It's great to see our escapees leading the way in a new film from Skillset promoting the computer graphics industry.
3D Printer Creates Patient-Specific Implants
So our good friends at Boston Limited drew our attention to this amazing technology breakthrough. We are probably a little behind the curve with this one but none the less we thought it worthy of sharing with you all.
Alastair at the Cross Road
Escapee Alastair Cross, who finished his VFX Production studies in 2010, went on to become a Studio Assistant here, but the time has come to move on, and he now faces the choice of his next role.
Spot the CG...
After six weeks of intense Maya core, halfway through the VFX Production course, escapees gather in the break out space to present their work to their class colleagues, as well as to view the other studio classes projects.
SideFX Master Class in Houdini at Escape
Around half an hour into the demonstration, after setting up the HUD and preferences, Jeff turned to the group and said, "Now, select your cube, and press the 'Fireball' button, then press play!"
Nike FlyKnit Commercial by Digital Domain
A few friends of mine have posted the Nike 'FlyKnit' commercial link on Facebook and I can't help but share it with you all because it's so cool. Nike is showing off its latest technology for the upcoming 2012 Olympics in London. It was created at Digital Domain, and is directed by David Rosenbaum and VFX supervised by Aladino Debert.
The whole shoe weighs a mere 160g (5.6 ounces) for a size 9 and has been worn by the first, second and third place athletes in the men's marathon at the 2011 World Championships. Nike released the Flyknit HTM Racer in London on Saturday 25th of February, to much anticipation.
I think you'll agree that the commercial looks amazing and stylish. It just makes me want a pair of these bad boys! Well done to the guys at Digital Domain!
@Escape_Studios Follow: @Spacepilot2000
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 5th Mar 2012
Here is my usual jumble of news to start off this week. There are tutorials, news of various software releases, a cool "Making of Rango", and really sweet advert for Twinnings tea, and lots more. Feel free to add anything I may have forgotten.
Despicable Me 2 Teaser Trailer
The talented people over at Universal Pictures have released a trailer for Despicable Me 2. I just couldn’t help but smile when I saw this trailer, if only I could order half a dozen of these little minions from Amazon and make them my pets, then life would be amazing.
Answer 5 Questions For a Chance to Win Free Online Courses
We have been hard at work planning our next set of video tutorials for you all to enjoy but right now, we are very keen to hear directly from you what sort of tutorials would help you most. Since we understand that you are all busy, we have put together a super quick, super simple 5 question survey, and all those who fill it in will get a chance to win a free Maya Essentials online course or a ZBrush for 3D Artist online course.
Week 05: The Lights Are On...
The fifth week of the Maya Core evening course is equivalent to day five of the intensive day time class, so we have now covered one week of the comparable daytime course. The advantage of the evening course is you have more time to soak in the deluge of information showered onto you, but the daytime class are constantly thinking in Maya so perhaps absorb it more thoroughly.
Pixomondo Pick up VFX Oscar®
Pixomondo’s first Oscar was won for their contribution to Martin Scorcese’s 3D cinematic triumph, Hugo. Visual & Digital Effects Supervisors Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning were there to pick up the award, but the entire Pixomondo worldwide family contributed to the success, including a couple of escapees here in London.
The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists
After the rip roaring success with their Christmas adventure Arthur Christmas, Aardman Animations has once again teamed itself up with Sony Pictures Animations for The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists due for release on March 28th in both 2D and 3D.
Apologies, but in celebration for the upcoming release we’ve gotten ourselves in the buccaneering mood with a nautical themed blog with added seafaring lingo. Keep up if ya dare!
Autodesk Excellence for Every Customer
This year Autodesk are putting you first, with the introduction of their new customer engagement initiative which they are calling "ACE". The program aims to offer the end user the best possible experience when purchasing Autodesk products.
Framestore Industry Coaching for Escapees
We believe it's crucial for students to not just have a thorough knowledge of work flow and software, but also understand the VFX industry and pipeline where they will work. So during their course we invite established post production houses to coach them, this means they get direct feedback on their work from respected VFX supervisors.
News Round-Up: Monday 27th Feb 2012
It's the time of the week when I share with you the news that picked my interest over the last seven days. This time, there are the following goodies on offer: a cool making of from Framestore, some great new tutorials, a trailer of Pixar's "Brave", a new trailer for Spiderman and lots of education news related to Michael's latest announcements regarding education reforms.
Week 04: All Tapped out but Ready to Roll
After last week’s fruity frolics and forays into furniture, we began week four of our Maya Course finishing the seat cover of our poly modelled chair. The back row gang was complete again as our comrade James returned as he was unable to attend last week’s lessons. He was gutted to miss the chair making exercise, because he’s a budding furniture designer now hoping to get an internship at a London studio, and believes learning Maya will boost his creative potential.
News Round-Up: Monday 20th Feb 2012
After an absence of a week, I am back again with my usual digest of news. This week, we have some great showreels from the likes of Pixomondo, a great trailer from Spiderman and even some tutorials.
Week Three: Bye BanaNurbs - Hi Poly Chair
I was sitting in the front row, next to Rodrigo from Brazil, on Monday night, as our class made an effort to complete the exercise of modelling fruit in NURBS, before we moved on to making a chair in Polygons. I felt a little more confident, after practicing my Primitive Man Online tutorial last weekend, and I looked forward to shading and texturing my wonky apple. But before I got to that moment there was a NURB banana skin, waiting for me to slip on.
Houdini Webinar – Send Us Your Questions
Thanks to everyone who tuned onto our Houdini webinar today, what a great turnout! Seems that everyone found it really helpful especially as Houdini is such a hot topic at the moment. We didn’t have time to get around to all of your questions, so if there’s still something that you’d like to ask, don’t hesitate, just reply to this post and I’ll get back to you with as much information as possible. We’re also going to be posting a recording of the webinar on our website soon so make sure you keep your eyes peeled for that. This is exactly the kind of stuff that we announce in our monthly newsletters so make sure you’re signed up to it.
