Introduction : The experimental frame of mind : Dirty fingers in the digital world -- Why these techniques? -- Section I: 1. Finding your voice : The experimental frame of mind in the history of animation -- Starting the journey : Be alive ; Rehearse before you perform ; Limit yourself ; Ask a technical question ; Work abstractly -- The image stuck in your mind -- Telling the story : The storyboard ; Research ; Other structural methods -- 2. Lights! Camera! Animation! : Setting up your studio for under-the-camera animation : Working surface ; The multiplane -- Lights : Top lights ; The light box ; The camera : Image resolution ; The lens ; Setting the exposure -- Frame capture -- Additional advice : Lock it down ; Staying healthy under the camera ; Keeping things in perspective -- 3. A foundation for excellence : Art that moves -- Basic principles of animated movement : Timing and spacing ; Ones ... twos ... threes ... ; Easing ; Holds and cycles ; Staging ; Squash and stretch ; Arcs ; Anticipation and follow through ; Overlapping action ; Secondary action -- Fluid frame aesthetics : In-camera versus out-of-camera -; Drawn camera moves ; Leaving trails ; Animated transitions ; The hand of the artist -- The digital toolbox : Thinking in layers ; The staggered mix ; Exercise: staggered mixes ; Rotoscoping -- Section II: 4. Animating with sand and other powders : Notable pioneers in powder animation : Nag and Gisèle Ansorge ; Kazimierz Urbański ; Caroline Leaf ; Ferec Cakó ; Aleksandra Korejwo -- Exploring the technique : Exercise: Animating a sandy morph ; The sandy studio : Materials ; Tools ; In practice ; Processing footage -- Planning a longer sand project -- Compositing 101 : Layering in sand ; Exercise: Garbage mattes ; Blending modes ; Exercise: Paint bucket effect ; Color keying ; Exercise: Applying a color key effects stack ; Exercise: Animated masks -- Adding color : Exercise: Hand tinting in Photoshop ; Exercise: Tints and filters in After Effects -- Combining sand with other animation techniques : Case studies from commerical projects -- 5. The transforming painting : The life of a painting -- Notable pioneers in painted animation : Oskar Fischinger ; Witold Giersz ; Caroline Leaf ; Clive Walley ; Alexander Petrov -- Exploring the technique : Exercise: Motion painting -- Setting up your studio : Your painting surface ; Different types of paint ; Lighting -- Things to have in your studio : Exercise: Finger painting portrait with sponge transition -- Digital approaches to paint-on-glass -- Green screen : Creating the layers ; Exercise: Compositing the Roller Coaster of Luv -- Moving beyond the glass -- 6. Clay painting and beyond : Notable pioneers in clay painting : Ishu Patel ; Joan Gratz ; A survey of techniques ; Exploring the technique : Table and lighting ; The clay ; Temperature regulation ; Tools : Exercise: Warming up to the clay ; Exercise: Clay compositing -- Moving beyond the materials : Cut-outs, drawing, and further experimentation -- 7. Beyond the frame : Sound design and music : The mix -- Digital output -- Getting the film out : The process video ; Film festivals ; Distribution ; Release online ; Alternative exhibition -- A final word -- Appendix A. Case studies : Loving Vincent ; Truth has fallen ; Trag/trace/spur and Up the stairs -- Appendix B. Artists' profiles.