This month's free tutorial was JUST posted and we can't wait to tell you about it! In this month's tutorial, you'll learn how vfx pros achieve a realistic smoke simulation. We’re talking about the heavy, ‘bubbling’, dry ice type smoke that covers the floor, creating another level of atmosphere within a shot. You’ve probably seen what we’re talking about in movies like ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’, a film where all the smoke effects were digitally generated.
Escape Studios Checks Out Rhythm & Hues
Last Friday, some of the Escape staff & students were given the opportunity to visit the El Segundo studios of Rhythm & Hues, one of the premier studios in the VFX industry. Rhythm & Hues has led the way in CG animation with their work on such features as The Chronicles of Narnia, The Golden Compass and Hop. Currently they are working on Ang Lee's next film Life of PI and awaiting release of the much anticipated Snow White and the Huntsman.
The Dark Knight Rises Final Trailer
Are you ready for this? Christopher Nolan's final Installment in his beloved Batman Trilogy is almost out and here is the final trailer. Looks like our buddies at Double Negative are at it again with some amazing VFX work (check out that bridge collapse!). The Dark Knight Rises hits a theater near you on July 20th
Solipsist Experimental Short Wins Slamdance
Take a look at director Andrew Thomas Huang experimental short "Solipsist" which recently won Slamdance's special Jury Prize. You can check out more of his work on his site, andrewthomashuang.com.
Psyop wins Annie Award for Twinings "Sea"
The talented folks over at Psyop recently won a well-deserved Annie award for their work on Twinings "Sea" in the category of "Best Animated Television Commercial". They actually beat themselves out of the award, as well as others (they were also nominated for Norton "Stuff"). You can read some making-of information here - just click the "details" tab.
Well done, Psyop!
San Diego as the New Hollywood?
I recently read this interesting article in the San Diego Daily Transcript about Barry Sandrew, President of Legend 3D - a San Diego based company - who wants to bring thousands of visual effects specialists from Los Angeles and other parts of the country to San Diego. You can read more about it here. I find it particularly interesting that he wants to give the studios an incentive to do business in San Diego and has already met with San Diego's mayor about setting up an economic zone to attract 5,000 visual effects jobs from Hollywood. Hollywood South, perhaps?
@Escape_Studios follow: @ThePandaRabbit
Five questions finding out more about our Twitter followers, how and why they got started, and what they feel about the industry asked by Social Media Manager @TobyJOYdigital
News Round-Up: Monday 5 Mar, 2012
Good Monday to you all! This week's round up of news has lots of stories about "John Carter", some interesting announcements from Adobe, some new software releases and much more. Hope you enjoy the read and don't forget to let me know if I have missed anything important.
A Chance to Win Free Maya or ZBrush Online Courses
We are very keen to find out what sort of video tutorials you like and which in particular you would like us to develop. So, in order to get as much feedback as possible, we have devised a very simple 5 questions survey. I takes less than a minute to complete and if you fill it in, you stand a chance to win 12-months access to our Maya Essentials online course or 12-months access to our ZBrush for 3D Artist course. Not bad for less than a minute's work!
News Round-Up: Monday 27 Feb, 2012
Setting aside all the Oscar related stories that dominated last week's papers, there were lots and lots of news gems. Among my picks was a cool set of video breakdowns from Transformers, Pixomdo's making of Hugo, and the making of Rango. To get the full list, just read on...
Words, Words, Words!
Here are some shots of our newly installed VFX tag cloud! This is something we've been thinking about creating for a while and now we have the wall real estate I thought it was time. Our Operations Director Susan O'Neal and I sat down and came up with as many VFX terms as our brains would allow, then our designer friend and gentleman Mick Hodgson from PhD worked his magic and turned it into reality.
@Escape_Studios follow: @Pojemotion
Five questions finding out more about our Twitter followers, how and why they got started, and what they feel about the industry asked by Social Media Manager @TobyJOYdigital
News Round-Up: Monday 20 Feb, 2012
After a week's absence, there was a great deal of news to sort through. Here's what grabbed my attention during the last seven days. There's news of new VFX for The Muppets, talks of DreamWorks investing in China, various interviews with VFX pros and much more.
Learn about VFX Workflows in the Commercial Industry from John Leonti at The Mill
We’re having a gathering at Escape Studios on March 15, 2012 for students and recent graduates who are curious and interested about VFX workflows in the Commercial/Advertising industry. John Leonti, head of 3D at The Mill, will be our guest speaker and he has some fantastic stuff to show us. He has promised a behind-the-scenes look at the work for the VES award-nominated spot “Immersion” for Mattel’s Hot Wheels, and the backstory behind Playstation’s cult-phenomena “Michael”.
Our friends at Side Effects are Busy!
Have you always wanted to learn more about Houdini? Are you in Los Angeles? Does the idea of attending a two-day boot camp float your boat? You're in luck!
Free Tutorial: Learning Dynamics in Maya
It’s been awhile since I last did a tutorial, but I made up for the long absence by preparing a little gem for you. It’s the ideal tutorial for people who have been dabbling with Maya but need to start delving deeper into all of its features. More importantly, it will give you a skill that all aspiring CG artists should demonstrate on their demo reel.
@Escape_Studios follow: @ANDYVFX
An extended conversation (more than 140 characters) with our Twitter followers. Five questions finding out more about them and what they feel about the industry, with @TobyJOYdigital our Social Media Manager.
News Round-Up: Monday 6 Feb, 2012
I guess you will not be surprised if I say that this week's round up is dominated by news of the Super Bowl. I have gathered for you some of the best, but that's not all we have in this week's news. The award season is still with us, so we have had lots of Oscar related stories too. Please feel free to comment: I always enjoy reading your views.
Susan's Mashup February 3, 2012
Super Bowl approaches – do you have your snacks at the ready? Have you chosen your team? More importantly, have you set your DVR to record the commercials?
This week’s mashup consists of some Super Bowl sneak peeks – we have a “Twilight”-like tailgating party for Audi courtesy of The Mill, takes 2 and 3 for VW and the “Star Wars” enterprise involving Man’s Best Friend, a couple of car spots steeped in fantasy complete with bikini-clad extras, the Coca-Cola polar bears (Giants v. Patriots) up their game and “The Avengers” trailer.
I remember when you actually had to wait for Game Day to see the spots!
This year’s previews are kind of light on VFX - I suspect everyone’s still rendering.
Let us know which ones you liked – and we hope your team wins!
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