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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.

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...

“All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

As Oscar fever is mounting up, there were lots of stories related to awards last week - no surprise there. But there were also lots of goodies such as a very cool video from TedTalk, an interview with the VFX Supervisor on Hugo and much more. Here's my take on last week...

I have been meaning to write about this for some days now, but I’ll admit to having been somewhat distracted by long haul flights and the ensuing jetlag over the last couple of weeks. Still, I hope you won’t hold it against me…

Here's my take on last week's news and announcements. Among the items I picked up, there's the call for submissions for SIGGRAPH. if you are planning to submit your work, you'd better hurry, as the deadline is tomorrow.

The winners have been revealed! Last Thursday in London at Escape Studios headquarters, we announced the winners of the CG Whiz 2011 competition at our now annual Reveal Event. Amidst free flowing champagne and much celebration, Daniel Danielsson was announced as the winner of the Amateurs Category. With general manager Mark Cass and head judge Lee Danskin on hand, his demo reel was shown. Daniel was left speechless as the team explained why he was elected to be this year’s winner. One small point to share, Daniel created his reel with no professional training—he taught himself how to use the software to create his piece.

After our best year yet, the 2011 CG Whiz competition has officially come to a close with the announcement of our talented winners from all over the world! Escape Studios and its judging panel were totally wowed by the quality of this year’s entries and the incredible level of talent across all categories. 

It is a tough question, but according to a report in Education Week, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan thinks it can. I know for sure that education can lift you out of poverty, but as I was reading the article, I wondered about the implications of this statement and what it would take to deliver on such a promise. Unfortunately, the article didn’t actually expand on what the great idea was, so I am none the wiser. 

That’s right folks, after a nailbiting two weeks the CG Whiz judging is a wrap! The votes are in and the winners have been decided...but you’ll have to wait until the 14th December to find out who they are!

Here is my usual Weekly Round-Up of News, with stories that I have picked up over the past week. If you have suggestions for stories I missed, just drop me a line or post a comment.

Did any of you read an article entitled “Admissions 101: Do parents need special tools to hide their children's Facebook excesses?”, published last week in the Washington Post? It makes for very interesting reading.

Here is my usual Weekly Round-Up of News, with stories that I have picked up over the past week. If you have suggestions for stories I missed, just drop me a line or post a comment.

Just a quick reminder to get your votes in for your favorite CG Whiz entry on our Facebook page. The viewers’ choice voting will close December 1, 2011, so be sure to head over and vote by clicking “Like” on your top picks in the Amateurs Category Gallery and Young Pros Category Gallery.

Here is my usual Weekly Round-Up of News, with stories that I have picked up over the past week. If you have suggestions for stories I missed, just drop me a line or post a comment.

In one of our last post about this year’s CG Whiz entries, we shared with you some of our early favorites in the Young Pros Category. With just a few more days to get those CG Whiz entries in, we’re calling special attention to the incredible talent in our Amateurs category too -- and there’s been no shortage of it.

Here is my usual Weekly Round-Up of News, with stories that I have picked up over the past week. If you have suggestions for stories I missed, just drop me a line or post a comment.

Most new graduates are unsure what visual effects jobs are out there, what jobs they can apply for or even how to go about it. In fact, if you check out the US Bureau of Labor Statistics website you can read how CG grads “get their start in industry by running errands, moving objects on the set, controlling traffic, and helping with props. Production assistants and grips (stagehands) often work in this way.”

We asked Vicky McCann a few questions about her professional background and her passion for VFX and we think the answers make a pretty fun story. Grab a cup of coffee (or another drink of choice), sit back and read on. We think you'll like what you read, and will agree that she is the best person to head our new classroom VFX Production course starting November 7.

Since kicking off CG Whiz last week we’ve been amazed by the high calibre of entries so far and wanted to share some of the highlights so far with you.

We’re excited to announce our talent discovery competition, CG Whiz, kicks off today for its third year in a row! CG Whiz helps ignite the careers of computer graphics and visual effects fanatics from across the world.

I wonder how many of you noticed the clues we have been leaving on our Twitter feed about the next edition of our talent discovery competition, CG Whiz. Well, the very exciting news is that it is most definately going to be even bigger and better in 2011!

Here is my our Weekly Round-Up of news with the stories that I have picked up over the past week. If you have suggestions for stories I missed, just drop me a line or post a comment. Hope you find it useful.

We often hear from fine artists that they’d like to find new and creative outlets for their artistic talents and passions. So, with that in mind, we put together a webinar that addresses just that. If you have a passion for fine arts and possibly a degree as well and would like to try your hand at working in the visual effects industry, you’ll want to attend our upcoming webinar—Fine Artist to VFX Artist. You’ll learn how to take the creative skills you’ve already mastered and apply them in the world of computer graphics. And, you’ll learn how to take what you’ve already created and make it stand out amongst the other artists in the crowd so your fine arts work will wow those in the artistic world of VFX.

Databases need to be updated constantly with the latest information. Escape Studios is no exception. It’s the price we have to pay to make sure you all get information from us that is relevant to you. And, because we know it takes time for all of you to update your details, we’ve decided to dangle a little carrot in front of your noses in the form of a chance to win one iPad or one of ten $20 Amazon vouchers.

Today, I am trying out what I hope will become a new weekly feature. It consists of giving you a round up of news related to Entertainment, VFX, CG, Animation, 2D, 3D and Education - articles that I have stumbled upon and found of interest. 

Those among you that are uber-observant may have noticed a blog post on our UK site entitled 23 MARI Tips In 23 Days on Twitter that was posted just yesterday.

I wanted to introduce a new blog contributor and Escape Studios team member – Brent Hartman. Brent comes on board as the marketing manager for our soon-to-open L.A. campus.  He joins our other exciting new hires that will staff the US campus, which we’re making progress on. 

I’m an iPhone user and apps are a very real part of my life. I have apps for currency exchange, language translation, and several games and of course, my favorite, Amazon.com loaded to my phone. Having been in the VFX industry for a little while now, it occurred to me that VFX artists and Hollywood haven’t really had all that much to do with mobile app development. Since gaming apps are all about entertainment and telling a good story, I think Hollywood has a lot to offer app development. So, it was with interest that I read an article recently about a new startup that joins Hollywood talent with mobile app developers.

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This year’s CG Whiz competition blew us away. We’re happy to report we received 170 entries, outshining last year’s tally. Even better, the quality of reels was amazing and makes the judging process daunting. Cleary there are a lot of talented CG artists waiting to be discovered, which was the inspiration for this competition. We want to help up-and-coming artists launch careers.

We just caught up with with team at The Mill about the progress of our CG Whiz competition, and here is what Ben Hampshire (MD at The Mill in LA) had to say:

Calling all aspiring artists and CG wannabes!  Here’s your opportunity to build your dream career.  Today we launched CG Whiz 2010 our annual search for the hottest amateur computer graphics talent. We’re offering over $24,000 worth of prizes for the winners, thanks to our co-sponsors, The Mill, CG Society and 3D Artist.