Studio Skills
Learn technical skills directly from working animation artists. We offer a year-round series of workshops, courses and free demos for all different types of animation, whether you’re just starting out, or building on your existing experience.
upcoming workshops
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Dragonframe 101 Demo
Technical Demo: Dragonframe basics
Date: Sunday July 26th
TIME: 11 am – 1 pm
Location: 1411 Dufferin Street, Unit BThis workshop will help you learn how to set up your camera for Dragonframe, the basics on how to use Dragonframe and tips & tricks.
About the Demo
Looking to use Dragonframe for your next production? Want to experiment with Stop Motion and need a place to start? Join us for our Dragonframe 101 demo, where we will teach you the Dragonframe basics, tips and tricks.
Free for members!
$50.00 for non-members.
Are you already a member? Learn how to register Here! Or please email tais.studio@gmail.com to register for the workshop.
- Introductions
- Setting Up Equipment
- Starting a new Project
- Animation basics: Capturing an animation sequence
- Toolkit: Tips and tricks to facilitate animation.
- Experimentation
- Tips & Tricks
- Wrap up
About the Instructor
Charlotte Lavoie-Auspert – TAIS Studio Coordinator
Charlotte is an artist based in Montreal, now living in Toronto. Her mixed-media works are fuelled by her passion to question, understand and represent the human experience. She specializes in stop-motion animation, mashing together paper, puppets and printmaking to explore the bounds of materiality. She has had her work showcased at Toronto’s International Festival of Authors (TIFA), the 32nd Annual Intercollegiate Visual Arts Show (RIASQ), Toronto’s Alliance Française, Toronto’s Animated image society (TAIS), Carlton Cinema, Animation Festival of Berlin (FAB) and the Canlandiranlar International Film Festival in Istanbul. She has received awards for her various works namely the Madi Pillar Award (2023), Jury’s First place award (GradEx 2025) and the Bluma Appel Award (2025).
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BYOP: Puppet Party event! Summer Edition
Date: Sunday July 19th, 2026
TIME: 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Location: 1411 Dufferin Street, Unit BAbout the Event
TAIS presents: BYOP Summer Edition! Our seasonal Puppet Party event!
Have a cool puppet you want to show off? Want to meet some talented puppet makers? BYOP (Bring Your Own Puppet) is an open-invite social event to celebrate puppets and puppet makers in Toronto.
What kind of puppets? Hand-puppets, rod-puppets, stop motion puppets, theatre puppets, all puppets!
This event is a great opportunity to make lasting connections with puppet fabricators and puppet enthusiasts. Come discover different kinds of puppets, exchange fabrication techniques, and help build our community.
There is also a chance to learn how to make your own puppet with like-minded individuals! As well as socializing, snacks, and good music, a puppet work station will also take place at this summer’s event. Materials will be familiar and easy to use.
See you there!
Free for members!
$50 for non-members.
(Or $25 for an annual supporting membership!)
Learn how to register Here! Or contact tais.studio@gmail.com to register for the event.
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Paper Cutter Demo
Technical Demo: Silver Bullet
Date: Saturday June 27th
TIME: 11 am – 4 pm
Location: 1411 Dufferin Street, Unit BLearn how to master the Silver Bullet automated paper-cutter to create paper puppets, stickers, fabric patterns, or anything else your heart desire.
About the Demo
Tired of cutting hundreds of paper puppet pieces by hand? Working on a stop-motion rotoscope experimental short? Lost your scissors? This workshop is for you!
Learn how to master the Silver Bullet automated paper-cutter to create paper puppets, stickers, fabric patterns, or anything else your heart desire.
In this workshop you will learn how to take your design and send it to the Silver Bullet, learn about the different accessories available (cutting, scoring, drawing, embossing) and how to fabricate a simple paper puppet.
Free for members!
$50.00 for non-members.
Please email tais.studio@gmail.com to register for the workshop.
- Introductions
- From Design to Fabrication
- Hardware overview (Silver Bullet paper cutter)
- Software Overview (Inkscape, Illustrator, Sure Cuts a Lot)
- Puppet Fabrication Demo
- Hands-on experimentation
- Wrap up
About the Instructor
Kjell Boersma is a writer, director and animator from Toronto. Their work includes short films, animation for feature documentaries, music videos and experimental works that combine traditional and digital animation techniques in novel ways. Kjell directed the short film Monster Slayer (2015), DAM! The Story of Kit the Beaver (2017), and co-directed the animated short Boat People (2023) with the National Film Board.
TAIS Members can register for workshops online.
They also get free workshops.
Community Access Subsidy Program
We offer up to 2 subsidized registrations per workshop or course. Applicants whose request meets the requirements will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Any TAIS member who is an independent artist, arts worker, student, or is an underemployed or unemployed person that would otherwise not be able to afford to register for a course at the full or member rates is eligible for this program.
Email info@tais.ca for more information or to apply to this program.
Policies & Protocols
- Class sizes are small to ensure that all participants have opportunities to ask questions and get personal feedback.
- There is a maximum enrolment for our workshops & courses of 12 registrants.
- No refunds are available for modifications to class instructors or curriculum.
- No refunds are available in the event of cancellation by the registrant, including failure to attend.
- TAIS reserves the right to alter the class content, instructors, dates and hours for the class, as needed, as the curriculum is developed. Full refunds are available if changes to the dates or hours of the class are prohibitive for the registrant. Registrants will be notified as soon as possible of any changes to the class and/or schedule.