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.
CVMP - Last Call for Short Papers
It seems there is an abundance of technology conferences to choose from this year. For fellow technology enthusiasts out there, this is an exciting time, as we are treated to an ocean of updates, new releases and ground breaking developments. One conference we give a particular seal of approval to is the much anticipated CVMP (Conference for Visual Media Production), now in its 8th year running. This is a conference dedicated to the geeks of the visual media production industries, whether that is in film, broadcast or games.
@Escape_Studios Follow: @I_Zer0
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.
The Foundry Announce New Product
Though a very powerful compositing tool NUKE has been missing a component many artist could benefit from. HIERO is a new product in development at The Foundry that hopes to provide the missing link for a more efficient shot management system in your VFX pipeline.
Last Chance to Grab Your Early-Bird Discount!
Everyone likes to make a saving where they can, that's why we offer all students paying their full course fee's three months in advance, an early-bird discount of £500.
News Round-Up: Monday 26th Sep 2011
Here is my usual 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.
News Round-Up: Monday 19th Sep 2011
Following on from last week's announcement about our Weekly Round-Up of news, here are 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.
CityEngine: Mapping Out The Locations on Pixar’s 'Cars 2'
Pixar, renowned for their cutting edge animation, know better than anyone the advantages of saving time where possible. The technical directors and supervisors on Cars 2 were faced with the challenge of building locations for this feature length animation. Those of you who have seen the sequel will remember that the lead character, Lightning McQueen, is being sent around the globe to race in the world Grand Prix. The challenge for the Pixar creative team was to build recognizable cities, on a very broad scale.
News Round-Up: Monday 12th Sep 2011
For some time now, I have been doing a weekly round up of news for our own internal use at Escape Studios. I never actually thought of sharing it more widely until someone pointed out to me last week, that actually, maybe it would be useful to the people who read this blog.
The Ancient History of Computer Animation
When you ask people about Pixar's early 3D animated films they may answer you Luxo Jr from 1986, but Ed Catmull, Pixar founder, made his first animated film while still at the University of Utah, way back in 1972.
23 MARI Tips In 23 Days on Twitter
MARI is a relatively new piece of software, and is becoming more popular with artists as its reputation for efficiency and adaptability becomes more widely known. As with any piece of new software there is a period of trial and error before you really get to know its full capability. It is in light of this that Henry South, lead texture artist at Framestore, is offering to share his top 23 tips when working with MARI.
We Have an Inkling that Wacom Has a Great New Product
On Tuesday the 30th of August Twitter streams of digital artists across the globe were buzzing with news of Wacom's new baby - the #Inkling. Everyone who currently draws digitally using the Wacom tablet, will be familiar with its advantages over the mouse, however, if the Inkling lives up to its anticipated hype, it will make creating digital drawings easier, more immediate and vitally speed up your workflow.
Escapee Giuseppe Candido Secures Job at FIPLAB
Giuseppe Candido is not only a recent character animation course escapee, but now also a very talented animator and a skilled Maya Generalist. He has put together one of the most charming demo reels we have seen here at Escape Studios. Giuseppe combined many of his student exercises into a circus project - creating a stunning short film in the process, and all completed from scratch in just six weeks.
Dreamworks Inspires Our Students
Just over a week ago, our students were treated to a visit by the extroadinarily talented Shelley Page, of Dreamworks. Shelley has been involved with some of the most memorable animation to come out of Dreamworks - titles like 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?', ‘The Prince Of Egypt’, ‘Antz’, and ‘Shrek’.
Escape Studios at the London International Animation Festival (LIAF)
I'm really honoured to have been asked to join a panel of speakers for a session on Continual Professional Development (CPD) Education and Training at the International Animation Festival (LIAF) in London.
A Triptych of Travel Films : MOVE, LEARN & EAT
Following a commission from STA Travel Australia, director Rick Mereki, DOP Tim White and actor Andrew Lees, set off on an epic journey to shoot three short films. Themed around the basic elements of travel: moving, eating and learning, they somehow cleverly capture the enormity of their subjects, all within one minute of footage per film, quite some feat by anyone's standards.
The Barbican's Brilliant Animation Show: Watch Me Move
Both animation enthusiasts and novices alike, will be delighted by The Barbican Centre's brilliant animation show Watch Me Move. From Winsor McCay's 1914 classic Gertie the Dinosaur, to Steven Spielberg's T Rex in the 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park, the exhibition educates and entertains in equal measure.
Aardman Create the World's Largest Stop-Motion Animation
Here is something cool to brighten your Friday afternoon and to prepare you for the weekend. It has been doing the rounds this week, and was even featured in the Metro earlier in the week.
Escapee Helen Streeter Gets Job at The Mill
We are proud to congratulate Helen Streeter on her new position as a runner at The Mill. Helen recently completed the character animation course at Escape Studios, and worked hard on putting together a showreel demonstrating her animation skills. The Mill is one of London's leading VFX houses and recently re-opened its film division following strong successes in commercials and music videos. The biggest hurdle in visual effects is always getting that first job and we couldn't be more pleased for Helen - congratulations.
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
I noticed this cool little project knocking around the web and just couldn't resist sharing it with you.
