Victor Navone begins his workshop with an introductory lesson that provides invaluable insight into professional-level facial animation techniques used at Pixar. Victor's approach emphasizes how great facial animation requires thinking beyond the technical limitations of 3D rigs and instead focusing on artistic principles of design, asymmetry, and exaggeration. By studying 2D drawings from master artists and carefully manipulating every aspect of the facial controls, often in ways that might seem extreme or "break" the model from certain angles, animators can learn how to achieve expressions that feel organic, appealing, and emotionally resonant for audiences. Victor explains why what matters most is how the face reads from the camera's perspective, not technical perfection from every angle.

Duration: 47m 12s

This lesson emphasizes thorough pre-production planning for character animation, demonstrating that successful facial animation requires exploring multiple interpretive options before execution. Victor's approach of generating 18 different emotional combinations for just three dialogue beats shows the importance of exhausting creative possibilities early in the process. By treating video reference as inspiration rather than a blueprint, and carefully considering how emotional beats transition and contrast with each other, animators can learn how to create more nuanced, appealing performances that go beyond literal reproduction to achieve expressive, character-driven animation.

Duration: 14m 18s

This lesson demonstrates Victor's professional facial animation workflow that prioritizes clear communication of character, thought, and emotion through strategic timing and pose choices. His approach to working from broad body blocking through eye direction, then facial expressions, and finally to polish creates a layered performance that feels alive and intentional. By emphasizing asymmetry, graphic clarity, proper eye mechanics, and having facial changes precede physical actions, he shows how to create believable performances that effectively communicate the character's internal emotional state to the audience.

Duration: 40m 41s

This lesson provides essential principles for creating believable facial animation by understanding the underlying anatomy and maintaining proper relationships between facial features. Victor explains why realistic animation doesn't come from complex systems, but from understanding simple mechanics. Those mechanics are two muscle groups that control the brows, and the eyelid-pupil relationship communicates energy. By applying offset timing, maintaining connectivity between parts, and carefully adjusting shapes based on the character's emotional state and eye direction, animators can learn how to create nuanced, lifelike performances that effectively convey both emotion and attitude.

Duration: 24m 58s

In this lesson, Victor demonstrates his professional, production-tested approach to lip-sync animation that prioritizes readability, expressiveness, and appeal over strict realism. By working in layers and constantly favoring extreme poses while maintaining the character's emotional expression, animators can learn how to create mouth animation that feels both organic and graphically appealing. His technique requires patience and multiple refinement passes, but ultimately results in lip-sync that effectively communicates dialogue while supporting the character's performance and maintaining the audience's suspension of disbelief.

Duration: 49m 5s

This final lesson emphasizes the importance of stepping back from your work to gain objectivity and the value of iteration in animation. Victor demonstrates that refinement often involves numerous small adjustments (eye alignment, mouth shapes, subtle squash-and-stretch) that collectively elevate the performance from good to polished. He shows that a willingness to deviate from original plans and to prioritize what works for the camera angle over technical perfection is an important problem-solving mindset in professional animation.

Duration: 12m 46s