Science of Character Animation is currently one of the most popular courses among our students. What’s the secret behind its success in your opinion?
— That’s easy, it’s due to all the awesome student-work, I’m constantly awe-struck by the quality! I guess it’s gonna get harder winning new clients seeing how awesome the students are after they’re done with the course…
— We are just as inspired by our students’ progress as you are. So, taking into account your success with Science of Character Animation, are you considering creating other courses?
— It’s a great experience, as I’ve mentioned already, so I’ve been thinking about creating other courses, for sure. But right now I’m gonna focus on personal work for a little while, it’s good to take a break for some time.
— What are your plans for the future?
— Now I just want to enjoy a life without plans, at least for a couple of months 🙂 Then we’ll see, there are always great projects in this sphere.
